You still have to earn your place

No elite athlete thinks they can get to the top without going through the process.

If you're playing in the academy, you don't expect to be selected for the senior international team.

If you've just won an under-18 national title, you don't expect to be standing on an Olympic podium a year later.

You know you have to earn your next opportunity.

Every level prepares you for the next one.

That's development.

But outside sport, many athletes lose that mindset. The expectation changes:

• The first business has to succeed.
• The first investment has to pay off.
• The first opportunity has to be the right one.
• The first hire has to transform the business.

This week, I was talking to a professional athlete who is building a business alongside her playing career.

Our conversation wasn't really about the business. It was about the process. The same process she'd trusted throughout her sporting career.

I wasn't particularly interested in how she was going to build the finished business. I wanted to know 

What does the next level look like?

What do you need to prove before you've earned the right to take the next step?

Elite sport understands that progress is built by earning the next opportunity. The levels don't disappear when you leave sport.

The best athletes never try to skip the process.

I'm not sure why so many try to do exactly that in business.