Performance and resilience: elite sport skills that propel professional careers

Resilience as a driver of progress with Rouguy Diallo (SKEMA 2018), athlete, bronze medallist at the 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships 

In her testimony, Rouguy explains how, for her, resilience is not just about “holding on” in the face of adversity, but also about evolving and becoming stronger.

How do you turn moments of adversity into important stepping stones towards lasting progress, rather than simply overcoming them?

For me, adversity isn't just a hurdle to overcome, it's an opportunity to progress and push myself further. Every failure, every injury, every moment of doubt has allowed me to come back stronger. Without the right mindset, success is impossible, and my greatest strength is being a hard worker.

The demands of my sporting career have influenced my personal organisation. At one point I wondered whether I should give up my studies, but in the end I persevered and graduated with distinction. This balance between sport and study taught me how to handle pressure and persevere. And beyond sport, I wanted to turn the difficulties I had faced into opportunities by creating Bookcamp, a platform to facilitate training camps for athletes.

Champions are forged in adversity, and the key is not just to overcome it, but to turn it into a strength to carry you further.

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Redefining performance with Nicolas D'Oriano (SKEMA 2024), swimmer, French national champion in the men’s 400 m medley in 2016.

Retiring as a professional athlete isn’t just a matter of adapting. It requires you to completely redefine what “performance” means.

How have you redefined performance in your new career, and what parallels do you draw with your past as an athlete?

In my career as an elite athlete, peak performance was what I strived for every day. My performance was measured in pool lengths, seconds and medals. Today, as a private banker, performance is still paramount, but it is now based on the quality of the advice I give, the pursuit of financial returns and the optimisation of assets.

In swimming, performance is achieved in an instant, but is based on years of preparation. As a swimmer, I wanted to be the best every day, bearing in mind that the Olympic Games only take place every four years and require just as much preparation. So there was already this idea of long-term management: finding the best balance between daily effort and the need to avoid burning out. The parallel with asset management is obvious. You don't build a share portfolio in one day by investing in one stock. The aim is to maximise returns while optimising performance over the long term.

Continuous improvement is also a fundamental common denominator. In swimming, every detail counts: body position during the dive, efficiency of movement, breath management… You spend years perfecting your technique and adapting to physical changes and ageing. In wealth management, asset engineering requires the same rigour: constant monitoring, adapting to regulatory changes, and constantly looking for ways to optimise in order to best serve our clients.

Another thing is that, in sport, we often work as a coach/swimmer duo. Relationships and trust are key. In wealth management, we also work as a duo: manager/client. But let's just say I'm now the one on the outside of the pool.

As you can see, I'm constantly trying to apply what I've learnt in sport to the world of wealth management, where good performance depends not only on results, but also on anticipation, adaptability, and trust built over time.

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The role of discipline and rigour with Léa Riccoboni (SKEMA 2018), triathlete, amateur Ironman world champion Nice 2024

What makes you stay the course despite the pressure? Organisation, commitment, consistency, training, visualisation. Léa shares with us the key elements of her preparation and the conditioning required to perform.

Triathlon is a demanding sport. What are some of its key lessons that can be applied to the corporate world?

I'd start with competitiveness, but perhaps not in the most obvious sense. The first thing people tend to think of is exogenous competitiveness, the kind that depends on our competitors and pushes us to be better than them. But in my view, competitiveness should above all be endogenous; in other words, it should make us want to stretch ourselves to become the best version of ourselves.

In any case, this is my mantra in triathlon: I seek maximum optimisation of my body and constant improvement of my performance. I believe that this quest for continuous improvement should apply to all areas of life and be a powerful driving force in the professional world as well.

Another lesson from endurance sports is that "alone you may go faster, but together you go further". The importance of teamwork, with complementary talents and open-mindedness, is crucial to progress. In the professional world, it's just as important to understand each person's strengths and "weaknesses", to organise them and direct them towards a common goal - one that is rewarding for everyone.

Finally, I believe that there are two elements that are fundamental to any project: enthusiasm and discipline. Enthusiasm is contagious; it fosters team spirit and helps to create a group dynamic. Discipline, on the other hand, builds good habits in the long term and takes over when motivation fails. These two pillars are necessary to stay the course, whether on the sports field or in the professional world.

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Dealing with pressure and extreme environments with Benjamin Ferré (SKEMA 2015), a navigator and skipper who finished 16th in the Vendée Globe 2024 

Preparing an ambitious project in an uncertain context requires a great capacity to adapt. In an ocean race, as in any major undertaking, you have to be able to anticipate difficulties, manage fatigue and make decisions under pressure. 

How do you keep your wits about you and make the right decisions in the face of unexpected events and critical moments?

The key to managing pressure in an environment as demanding as ocean racing is anticipation. You have to stay one step ahead by imagining possible scenarios and planning solutions before problems arise. This has taught me to structure my decision making and prioritise what is important so that I don’t get overwhelmed by the emergency.

Fatigue is another big challenge. In any long-term endeavour, whether at sea or in a professional setting, it's important to know how to manage your energy levels and stamina. I approach it like a marathon: I maintain a steady pace, accept that things won't be perfect, but always make sure I'm moving forward.

Finally, surrounding yourself with the right people and trusting them is a crucial factor. Even if I'm alone on my boat at sea, there's a whole team behind me that helped me prepare and is there to support me. In the professional world, it's the same: nobody succeeds alone. Upstream work, training and mindset are the real pillars of success in the face of challenges.

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Thank you to our alumni for their valuable contributions and inspiring insights.