Throughout high school and college, athletic ability can get you a long ways.  From grades to dating to general popularity, being a prominent member of an athletic team significantly enhances your quality of life while in school.  The advantages athletes receive aren’t fair, but those who are not athletes are comforted by the idea that when school is over and they enter the “real world”, how well you can shoot a basketball or how far you can throw a football will no longer matter.  But after my experiences this past month, I’m convinced athletic ability is just as beneficial in the corporate world as it is in high school and college.

Every March in Columbus, Ohio, the city hosts a basketball tournament called “The Corporate Challenge”.  Every company in the surrounding area is invited to join in this giant tournament, and teams are placed in divisions based on the size of their companies.  When I was invited to join my companies team, I was both surprised and excited.  I’m a decent enough athlete, but our company is gigantic and I have been there less than a year, so I didn’t know if the people in charge of choosing the team would know who I was, let alone deem me good enough to play on their team.  I gladly accepted the invite and prayed I wouldn’t make them regret choosing me.

When I met my team for our first game, it was extremely intimidating.  Not because they were great athletes, but because they were huge names in our company.  Our center was the Vice President of my department.  Our backup PG was the head of the auditing department.  All in all I would be running up and down the court with guys who could determine my future in the company.  Fortunately, I played pretty well and so did the team.  We narrowly lost in the semi finals to the eventual champs and finished in third place.  I managed to not embarrass myself and even make a few big plays of my own.  Good times were had all around.  But what I gained from the experience went way beyond the basketball court.

As usually happens on any kind of athletic team, bonds were formed during our five day tournament.  Suddenly these company big wigs who didn’t know my name a week ago were including me in daily emails and stopping me in the hall to say hi.  When I saw them in the gym or at lunch they were asking if I saw the Cavs game the night before and talking to me about whatever recent horrible decision the Browns had made.  I was even asked to play in a weekly basketball league with several of them.  It was unbelievable.

As I’ve talked about on here before, the company I work for is being hit hard by the recession.  Layoffs are rampant and no ones job is 100 percent safe right now.  In times like this, any advantage you can get could mean the difference between keeping your job or being laid off.  I believe the new relationships I have formed as a result of playing in a basketball tournament have given me a huge advantage.  If a new round of layoffs comes up, and the higher ups are deciding between me and ten guys they have never met, suddenly the odds have swung heavily in my favor.  Chances are they know very little about any of our job performances, but they now know me personally.  They know I’m a team player, competitive and a pretty fun guy to spend time with outside of work.  How could this not work in my favor? 

This isn’t an article to tell you that you need to participate in your companies athletic events to advance (or survive) in your career.  In fact, if you aren’t athletic, I’d tell you not to participate in any serious work related athletic events as it could have the reverse effect.  But if you are reasonably athletic and could contribute to your companies team, you should do anything you can to be a part of the team consisting of the most higher ups in your company.

Athletic ability is a tool that can be used strategically to advance your career, just like any other work related skill.