Ask a former athlete what sport taught her, and you'll usually get a long list. Showing up when you're exhausted. Taking criticism without falling apart. Playing through a rough first half and still finding a way to win. Most of us don't think of those lessons as career skills. They feel like things that happened to us on the field.
They don't stay there, though. The captain who learned to speak up in the locker room often grows into the person who speaks up in the boardroom. The habits that helped you hold your nerve in a close game can help you hold it in a job interview or a tough performance review. The catch is that these skills don't always carry over on their own, and that's where professional coaching can help.
What the research says about athletes at work
Much of the conversation about athletes and leadership traces back to a 2014 EY and espnW survey of 400 women executives from around the world. In that survey, 94% of respondents had participated in sport. The figure is often described as a C-suite statistic, but the original release reports it for all respondents. The majority (52%) of C-suite women played sport at the university level, and just 3% had not played any sport.
Those numbers show a connection, not a cause. Sport doesn't guarantee a corner office, and the survey can't prove that playing caused anyone's success. What it does show is where these women felt sport had helped. The top three areas where sport has played a very significant role in developing or improving leadership skills are seeing projects through to completion, motivational skills, and team building. The most important contributors to their current career success are persistence, ambition and drive, and confidence. C-suite women also put a particular premium on the discipline sport requires, compared with other respondents.
A more recent picture comes from a 2023 Deloitte survey of 1,100 currently and previously employed Americans. Among surveyed women who played sports, 85% said the skills they developed playing sports were important to success in their professional careers. The findings are even higher among women in leadership roles (91%) and women who make $100,000 or more (93%). According to respondents who have played competitive sports, the top skills gained from competitive sports include teamwork (69%) and leadership (41%). Other skills include managing stress and pressure (36%), problem solving (35%), and effective communication (34%).
Where the transfer breaks down
Here's the part people don't talk about enough. Many former athletes walk into a new job feeling confident about their work ethic and quietly unsure about everything else. On the field, the scoreboard told you where you stood. At work, nobody hands you a stat sheet, so it's easy to wonder whether you earned your seat or just got lucky.
In 1978, psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes described this experience in high-achieving women and called it the impostor phenomenon. Today most people call it imposter syndrome. Whatever you call it, it can keep a strong performer quiet in meetings, away from stretch assignments, and stuck in endless over-preparation.
If you're also adjusting to life after competition, the transition can add another layer. I wrote about the identity side of that change in Life After Sports: Navigating Retirement as a Former Athlete.
Therapy vs. coaching: what's the difference?
Therapy and coaching both support people, but they aren't the same thing. Therapy is clinical. It treats mental health conditions, works through past experiences, and can diagnose and treat issues like anxiety or depression. Coaching is non-clinical and forward-focused. It starts with where you want to go, what's getting in the way, and which skills you need to build.
A coach won't diagnose you or treat a condition. If anxiety or stress is affecting your sleep, your health, or your ability to get through the day, start with a licensed clinician. Coaching can run alongside that care, or come later, once your goal is growth and performance. Coaching is typically a private-pay service, so check with your insurance provider before you book.
Where coaching makes the biggest difference
Imposter syndrome
Coaching gives you a structured way to look at the evidence. Instead of "I got lucky," you learn to track what you actually did, what feedback you received, and what results followed. Think of it as film review for your career. You're not trying to hype yourself up. You're trying to see your record clearly.
Anxiety
Athletes learn to turn nerves into focus, and professionals can learn the same skill. A coach can help you build a pre-meeting routine, rehearse a difficult conversation, and separate what's really at stake from how scary the moment feels. That said, coaching works on skills, not symptoms. If your anxiety is constant or severe, see a therapist first.
Low self-confidence
Confidence rarely grows from a pep talk. It grows from reps. A coach can help you practice speaking up in a meeting, asking for a raise, or giving tough feedback to someone on your team, then review what worked and what you'll try next time.
Communication and leadership
In the 2014 EY survey, when asked to rate different aspects of their leadership skills, the top three most effective aspects were problem solving, communication skills, and adaptability. All of them are learnable. Leadership coaching often starts with an honest look at how you come across, especially in high-pressure moments when old habits tend to take over.
Professional growth and performance
Research on executive coaching is still growing, but the early signs are encouraging. A 2023 meta-analysis of 20 randomized controlled trials found significant positive effects for some specific outcomes, such as self-efficacy, psychological capital, and resilience. The authors note that previous meta-analyses pointed out the lack of a clear conceptual framework for categorizing coaching outcomes, so treat this as a promising picture rather than a final verdict.
What working with a coach looks like
Professional coaching usually begins with a conversation about your goals and what isn't working right now. From there, you'll name your strengths, choose two or three skills to focus on, and agree on practice you'll do between sessions. Progress comes from trying new things at work.
Sessions are offered virtually throughout Massachusetts and nationwide, so location doesn't have to be a barrier. To see how it's structured, start with my mental performance coaching services. You can also learn more about my background as a former NCAA Division I athlete and licensed clinical social worker on the about page.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Therapy is clinical and treats mental health conditions. Coaching is non-clinical and focuses on goals, skills, and performance. Many people use both at different points in their lives.
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Usually not. Coaching is typically a private-pay service, so check with your provider before you book.
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It can help you examine the evidence behind your self-doubt and practice showing up differently. It isn't a treatment for a clinical condition, so talk with a clinician if the feelings are intense or affecting your health.
Your sport taught you to keep showing up, to hear feedback without flinching, and to perform when it counts. Those skills didn't retire when you hung up your cleats. With the right support, you can keep sharpening them at work and in everyday life.
If you're ready to talk, reach out through the contact page. Tell me a little about what you're working on, and I'll follow up personally to talk through next steps.
If you're ever struggling with thoughts of harming yourself, please call or text 988 in the United States right away. Coaching isn't crisis care, and you deserve support from someone who can be with you in that moment.