You Gotta Believe

“Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.” 
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart 

We love meeting athletes from universities who have adopted Podium X. The students we work with through our WIN workshops are smart, strong, resilient, and really, really, talented. Whatever their sport, they take on the toughest competitors with well-earned confidence.  

So we’re surprised – astonished, even – when that confidence doesn’t carry over to their career plans. Many student athletes worry that they don’t have the work experience employers are looking for. They’ve been so focused on their athletic careers that they didn’t have time to take on internships and other opportunities that build resumes and supposedly make them attractive to the companies they want to work for.  

But here’s what we know about employers: they hire for attitude, then train for skills.  

Business is no different from sports, in that way. There are two components to success: talent and skills. Talent is what makes you fast. Skills is about how you run the route or the play. Talent is innate; skills are learned.  

Hiring managers understand that. They’re looking for raw material, a worker with the right attitude who’s also trainable. Who will work hard at mastering what’s needed to get the job done. 

A student athlete has all the right qualities: coachability, grit, determination, a strong work ethic, a no-quit attitude. The same qualities that made you a success on the playing field will also make you a success in your next career.  

Believe in yourself and trust your employer to train you for the role you’ll be taking on, just as you trusted your coaches to build the skills you needed to win.  

Podium X was built to highlight the whole student athlete, from personal qualities to transferrable skills to athletic accomplishments.