The Pentathlon Parallel: How Successful Salespeople are Like Multi-Sport Pentathletes
By Michael J Griffin
During my morning quiet time and meditation last week, I read a blog by my mentor, Dwight Hill, on how life is like preparing and “competing” in the pentathlon. This stimulated my thinking on how salespeople and pentathletes are similar in pursuit of excellence to compete – pentathletes in the sports arena and salespeople in the marketplace. Reviewing my past sales coaching experience and researching using AI, find my take on similarities.
Pentathlon comes from the Greek words “pente” meaning five, and “athlon” meaning contest. So the pentathlete must compete across five sports involving fencing, shooting, swimming, riding (a horse) and cross country running. As Dwight states, “winning is not necessarily triumphing in any one of the five events that guarantees the prize, rather it is adequately excelling in each event well enough to garner the highest aggregate score.” And so it is in the sales arena where a salesperson must adequately excel in the skills and process of selling. What must the successful “Sales-Pentathlete” do to win sales, exceed plan and beat the competition?
Mastering Multiple Disciplines
Just as pentathletes must excel in fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross-country running, successful salespeople must master diverse skill sets. They need the precision of a marksman when qualifying prospects, the endurance of a distance runner during lengthy B2B sales cycles, the agility of a fencer when handling objections, the grace of an equestrian when building long-term relationships, and the explosive power of a swimmer when closing deals.
No single skill dominates their success. A pentathlete who excels only at swimming will struggle against well-rounded competitors, just as a salesperson who can only prospect but cannot close will consistently underperform. Both require competency across all their respective disciplines to achieve consistent results.
Adaptability and Creative Problem-Solving
In both sales and the pentathlon, no two challenges are the same. Pentathletes face unpredictable variables, such as unfamiliar horses in the equestrian event or changing weather conditions during outdoor competitions. Salespeople, too, must navigate uncertainty, whether it’s dealing with a difficult client, adjusting to market shifts, or overcoming apathy or objections. Success in both fields depends on the ability to think on one’s feet, be a creative problem solver, adapt strategies that may vary from key account to account, and remain composed under pressure. Adaptability to creatively solve problems is a hallmark of top performers in both arenas.
Mental Agility & Resilience Under Pressure
Pentathletes face the unique challenge of transitioning between completely different sports within hours, requiring mental agility and emotional EQ regulation. Similarly, salespeople must shift seamlessly from prospecting calls to technical presentations to contract negotiations, often within the same day. Both must recover quickly from setbacks – a poor fencing bout or a lost deal – and refocus their energy on the next challenge. More importantly, the salesperson must have good EQ to be relationally agile to build trust and relationships across different stakeholder personalities and needs.
The mental focus required is extraordinary. When a pentathlete stumbles in equestrian jumping, they cannot let it affect their shooting accuracy. When a salesperson faces rejection from a major prospect, they must immediately pivot to the next opportunity with adequate preparation, positive motivation and confidence.
Goal Orientation and Laser Focus
Pentathletes train with clear goals in mind: to improve their performance in each event and ultimately win competitions. Salespeople share this goal-oriented mindset, setting targets for revenue, client acquisition, and deal closures. Both roles require intense focus and the ability to break long-term objectives into smaller, actionable steps. For example, a pentathlete might focus on shaving seconds off their swim time, while a salesperson might aim to improve their conversion rate by refining their key account strategies.
Strategic Energy Management
Perhaps most critically, both pentathletes and salespeople must strategically manage their energy and resources. A pentathlete cannot give everything to the first event and expect to perform in the remaining four. They must pace themselves, knowing when to push hard and when to conserve energy for crucial moments.
Elite salespeople demonstrate similar wisdom. They understand that not every lead deserves equal attention, that some deals require intensive effort while others need patience. They allocate their prime selling time to high-probability opportunities while maintaining consistent activity across their entire pipeline. This can be compared to running the B2B sales cycle “marathon.”
Continuous Improvement Across All Areas
Both groups face the challenge of continuous improvement across multiple competencies. While a sprinter can focus solely on running faster, pentathletes and salespeople must constantly develop diverse skills simultaneously. They analyze performance data, work with specialized coaches, and practice weak skill areas while maintaining and improving their strengths.
A pentathlete might spend morning sessions on shooting technique and afternoons improving swimming stroke mechanics. Similarly, a salesperson might dedicate time to improving presentation skills or negotiation tactics while also studying new industry trends and customer relationship building techniques.
Discipline, Practice and Teachability
Success in both sales and the pentathlon is built on a foundation of discipline and consistent practice. Pentathletes spend countless hours honing their skills in each event, often under the guidance of coaches. Similarly, salespeople must practice their craft—whether it’s rehearsing presentations, role-playing objections, or analyzing past sales calls to identify areas for improvement. They are also teachable to accept feedback from their sales managers or clients to improve their competence. As in sports, the mantra “practice makes perfect” holds true in sales.
The Compound Effect of Versatility
What makes both pentathletes and elite salespeople exceptional is their ability to leverage the compound effect of multiple competencies. Improvements across all disciplines create exponential performance gains. This analogy drive home the message: a single Belgian draft horse can pull 8,000 pounds, but two working together can pull 24,000 pounds—that’s 3x the individual capacity, not 2x. So the same when you sharpen selling skills across a range of required competencies to excel in your sales career.
The parallels between salespeople and pentathletes highlight the importance of agility, resilience, and a commitment to mastering multiple disciplines for improvement. Both roles demand a balance of technical skills, mental resilience, and adaptability to excel in high-pressure, competitive environments. By adopting the mindset and practices of a pentathlete—training across multiple disciplines, staying focused on goals, and embracing challenges—salespeople can “Elavate” their performance to achieve consistent success in the marketplace. Whether in the sales arena or on the pentathlon field, the path to victory is paved with discipline, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
Achieving Success: More Than the Finish Line
While gold medals and closed deals are the ultimate prizes, both pentathletes and sales professionals understand that true success is built on the pursuit of mastery, the lessons learned from each “event,” and the relentless drive to do better next time.
In both arenas, the champions are those who never stop training, never stop learning, and never stop pushing the boundaries of what's possible across all dimensions of their craft.
If you want your salespeople to be top notch Sales-Pentathletes, call me at no obligation to explore how this can give your sales teams the edge in excelling in the marketplace arena.
Michael J Griffin
CEO and Founder of ELAvate
Coach of Asian Sales-Pentathletes
michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
+65 – 91194008 (WhatsApp)