Why We Use Sport to Teach Leadership Development
My Story: From Playing Everything to Leading Something Different
I’ve played it all, football, rugby, hockey, golf, swimming, tennis, squash, badminton, even ten-pin bowling. If it had a pitch, a pool, or a racquet, I wanted in.
I spent 20 years in sport before I ever touched business. Playing, coaching, studying Sport and Exercise Science, convinced I'd stay in that world forever.
Then life threw me into digital transformation and tech leadership.
At first, it felt like a complete pivot. But I quickly realised something: Leadership in business faces the same challenges as leadership in sport only business hasn't caught up.
That's what Syncity exists to fix. We combine agile delivery, performance psychology, and data-driven insight with sports leadership principles creating a modern leadership development system that works in the real world.
The Massive Mistake Business Keeps Making
In sport, players and coaches are different careers. You don't become a manager because you were the best on the pitch, you become one because you understand the game differently.
But in business? We promote people based on performance, not leadership. You hit your targets, so now you're managing five people. No training. No transition period. Just more pressure.
That's the trap most founders fall into. You're still playing when you should be coaching. Still executing when you should be leading.
Syncity's leadership coaching programme is built to help you make that shift, separating and defining your role as the coach of your team, not another player on the field.
Football: The Myth of the Natural Leader
Football is the most popular sport in the world, but even here, the pattern is clear:
The best players rarely become the best managers.
Gerrard. Lampard. Rooney. All legends on the pitch.
But in the dugout? Mixed results.
Meanwhile, the likes of Ferguson, Mourinho, and Howe were average players yet exceptional leaders.
Because coaching is a different skillset.
In business, we forget this.
We promote based on performance, not leadership.
And that’s where things fall apart.
NFL: Two Different Careers, By Design
In the NFL, coaching and playing are treated as completely separate paths.
Most head coaches never played in the league.
Some were solid college athletes. Others barely played at all.
And that’s by design.
You don’t need to be a star on the field to lead a team from the sideline.
You need strategy, structure, clarity and the ability to get the best out of others.
Business could learn a lot from that.
Because leadership isn’t a promotion.
It’s a profession.
F1: Stay Off the Track, Lead from the Pit Wall
In Formula 1, the boss doesn’t touch the car.
They don’t do the pit stops.
They don’t drive the laps.
Their job is to lead.
To trust the driver.
To trust the crew.
To make smart, high-pressure decisions, based on data, not instinct.
The best F1 teams win because everyone knows their role.
No confusion. No overreach.
It’s a level of structure most businesses never reach because too many leaders are still jumping into the car.
Business could learn from all three. The best teams win because every role is clear and everyone trusts the system.
The White Line That Changes Everything
There's a physical line in every sport that separates two worlds: The white line at the edge of the pitch. The sideline. The dugout wall.
On one side: players execute. On the other: coaches lead.
That line is sacred. Players can't do the coach's job. Coaches can't play the game for them.
Most founders never step across that line. They're still on the pitch, still in the game, still trying to do both.
Syncity's leadership coaching helps you make that step back across the line, into the role only you can play: the one who sees the whole field, designs the system, and leads the team to win.
Why Sport Science Still Matters
My background isn't just in sport, it's in sport science and that's the bridge to leadership coaching in the AI era.
Elite teams don't just watch games. They analyse them:
Match stats and performance metrics (the what)
Reflections and team debriefs (the why)
That mix of data and dialogue is exactly what modern leaders need.
AI now gives founders the ability to see patterns that used to take whole backroom teams the blind spots, the opportunities, the edge. But it still takes a leader to interpret it and act.
That's what Syncity's leadership development programme teaches: how to use insight as leverage, not just information as noise.
Leadership Should Be Fun (and Competitive)
Yes, sport is serious. Yes, the pressure's real. But the reason we play in the first place? Because it's fun.
That's why Syncity's leadership coaching doesn't feel like corporate training. We use sport, team kits, tournaments, and challenges, not as gimmicks, but because structure with energy works.
People remember what they enjoy. They apply what sticks.
So while the format is fun, the outcome is serious: Clear structure. Team alignment. Consistent execution. The stuff that wins games and grows companies.
One Goal. Different Roles. Total Clarity.
Whether it's football, F1, or the NFL, the pattern holds:
Every great team is working toward one goal. But the roles aren't blurred. Players play. Coaches lead. Everyone knows what's expected.
That's the foundation Syncity is built on. You don't scale by playing every position you scale by becoming the coach who designs the system and leads the team to win.
Ready to step across the line?