Margaret Omotayo Sanni Alphonsi didn’t have the easiest start in life.
Raised by a single mother on a council estate in north London, Margaret suffered from a condition called Talipes Equinovarus (TEV), better known as clubfoot, a birth defect in her right foot that caused her to limp.
As a child, she spent several years in and out of the hospital with doctors desperately trying to straighten her foot, but to no avail.
A few decades later, with unparalleled dedication and resilience, Margaret overcame the limitations of her condition and transformed herself into Maggie “The Machine” Alphonsi.
Margaret is now a Hall of Fame rugby union player who represented England on no fewer than 74 memorable occasions, scoring 28 thrilling tries and was a key figure in the England team that won the 2014 World Cup in France.
She even helped the team win seven consecutive Guinness Six Nations Championships — a groundbreaking record that still stands today.
After retiring from rugby in 2014, Maggie began a track and field career and competed in shot put. Shortly after retiring from professional sport two years later, she began commentating on live rugby matches and appeared on various television shows — from The One Show to Children In Need.
Based on the many lessons she’s learned from her illustrious rugby career, Maggie shares five sports tips you can apply to your business today.
1. Creating high performing teams
Tip: Find your “why” and share it with your team.
“Since reading Patrick Lencioni’s book The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team, I have applied it throughout my rugby career,” says Maggie.
The book, famously used by NFL coaches in the US, details the challenges teams face as they grow together.
But ironically, it was Simon Sinek’s business book Start With Why that really propelled Maggie to the forefront of international sporting success.
“When we won the World Cup in 2014, our team needed to understand each other’s ‘why’ — why we were motivated to do what we do,” she says.
“My ‘why’ has changed over the years. When I played rugby I wanted to do well so I could make my mother proud. As a single mother, she pretty much gave up her life for my success.
“Once you have a clear “why,” nothing can stand in your way. It keeps you motivated.”
Top takeaway food
This is where your origin story comes into play.
Take some time to reflect and consider what motivated you to start your business in the first place. Share (or re-share) your vision and mission with your team and set some business goals that align with it.
This process can potentially transform a task-oriented team into a goal-oriented, high-performing team.
2. Use data and insights to prepare
Tip: Take a data-driven approach to your business performance
Maggie is no stranger to crunching numbers and applying the results to her performance — both as a player and as a sports commentator.
“As a player, I was often provided with a lot of data and insights that helped me prepare for games — for example, my workload in the gym and on the pitch in terms of how many passes and tackles I made, how many meters I got “I ran and…” so on,” she says.
“It was important for me to find a way to process all the insights and figure out how they affect my performance the next day.
“For example, let’s say I worked really hard in the gym or on the field yesterday. The data insights may indicate that I may need rest and recovery today.
“Similarly, before commentating on a game, I take data from previous games and translate it into themes. This definitely adds to the viewer experience as they get more than just a game. They gain knowledge, expertise and things they can even talk about in the pub. Now they can say a team is great not just because of that, but because they do A, B and C.”
Top takeaway food
Collect data that is critical to the lifeline of your business, such as: B. Cash flow, profit margin and the cost of acquiring a new customer.
Tracking your data is one thing, but it’s equally important to look for trends that influence your approach to marketing, product development, and resource allocation.
Always be prepared to adjust your strategy as you find new information.
3. Celebrate victories
Tip: Mark all your business milestones
Celebrating a business milestone provides motivation and momentum, says Maggie, so it’s important to recognize all of your successes, “even if they’re small.”
It is also a rejuvenation treatment for you and your team.
She says: “If you don’t celebrate your successes you feel like you’re on a treadmill, which is quite tiring because as an athlete you never know when the next break will come.”
“Acknowledge your victories, then get some rest before you go back out.”
Top takeaway food
Set milestones that document your company’s progress, such as: B. reaching break-even, attracting repeat business customers and diversifying your product or service line.
Make it a habit to celebrate all your victories. You can always highlight your achievements in a variety of ways, including team meetings, newsletters, social media, and the like.
Once you reach a milestone, you can also schedule some time off for yourself and your team to relax so that you are all refreshed and ready for the next challenge. Anyone interested in a team away day?
4. Overcome challenges
Tip: Adopt a mindset of continuous development
During her athletic years, Maggie didn’t find it particularly difficult to bounce back from defeat, even a big one.
“Strangely enough, I found it easy to get back up after the low points of my rugby career,” she says.
“My natural mindset was to get back in the gym and on the training pitch to show what I was really capable of.
“I watched the game, analyzed my performance, thought about all the practical things I could do to improve in the next game and spent my time working on those areas. That’s how I would normally get back on my feet.”
The bigger challenge for Maggie was falling into complacency after winning.
She says: “After a win you can rest on your laurels a little. You almost become complacent. So in my eyes I was always number two. I was never number one.
“That way, I always tried to be better than I was the day before.”
Top takeaway food
In business, constant improvement is the order of the day — whether it’s your skills, products or services.
To stay one step ahead, it’s important to become your biggest critic by continually making an honest assessment of your company’s performance — flaws and all. Then invest in courses, tools, and training and encourage your team to participate. If you lead the way, they will most likely follow.
5. Find support to improve business performance
Tip: Find trusted advisors who will challenge you to think differently.
“Coaches gave me different knowledge, expertise, perspectives and different approaches,” says Maggie.
“Interestingly, the coaches who had the biggest influence on me weren’t the ones who told me what to do, but rather the ones who challenged my thinking and knew the right questions to ask to get me to think .
“They largely left it up to me to develop my own skills, and they didn’t always feel the need to give me the answers. Personally, I think it’s better to give people the opportunity to experience some autonomy and figure things out for themselves.”
Top takeaway food
Start looking for a business mentor, especially one who is known for his outside-the-box thinking and outstanding results.
It could be an accountant who not only assists you with tax returns and compliance requirements, but also gives you advice that can help you grow your business.
Then there are business mentors and coaches who can provide advice and help you put plans in place to keep your business moving in the right direction.
Do you need help with payroll or managing your employees? Look no further than HR and payroll experts who are in the perfect position to help you address the challenges in these areas.
But remember, be prepared to be open and receptive to probing questions that encourage you to reflect on your talent, skills, work ethic, and results.
Final thoughts
Finding the right support for your business is only half the battle. Then it’s up to you to bring all of these resources together and make them useful for your business.
Here are Maggie’s three top tips to help you stay focused both in and out of the boardroom.
“Firstly, as a leader it is really important to treat people as individuals and not as a collective. Approach each person you meet individually, get to know them as best you can and find out what makes them tick,” she says.
“Certain people have seasons. There is a time to put your arm around her, another time to squeeze her, and another time to pull her.
“Second, get out of your comfort zone. When leaders do this regularly, they indirectly encourage the people around them to do the exact same thing.
“Third, create ‘Team YOU.’ In other words, surround yourself with people who are doing their best to help you become the best version of yourself.”
For some business purists, sports and business are completely different disciplines and the two will never come together.
However, this perspective ignores the many valuable business lessons that some elite athletes, past and present, can teach us.
After all, there is no shortage of sports personalities who have made the transition to entrepreneurship and other business ventures — often precisely because of the skills they have honed over the course of their sports careers.
Maggie is just one of them.
