What athletes teach us about post-career | Renato Bernhöft

According to Rebeca, “people’s expectations are people’s expectations. Today, I arrive at a joyful and light competition. I built myself on this place and I built myself like that.

The athlete, who moved the audience during her solo performance at the Paris Olympics and brought home four medals to Brazil, says the decision to enter higher education came from her concern to plan her career transition, looking for a new professional identity with which she could identify: psychology.

She is no exception. Marcelinho Machadoworld basketball champion, marketing graduate and now sports commentator. Cutea former volleyball player, also studied marketing and became an entrepreneur in the cosmetics field. Luiz Senevolleyball player retired in 2023 after a career in Brazil and France, studied financial management and now works as a financial consultant.

According to the Minister of Sports, André Fufuca, high-level athletes dedicate themselves tirelessly, but faced with the moment of transition, many find themselves without help to face the challenges of post-career life. This often results in financial difficulties, a lack of professional qualifications, or even emotional problems, reflections of an identity built exclusively around performance.

And here is the main thing: What happens to athletes mirrors what happens to many business leaders.. Both experience cycles of high performance, recognition and determination intensely linked to the role they play. And when this role ends, whether through retirement, dismissal or a change of context, the same identity void emerges.

The transition of the athlete and that of the executive have in common the loss of belonging and reference. As in sport, the corporate environment produces “champions” who, without preparation, become “exes” – and, as they say, “ex” is worse than “vice”, because the vice always has a role, while the ex often feels rejected.

In the programs I follow, the effects of this disconnection appear in the form of depression, marital separations and even suicides. This is why organizations must increasingly integrate the logic of planned transition into the career path.

Just as Rebeca Andrade strives to embrace mistakes and successes in life, inside and outside of sport, the business world must learn to prepare its “athletes” for new cycles – with advance, purpose and self-knowledge. Ideally, this process should begin at least two years before retirement or official departure.

In a world where longevity is rapidly increasing, planning for the transition is not a luxury. It’s about sanity, purpose and continuity.