UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

Anderson Olympians: Moving Teams in the Right Direction

 

Left to right: UCLA Anderson alumnus Mike Altman with Patrick Todd, Will Daly and Tom Paradiso competing in the Lightweight Men’s Four Heat 2 at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty)

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Among UCLA Anderson’s student body and alumni network are several U.S. Olympians, many of them medalists. As Rio 2016 escalates, we’re profiling five standouts who talk about their athletic team training and how an Anderson education influenced their esprit de corps.

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By David Davis

Mike Altman (’07), Rowing, Lightweight Fours
2008 Beijing Olympics; 2004 Athens Olympics (alternate)

Rower Mike Altman experienced the highs and the lows of Olympic sports. Making the 2008 U.S. team represented the pinnacle of his career after “years and years of training, traveling all over the world, sacrificing and competing,” he said. He and his teammates finished 11th in the competition, which was the lowest international finish of his career.

“Growing up, watching the Olympics on TV, you see all the success stories,” he said. “What you don’t see is the 90 percent of the athletes that don’t win a medal. So, it was this mixed set of emotions: trying to enjoy the Olympic experience and dealing with the disappointment of our performance.”

Anderson Olympians: The Paralympic Advantage

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Alpine skier Mark Bathum at the Sochi Paralympics in 2014
(Photo: Wheelchair Sports Federation)

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Among UCLA Anderson’s student body and alumni network are several U.S. Olympians, many of them medalists. As Rio 2016 escalates, we’re profiling five standouts who talk about their athletic team training and how an Anderson education influenced their esprit de corps.

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By David Davis

Mark Bathum (’86), Alpine Skiing
2014 Sochi Paralympics; 2010 Vancouver Paralympics

Mark Bathum was a nationally ranked skier when he began to realize that his eyesight was failing him. He quit racing to go to college, earned his MBA at Anderson, and then began his business career. Only later, well into middle age, did he start racing again. Skiing with a guide, he qualified for the U.S. Paralympic team and won silver medals in 2010 and 2014.

Bathum has found that working together toward one goal improves performance in business and in sports. “Even on a team of software developers or fixed-income security traders that are all working independently, the more you do things together as a team, and the more you share about what you’re doing, the more you’re going to learn things from one another. The performance of each individual is going to be elevated through the exposure to the other people on the team.”

Even though Bathum usually competes against men half his age, he has found success by adopting lessons he learned in the business realm. “In business you have to think strategically and tactically,” he said. “You have to leverage and address your strengths and weaknesses. I bring that mentality to sport: what are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? How am I going to find a comparative advantage? How am I going to approach training and preparation differently than my opponents?”

Bathum plans to try to qualify for the U.S. team in 2018. The Paralympics are a time of “intensive joy,” he said. “Everything is just extreme — your highs and your lows. You feel bonded with everybody, including the volunteers and your competitors. You’re highly focused because you’ve reached your peak physically and emotionally. The whole experience, every element of it, is life in overdrive.”

Bathum works for Seattle-based CBK Global, which provides websites and online advertising for the auto industry.

Anderson Olympians: Personal Best Leaves Nothing on the Table

 

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Among UCLA Anderson’s student body and alumni network are several U.S. Olympians, many of them medalists. As Rio 2016 escalates, we’re profiling five standouts who talk about their athletic team training and how an Anderson education influenced their esprit de corps.

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Swimmer Matt Smith now makes splashes with daughter Liviana

By David Davis

Matt Smith (’10), Swimming
2008 Beijing Olympics (alternate)

Matt Smith’s Olympic experience was bittersweet. His time in the pool was fast enough to qualify for the 2008 Games in Beijing, but he was beaten out of a spot for the Estonia team by a fellow swimmer. “It would’ve been awesome to go to the Olympics,” he said, “but just trying to make it was a very enjoyable process. Pushing yourself, having a goal, and tracking how you’re doing was great. I swam my personal best in qualifying, so I don’t feel like I left anything on the table.”

Smith found that, in sharp contrast to the individualized nature of competitive swimming, studying at Anderson was a powerful “community experience.” Said Smith: “At UCLA, the thing that felt the most genuine was the interaction between all the students, with everyone helping each other and motivating each other, rather than trying to compete with each other. Even now as an alum, I find everyone to be so supportive.”

Working in groups, as Smith did at Anderson, has helped his business career because “I learned how to delegate work effectively,” he said. “I learned how to trust and empower other people to do whatever components of the project they’re in charge of. Teamwork is about communication and making sure everyone has at least an understanding of what you’re looking to accomplish.”

When he was in the pool, Smith had clear-cut training goals and personal benchmarking. He has adopted that sort of regimen in business. “Having goals and metrics in your career is helpful,” he said, “because you can get stuck if you don’t have any idea of where you want to be going.”

Smith now works in the emerging technologies group at San Diego Gas & Electric.

Anderson Olympians: A First for Women’s Soccer

Mary Harvey signs autographs for fans in Canada in 2015 (Photo: U.S. Consulate Toronto)

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Among UCLA Anderson’s student body and alumni network are several U.S. Olympians, many of them medalists. As Rio 2016 escalates, we’re profiling five standouts who talk about their athletic team training and how an Anderson education influenced their esprit de corps.

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By David Davis

Mary Harvey (’98), Soccer
1996 Atlanta Olympics

For Mary Harvey and her teammates, representing the Untied States and winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics was unique “because this was the first time women’s soccer had been added to the Olympic program,” she said. “And, being in Atlanta, this was on American soil.”

One of the two goalkeepers on the U.S. team, Harvey became the backup to starter Briana Scurry after suffering a severe injury prior to the Olympics. “Was that the role I wanted?” she asked. “No, I wanted to play. It was difficult for me. But that was the job that they offered me, and so I had to accept that that’s my role.”

Anderson Olympians: A Gold (and Silver!) Standard for Both Competition and Collaboration

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Among UCLA Anderson’s student body and alumni network are several U.S. Olympians, many of them medalists. As Rio 2016 kicks off, we’re profiling five standouts who talk about their athletic team training and how an Anderson education influenced their esprit de corps.

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By David Davis

Ed Moses (FEMBA ’16), Swimming
2000 Sydney Olympics

In 2000, Ed Moses won the Olympic silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke and the gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay at the Sydney Games. Looking back, he said, the personal sacrifice required to achieve his childhood dream was all-consuming. “People look at Olympic champions and say, ‘How did you do that?’” he said. “It really took a ton of commitment. If I wasn’t in the pool swimming, I was eating, sleeping, watching tape, studying technique or working out outside the pool.”

Competing as an elite swimmer is “very selfish and very focused,” he said. “You are 100 percent responsible for your performance.” At Anderson, he said, he learned that “the real world is the exact opposite. You have to work with people, you have to understand what motivates others, you have to communicate really well, and you have to have a lot of empathy. It was a personal transformation for me.”

On the medley relay, which includes one leg each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, breaststroker Moses learned to compete as part of a team. “Without the combination of those pieces, we never would’ve broken the world record,” he said. “It was just like coming to Anderson: I didn’t know who all the students were, just that they all had their own specialty. But when you put all of those pieces together and you take the time to learn what makes others happy and how they fit, that’s what builds that tight business bond.”

In swimming, Moses said, “you can get caught up in your own bubble and listen to only what’s important to you. In business and sports, you’re only as good as your teammates. When you go to start a company, potential investors want to know about your team. Sometimes they don’t even care about your concept except who’s doing it and how are they all working together. It’s all about the team.”

Hollywood-based Moses is the founder of a sports statistics startup called StatFuel, which he plans to launch later this year.