6 Leadership Lessons I’ve Learned From Playing Hockey
Hockey requires practice, resilience and passion - and so does great leadership. Here are six lessons I've learned from the sport that push me to be a better leader
By | Jonathan Kirschner | www.entrepreneur.com
I’ve been a hockey player almost as long as I’ve been alive, with many of my formative years spent learning fundamentals on the ice that, believe it or not, would ultimately influence how I operate today as a CEO.
Much of my leadership today is guided by the lessons I’ve learned — and continue to learn — playing hockey: how to lose and stay resilient, how to win and remain humble, and what it means to be part of a team.
Here are six lessons I’ve learned about leading from playing hockey:
1. If you want to play the game, you have to put in the work
Every week during hockey season when I was a kid, I’d drag myself out of bed in the dead of winter, throw on some clothes in the dark, and make my way to the rink for our 5 a.m. practices. There were some mornings when I would much rather have stayed in bed and slept in, but I knew the rule: if I didn’t go to practice, I didn’t get to play.
In business, we often become enamored by the action of the “game.” It’s the fun part: We are coming up with exciting ideas, selling new products and closing career-altering deals. But great results require great discipline — they require practice.