Team athletes better employees?

fisHRman

Hey, just read an article saying that people who played on sports teams make better employees because they have learned life skills such as self-identity, decision making, goal settting, moral reasoning, and anger management. 

As someone who did both a team sport (baseball) and an individual sport (wrestling), I just think it is participating in sports, rather than the team aspect, that makes an employee more focused and productive.

Actually, I've never asked anyone I was interviewing if they played sports or what sports they played, but I've heard that some interviewers do.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? 

HR36

I don't know if personal experience is the absolute indicator of success, but for Gen X (and younger) employees/candidates I have found a clear relationship between playing sports and professional success. The employees I've hired who played sports (team or otherwise) tend to be more focussed, responsible, punctual, and take direction better than non-athletes. For the positions I have hired for, soccer players really stand out as exceptional employees. This may sound strange to the non-athlete, but it really has proven true in my experience.

Now when I see sports mentioned on an applicant's resume, I am more hopeful that they will be a good candidate. I should also say that other indicators of success (for me) are:

-working in a family business
-overcoming a disability or personal hardship
-low level jobs at a young age (i.e., food service, housekeeping or cashier at age 16), and then high level internships/entry jobs

I am interested to hear what others consider to be indicators of a good candidate!