World class competitors may be fierce while on the floor but are often friendly off the floor. It’s a good lesson to help us see past corporate competition.
If you ever watch the Olympics, or really any serious sporting competition, notice how the athletes treat each other off the floor. It might surprise some watchers to see people from different teams being very friendly towards each other, even when there’s fierce competition.
You’re not going to see the Ukrainian rooting for the Russians, but if you look at other intense rivalries, like the US / Australia swimming rivalry in the 2024 Olympics, you’ll see them hugging and congratulating the people they’re trying to beat. You might have caught Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade trading well wishes, hugs, or high fives.
The reality is these worlds are pretty small. Sure, there may be tens of thousands of young girls aspiring to be the next gold medal gymnast, but in most sports there aren’t that many people, especially at the top level. When you look at college athletics, you’re often competing against many of the same people event after event. At the national or international level there are usually a few dozen teams or people serious at the level and you see them year after year at the events.
While we see the competition floor on TV there’s a lot of downtime between rounds. During a weekend when you travel, you often have the night afterwards in the same place as other athletes. You get to know them and become friends with them. If you’re really at the top level, how many other people in the world can relate to the hours upon hours of training you do? Not your family, not your other friends, just your teammates and your competition.
I remember queuing up for a round at national ballroom championships and realized everyone in line was a friend of mine. They were my competitors in this particular event (and many others) but also my friends. In the ballroom world if you’re in a different heat from your competition, it’s not uncommon to cheer on the very people you’re competing directly against.
What does this have to do with our jobs? These competitors know that on the floor you want to beat, maybe even crush, your opponents; but off the floor it’s a different world. Your on-court opposition is a colleague, or even a friend.
Jobs are short, careers are long. At my parties I had two friends who worked at the Burger King and McDonald’s of their industry, direct competitors. But at the parties they were friendly and got to know each other. Few other people at the party understood what they did as well as they both did. Both left their firms, so are no longer competing, but still know each other.
Competitive ballroom was one of the best things I did. Not only was it fun, but I also made a number of lifelong friends, including some who were my competition. Compete on the floor, but as soon as you step off, realize how much you have in common. It applies in the workplace, too. You probably have more in common with people at your rival companies than most people on the planet.
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