High performance under pressure: What businesses can learn from elite sport

What do world-class athletes know about high performance that business leaders might overlook?

At Accountex London 2025, three elite competitors—Stuart Broad, Bryan Habana, and Ebony Rainford-Brent—sat down for a powerhouse panel on how data, innovation, and mindset fuel high performance.

Hosted by Kirsty Waller, VP of regional performance marketing at Sage, the session explored what accountants and business leaders can learn from sport about staying sharp, adapting fast, and thriving under pressure.

In this article, we highlight some key insights they shared and talk about how you can apply their lessons to your business.

Here’s what we cover:

Mentorship, mindset, and the small daily wins

Cricket legend Stuart Broad opened with a story from his school days.

He said, “The best advice I ever got was to become the best filter I could.”

As his career progressed, that meant filtering out distractions—from media noise to self-doubt—and focusing on how he wanted to behave each day.

His method?

Daily notes, written by hand, about the energy he wanted to bring and the leader he wanted to be—regardless of outcomes.

Stuart explained, “Every morning, I wrote down how I wanted to behave. It was never about performance, just energy and positivity.”

Fellow former England cricket star and commentator Ebony Rainford-Brent shared a similar approach. “I was all over the place as a kid,” she said, “but once I learned how to prepare properly, everything changed.”

Ebony’s career was shaped not just by talent, but by the ability to refocus after setbacks—and to keep showing up with purpose.

For South Africa Rugby World Cup winner Bryan Habana, mindset was inseparable from motivation. He said: “Train as though you’re number two, even when you’re number one.”

This hunger for improvement helped him make the leap from World Cup rugby star to fintech entrepreneur.

The AI coach: How data sharpens instinct

Data increasingly drives modern sport.

From visual training tech in rugby to AI-based recovery tools in cricket, today’s athletes use insights to sharpen instincts, not replace them.

“AI is becoming the unseen coach,” Bryan noted. But he also warned of overreliance and ‘paralysis by analysis’.

He said, “Stats told me opponents were running more than me—but I was scoring more tries. Context matters.”

This tension—between trusting the data and trusting yourself—applies just as much to business.

From visual training tools to recovery planning, AI enables elite athletes to track trends, refine decisions, and personalise performance.

But no one on the panel saw data as a replacement for human intuition.

In accounting, AI tools such as Sage Copilot are helping finance teams automate admin and surface insights in real time.

But the best decisions still rely on human judgement, especially when the pressure’s on.

Instinct versus insight: Filter what matters

For Stuart, data was the spark for transformation.

After being told he underperformed against left-handed batters, he spent months rebuilding his technique and reduced his bowling average against them from 37 to 17.

But Ebony offered a word of caution.

She said, “In my early career, I relied too much on data. I once ignored the conditions and trusted the model. It backfired.”

She recalled a match where a data model predicted anything above 280 would be a winning score.

“I walked out thinking we had it in the bag,” she said. “But I didn’t read the pitch or the opposition. They chased it in half the time. I looked like a complete idiot.”

The experience taught her to combine data with instinct—and always read the room.

Over time, she embraced the 80/20 rule—that 80% of results come from 20% of inputs. She focused on identifying what moved the needle and letting the rest go.

The lesson: don’t just collect data—curate it.

Resilience and reinvention

Success isn’t linear. All three athletes shared moments of doubt, injury, and failure.

For Bryan, it was being booed off the field in front of 23,000 fans. For Ebony, it was injury and near-retirement. And for Stuart, it was the humbling experience of being hit all over the park in Durban.

Each of them turned setbacks into fuel.

“You wake up and choose your mindset,” said Bryan. “Whether it’s a match day or a Monday morning.”

That mindset now powers their business ventures, from Stuart’s hospitality business to Ebony’s AI-led coaching project, which uses tech to democratise access to cricket for thousands of underrepresented kids.

How accountants and business leaders can become high performers

So, what does all this mean for you?

• Prepare like a pro: it’s not just about what you know, it’s how you apply it. Use the data, but trust your process.

• Adopt smart tools: AI can be an ally. With tools such as Sage Copilot, you can automate routine admin tasks—like data entry and report generation—so you can focus on higher-value work such as  cash flow forecasting, scenario planning, and client advisory services.

• Build mental muscle: high performers aren’t born, they’re trained. Just as athletes rely on routines and coaching, finance professionals need workflows and tools that help them stay resilient and consistent—especially when deadlines hit.

• Keep evolving: standing still is falling behind. Stay curious. Keep up with regulatory changes such as Making Tax Digital, explore new ways to deliver advisory services, and experiment with tools like AI to offer deeper insights.

• Stay ready: be prepared for shifting client expectations, faster reporting cycles, and a more strategic role in business decision-making.

Bringing it home: The high-performance mindset in business

Whether you’re bowling at the Melbourne Cricket Ground or closing out quarter-end, performance is built on habits, tools, and mindset.

On the pitch or in the boardroom, high performance comes down to three things:

1. Insight: understand what matters most.
2. Preparation: build the habits that show up under pressure.
3. Execution: move fast, adapt fast, and lead with intent.

3 final insights from Ebony, Bryan, and Stuart

“In sport, you’re forced to maximise your team’s strengths. Business should be the same.”

Ebony Rainford-Brent

“Execution is everything. Insight is useless if you can’t act on it fast.”

Bryan Habana

“Every day, I chose how I wanted to show up—on the field, in the changing room, or in the pub I now help run.”

Stuart Broad

Final thoughts

The Sage high performance panel was a clear reminder that mindset, resilience, and the right tools create the conditions for success.

Sport and business may have different rules, but the best leaders learn to train, think, and perform like athletes, using the highest performing tools to help them.