I had the pleasure to meet Chris Bell this week, former Wasps Rugby Captain and now heads up player development at the club. 

It was fascinating discussing the parallels between rugby and business. It was quite clear that rugby players posses very transferable skills that often take years to gain in business. 

One of the key requirements of a successful business/sales person is the being able to ask the hard question or perhaps something that seems awkward. This can range from understanding the structure of an organisation to determine buying process, procurement details or just asking for that order form to be signed. 

Chris commented that in rugby, players do not have a problem asking their 120kg opposite man whether they can run through, around them or simply get smashed backwards and he uses this analogy to help with off-field development.

It is a great point of reflection for people in business since you probably ask the hard questions in other aspects of life. Like the rugby player, if you can transfer this skill to the business world you can differentiate quite quickly.