Involve Yourself in Sports to Become a Leader!

In 2024, Paris hosted the most important competition series of the year, the 33rd Summer Olympic Games. In connection with the fact that the greatest gathering of athletes from all around the world takes place in France, the Hungarian Campus of the French ESSCA School of Management International hosted, in cooperation with the French Institute of Budapest, a roundtable discussion this spring on how involvement in sports can actually be beneficial to develop the managerial skills of current and future business leaders.

“As we have a long-lasting relationship with the French Institute, I sat down with its director thinking of possible joint programs that we can propose to the French-speaking population of Hungary to show that we are very proud of the French origin of both of the institutions, also orienting the attention of the Hungarian people to France and also to the French Olympic Games,” Campus Director Professor Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray tells Diplomacy&Trade.

The advantages of practicing sports
Explaining the topic of the roundtable discussion, Dr. Jean Charroin, the CEO and Dean of ESSCA School of Management, is of the view that sport improves the collective interpersonal skills. “Whether it’s individual sport or collective (team) sport, in fact, always keep in mind that success will result from making an effort one after the other. Thus, I think one of the major assets of practicing sports is to understand that sooner or later, if you want to achieve a result, you have to dedicate yourself. For people willing to act as responsible entrepreneurs or leaders, it's very important to have in mind these notions of effort and discipline,” he points out.
He adds that, in the end, there's an additional lesson, which is very interesting: you face either success or failure. It means that in terms of capacities, in terms of mindset, you must be able to analyze what the drivers of your success or failure were. And this is the same for the collective or team sports where you have to find the solution together with the others, the teammates. On the other hand, I believe that sport is also important in everyday life, practicing sports every week is the best way to have a balanced life.”

Not just talking about it
The ESSCA leaders can also speak from personal experience when it comes to sports. Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray stresses that she swims quite a lot. “I also play table tennis, and I walk quite a lot with my son in the forest, including hiking and several exercises.”
As for Dr. Jean Charroin, he practiced triathlon (swimming, running and cycling) in Switzerland. “Not at a very high level, but in fact, for me, it was a relief, because when you're the CEO, when you're the dean of an institution of now with more than 600 people, you may encounter problems to solve every day. I believe that practicing sports may help a lot if you wish to have a fresh view of the problems and clear thinking. I practiced triathlon with a very high intensity 10 years ago. Now, I'm getting older, but I still practice triathlon for almost six hours every week. As my schedule is very tight, I only have time for it between 6 and 7 o’clock in the morning most of the time, so, I get up quite early.”
Actually, the participants of the roundtable discussion also included academic people, professors who not just conduct research on the subject but could talk from personal experience as well. Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray mentions a professor and an associate professor from ESSCA who were there to analyze data empirically; an ESSCA alumnus who founded his own business after graduation and thus, he could look at the issues discussed from a double perspective; the general manager of Morgan Stanley Hungary, who is actually a FIDE Candidate Master chess player, would detail how sports are influencing his managerial or leadership approaches; or the general manager of Accace who is doing sports for fun because he feels the positive impact of sports on his professional work.

Values – not only in sports
As the Dean explains, they are always willing to adapt the curriculum of their studies to the benefit of sports so that students may have a second life different from the academic one. “We encourage this type of approach because we believe that sooner or later, this will help them when they look for an internship, look for a job or even when they are actually given professional responsibilities in company.”
For strengthening the competitive side of students, he mentions the annual contest ESSCA organizes with the participation of the six campuses they have in France: three days of competition in football (soccer), basketball, running, etc. “It's very stimulating because if they want to be the winner, they have to practice, they have to be committed to sports practice every week. It also reinforces a sense of belonging in the students. With this contest, they realize that they are part of a larger institution and that they share sports values – values that come handy in other fields of life, including work: responsible behavior, competing in a fair and humble way, etc. One must be reliable because the other ones are expecting a lot from you and you must live up to the expectations.”

Strengthening cooperation in sporting fields
In March 2023, at the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Campus of the ESSCA School of Management, the French Institute in Budapest signed a partnership and cooperation framework agreement with the ESSCA Hungary Foundation. The Institute’s director, Pierre Pedico believes “there is no doubt that the bilateral projects between our two institutions will help strengthen academic relations between our two countries and promote French excellence in the region. We sincerely hope to see ESSCA continue its development while preserving the high standards of quality education for which it is renowned. Of course, the French Institute reiterates its support for this path and hopes to continue to see many ESSCA students evolve further amongst our companies, whether in Hungary or in France.”
Speaking of the topic of the roundtable discussion, he asserts that sports and sport diplomacy are very important for the French Institute. “To celebrate the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in July and August 2024, we intend to strengthen our cooperation in sporting fields. Taking stock of the existing situation, liaising with the Hungarian authorities for major sporting events, establishing contact with high-level French athletes in Hungary and encouraging meetings of young people and athletes are now on our roadmap.”
Pierre Pedico, who played rugby when he was a student in SW France and now goes jogging regularly to keep in good shape, is also of the view that sports activities by managers influence their management and leadership skills and approaches. These, he says, include developing team spirit (as team sports encourage cooperation, communication and coordination); problem-solving and decision-making under pressure (as sports often require quick and effective decisions under pressure); stress management and resilience (as athletes learn to deal with the pressure of competition and failure); setting and achieving objectives (as athletes are used to setting ambitious goals and working systematically to achieve them); and leadership and inspiration (as many sports provide opportunities to develop leadership skills).