Going for gold: the business of winning on and off the field, thanks to Visa.

In the lead up to the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Visa, a worldwide partner of the Olympic Games, ran a five-part business event series across Australia exclusively for CommBank Visa business customers, where Olympic champions and local business owners shared their inspiring stories and lessons from both business and sports arena.

The series featured eight time Olympic medallist Susie O’Neill, gold medal Olympic pole vaulter Steve Hooker, beach volleyball Olympian and now performance and mindset coach Kerri Pottharst, Olympic silver medal swimmer Eamon Sullivan, Olympic gold medallist for 100m hurdles Sally Pearson Hockeyroo Olympian and now a director of a performance and mindset consultancy Fiona Ryan, educator and performance coach for elite athletes Jeffrey Hodges, plus local business champions Fabian Ross from Perth, Brendan McKenzie from Warrnambool, Damian Schifferli from Busselton, Jed Newnham from Brisbane and Sharon Dawson from Cairns. The series has been hosted by freestyle skiing Olympic gold medallist and small business owner Lydia Lassila.

Visa’s Head of Marketing for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Natalie Lockwood, said: “As a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympics partner, we were delighted to bring the Business of Winning event series to CBA’s regional business customers in the lead up to Paris 2024. This was a unique opportunity to hear from inspiring sporting legends and business experts about what it takes to compete and win at the highest level.” 

Dominic Westendorf, CBA’s General Manager Regional and Agribusiness Banking for Victoria and Tasmania says the event series has been a great opportunity to see how learnings from sport and business can cross over.

“There are many parallels that can be drawn between the sport and business worlds - the importance of mindset, leadership, strategy, managing setbacks, recovery, and ultimately striving for success all resonate with leaders in both sport and business, and being able to work with Visa to share these insights with so many of our business customers across the country has been fantastic,” Dominic says.

The game plan for success

Lydia Lassila talked about her move from sports star to small business owner. She says there are three qualities that contributed to success in both fields.

“The first one is adaptability, which is about embracing change, pivoting when you need to and navigating through uncertainty. Second is teamwork, because for every superstar, every winning team, every business there is a team, whether they're seen or not, that is the backbone of success. And third, resilience - how do we bounce back from setback, and what kind of questions do you ask yourself when the chips are down, and your back is against the wall?

“There are some key learnings across those themes that really resonate when running a business and overlap with sporting success,” Lydia says.

Adapting is knowing what you’re aiming for

The ability to learn from setbacks and continuously improve is key to long-term success in both the sporting and business arena, and Steve Hooker says there are three questions you can ask to help you adapt and navigate towards long-term success.

“Firstly, ask ‘who are you?’, which helps get to the bottom of what you stand for, and what is important to you in life. Secondly, ask ‘what do you want?’, which makes you reflect on what you want to fill your life with, and then lastly ‘are you in control?’, which is what are the barriers that are standing in the way for those first two questions being realised. 

“Every four years or so I ask myself these questions to help find my purpose and know where I’m heading and what I might need to adapt or change to control the situation more. It’s worked for me in my sporting life, and now in my business life. These questions can help ground you and find a path in trying or challenging times,” Steve says.

Teaming up for triumph

A strong foundation of success in both sport and business often goes back to surrounding yourself with a solid team. Whether you're a superstar athlete making headlines or a solo business owner chasing your dreams and your passions, there's one thing that is true - you cannot do it alone.

Eamon Sullivan knows this to well, as a three time Olympian and now owner of several successful hospitality businesses in Perth.

“There needs to be some thought about who you surround yourself with and what they each bring to the table individually and in a team environment. Whether they’re your physiotherapist or accountant, they need to be the right fit for you."

“Teamwork is what you’re aiming for, but you’ve got to build the right team around you to get the right results,” Eamon says.

Bouncing back

Resilience helps athletes and business owners recover from setbacks, maintain focus under pressure, and persist in the face of challenges, and ultimately builds the strength and perseverance needed for long-term success. What separates the best from the rest is the ability to navigate the difficult times and maintain a positive mindset.

CommBank customer and Visa Business Debit cardholder, Fabian Ross, says one of the keys to building resilience is backing yourself in times of failure.

“Sometimes we can all have this real hesitancy around the fear of failure. What I've observed among business operators who do things really well is that they actually celebrate failure. They seek to understand what worked well and what didn't, and then bring that back into the environment, build on that and take those learnings to deliver a better product or a better outcome.

“Athletes do the same. It’s critical you embrace the failures, learn from your mistakes, and come back better prepared for next time,” Fabian says.

Support through the wins and losses

Dominic says the events series provided Visa Business Debit customers with some strong takeaways to implement into and grow their own businesses.

“Similar to Visa, CommBank also has a proud history of supporting business owners and sports stars alike throughout the ebbs and flows of their careers. I’m sure that highlighting the connection between these two fields throughout the series has given CommBank Visa business customers some great insights they can implement right into their everyday business operations, and really go for gold in their own fields,” Dominic says.