The choice of a sport, particularly boxing, to use as a metaphor for the study of a critical aspect of leadership, specifically the construction industry, may strike some as strange.
Even acknowledging serious failings in the sport of boxing in recent years, there are few activities that have played a more transcendent role in modern life than boxing. Few other sports over the decades touch big business and entertainment to the same extent.
Boxing is the great leveller and in this respect it is the most democratic of all sports.
In the words of Nelson Mandela, “Boxing is egalitarian. In the ring, rank, age, colour and wealth are irrelevant. When you are circling your opponent, probing strength and weakness, you are not thinking about his colour or social status.”
Muhammad Ali would be considered as one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Sadly, Ali refused to retire at the high point of his career.
However, there is an ending to Ali’s story that if not happy is at least bright and inspirational, and it is from this ending that we may draw our lessons about leadership, business and life in general.
Following his retirement from the ring, Ali pursued numerous business and philanthropic interests.
He also played a highly visible role as a fundraiser for medical research and treatment. He served as spokesperson for the National Parkinson Foundation until his death on June 3, 2016. He testified twice before Congress appealing for increased federal funding to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
He sponsored the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Centre at the Barrow Neurological Institute and raised money for numerous Parkinson’s related causes as well as muscular dystrophy and many other diseases.
In the later years, he spearheaded a campaign to raise $70 million dollars for the Muhammad Ali Center, a four-level museum in his hometown of Louisville, Ken., dedicated to “helping young people understand they can be whatever they wish to be regardless of any obstacles.”
As it applies to these difficult times that we are presently facing in business, Ali also survived because of his remarkable knack for reinventing himself.
During his boxing career Ali never shunned controversy, but somehow through that process he learned the art of influencing people. Once a symbol of the racial tension that divided America, he became a symbol of the hope that these old differences may be put aside.
Old enemies have been won over and today he is one of the most widely liked and admired Americans of his generation.
None of this is to suggest that Ali is some sort of plaster saint. However, Ali provides conclusively that a leader need not forever be haunted by the ghosts of early and premature decline.
The construction industry is known for its great philanthropy.
Many fortunes have been made and donated to hospitals and many other organizations that benefit the citizens of so many parts of the world.
The construction industry is a welcoming community that some may describe as the lifeblood of the economy.
As in the case of boxing and Ali, the construction industry demands mental toughness, which requires positive thinking and positive action. It thrives on constant challenge and seeks out obstacles over which to triumph. Thus, it goes beyond a “can do” attitude.
It is the desire to seek out, confront and conquer adversity. A positive mental attitude builds character.
It requires an understanding that problems can be solved through hard work and creative thinking, perhaps not always, but certainly in enough cases to justify the effort whenever a crisis presents itself.
I am truly grateful to have been a small part of the construction family for the last 45 years and will continue to work hard in promoting a successful future for the industry.
Stephen Bauld is a government procurement expert and can be reached at swbauld@purchasingci.com. Some of his columns may contain excerpts from The Municipal Procurement Handbook published by Butterworths.
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