Life Gains from College Sports
December 2nd, 2008 - byThere are many reasons why student athletes and families crave the opportunity to earn a college sports scholarship. The prestige, desire to keep playing a sport at a high level, the fun, the scholarship dollars,the ability to get in a school where you might not be accepted without sports, and dozens of other reasons. Most families are focused on the immediate returns on a sports scholarship, however the benefits can be much longer lasting.
Former WNBA player Val Whiting recently sat down with Microsoft executive Lisa Brummel to talk about the advantages athletes have in the business world.
It is no coincidence that more than 80 percent of the female executives at Fortune 500 companies described themselves as former athletes.
Companies seek employees who can stand out in pressure situations, demonstrate leadership, and react positively to the instruction of superiors.
Lisa Brummel displays these qualities as senior vice president of human resources for Microsoft.
“The single biggest asset I have is not my education, not my experience, but my athletic background,” Brummel said in a phone interview.
“If you look, you will find people doing well in business and who were also athletes. You need stamina and pacing in corporate America, having the stamina to be able to perform.”
Brummel often asks managers to look for athletes when hiring.
“Athletes in companies are universally respected as high performers,” Brummel said. “Playing on a team, the understanding of team dynamics and roles, knowing when to step up or when to let someone else step up, and collaboration — if you come from team sports, you know these things already.”
Its clear that athletes enjoy a wide variety of advantages in college, but it is the longer lasting benefits that truly set athletes apart.
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Great article and definitely worth reading! Keep up the good work on this site.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:33 am
As a former hiring manager at a large money-center bank, I can attest that the most impressive college graduates were those who played college sports. They were prepared for the interview and they had a number of qualities that I was looking for. Among those were time management skills, competitive drive, willingness to prepare properly, being team players, and persistence to get the job done. Finally, I could never hire those impressive individuals. Why? My lousy bank didn’t pay enough. Those graduates always had 3 or more other job offers that paid more!