How Wrestling Builds Good Leaders

Success in wrestling takes sacrifice and commitment. It requires dedication on and off the mat, and the willingness to work hard—especially when no one is watching—to succeed.

Those with the will to succeed emerge as successful wrestlers—Helen Maroulis, Kyle Snyder, J'den Cox, Jordan Burroughs, and Cael Sanderson are examples of that. Those with the work ethic and strong character can translate wrestling success into leadership skills and life success. U.S. Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln wrestled. Pulitzer Prize-winner Dr. Norman Borlaug wrestled, and successful businessman Steve Forbes also wrestled. Across the country, businesses are full of former wrestlers who credit wrestling for teaching them how to become leaders off the mat.

Don’t fear failure

Jim Harshaw was a Division I All-America wrestler at Virginia and head coach at Slippery Rock and is currently Director and a coach with the Cavalier Wrestling Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is also the creator of the Success Through Failure Podcast series, where he interviews CEOs, millionaires, professional athletes, military leaders, and former wrestlers, to help reveal their path to success in life. He notes that successful leaders are not afraid to fail and that many wrestlers have failed, and failed again, before finding success.

"If you talk to any Olympic champion, they'll tell you stories of failure, like Helen Maroulis going 1-30 her first season," Harshaw says. "I like to share that Abraham Lincoln failed his first seven times at running for office. Failure is a necessary step in the learning process for developing leaders."

Leadership starts with self-discipline, Harshaw notes. "If you want to lead others you must first be able to lead yourself. When you do, you are viewed as a leader regardless of your title or official role."

Coaches should always make the effort to tie in lessons from the mat to lessons in life, Harshaw adds. The Cavalier Wrestling Clubs tagline is "Teaching life lessons through sport," and coaches consciously make an effort to tell stories of how what they're doing will help them be better leaders off the mat, he says.

"When I'm teaching something about position—say, when you're in on a shot—I'll talk about how anytime you put yourself in a good position, good things are more likely to happen,” Harshaw elaborates. “Whether you're taking a shot or studying for a test or applying to college, how you position yourself beforehand has everything to do with your long-term success."

Conor Fitzgerald, head wrestling coach of the Olathe (Kansas) South Falcons, was captain of the University of Central Missouri wrestling team in the mid-2000s. Fitzgerald knows winning on the mat doesn’t automatically make one a leader off the mat. But the characteristics of winners—strong character, motivated, willing to run that extra sprint, complete that extra drill, pick up a fallen teammate, is what translates into leaders off the mat. Coaches can focus on developing those traits, Fitzgerald points out.

"Success on the mat is great, but it’s fleeting. It’s our job to hold athletes accountable to the standards that we believe help shape great men and women," Fitzgerald says. And part of that process involves letting young leaders steer the ship from time to time.

"The title of captain or team leader means nothing if you’re not actually given the opportunity to lead," Fitzgerald adds. "In short, we must practice what we preach—build the right culture—and share the ownership of our programs. This is what I believe builds great leaders, great culture, and great programs."

Another good example is goal setting. Planning for success during your season is directly correlated to planning for success in the real world. "You set goals that will give you an opportunity to succeed just the same as you set goals to get an A in a class, complete a project or get a job," says Harshaw.

Dr. Isaiah Hankel, author of Black Hole Focus, How Intelligent People Can Create a Powerful Purpose for Their Lives, teaches individuals how to choose better peer groups and avoid counterproductive activities. Part of Hankel's platform was developed through his background wrestling at East Valley High School in Spokane, Washigton, and as three-year captain of the Franklin & Marshall wrestling team, a Division I program in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“Leaders don’t need other people to validate how hard they work,” Hankel says. “Leaders just keep working hard and let their achievements speak for themselves."

Not everyone wants to be successful, and that’s where wrestlers gain can an edge and establish themselves as a leader. According to Hankel, studies show that 80% of the population does not set goals. Successful wrestlers and leaders do. "Leaders are successful because they find better ways of doing things,” he says. “The one thing leaders never do is cut corners. Leaders never take shortcuts when it comes to reputation and growth."

Jody Strittmatter, a former University of Iowa wrestler, is the co-founder of Pennsylvania's Young Guns Wrestling Club, and the freestyle development head coach of Pennsylvania USA Wrestling. He says the sport of wrestling provides the perfect foundation for an individual to grow into a leader off the mat. "Everything is based on the foundation of work ethic," Strittmatter says. “If you have a great foundation of work ethic and character, you can accomplish amazing things.”

One has to be passionate and motivated to succeed in wrestling, Strittmatter adds. And that is the formula for success in life. In wrestling, the best of the best, the leaders, often make sacrifices in order to succeed. That holds true in life.