ATHLEADERSHIP

Simkins offers tangible business leadership advice that draws on the experience of coaching sports.

The author, an executive adviser, delves into familiar terrain in this book, which brings lessons from the playing field to the corporate boardroom. Simkins tells of once training for a bodybuilding competition, and she brings insights from athletic activities into her notions on leading a company. The juxtaposition of athletic team building and business management is a common trope, but what makes Simkins’ analysis of the subject notable is in how she backs it up with recent, cited research on neuroscience and performance psychology. She presents a vast spectrum of data related to these fields, although the material does result in some familiar conclusions. Commonplace discussions of industry disruption and workplace culture figure prominently, and mentions of artificial intelligence are sprinkled in as well—particularly addressing the need for companies to change to take advantage of evolving technological developments. The “Athleadership” model of management is built around four pillars, all of which rely on athletic terminology. The first, called the “MVP Foundation,” focuses on one’s mission, vision, and purpose in the cultivation of a distinct corporate identity. The second pillar presents the “Core 4” traits of resilience, agility, alignment, and well-being, which help business leaders persevere in the face of challenges and uncertainty, per the author. The third pillar is the “Conditioning Process”—essentially, learning through repetition, in keeping with new findings on brain functionality, cited by the author. Fourth is the “90-Day Way,” a quarterly assessment of the corporate game plan. Rather than focusing on hours, Simkins recommends that corporate leaders prioritize task-oriented work (or “purpose-aligned performance,” in her words) instead of increasing work hours. She cites this approach as a way to combat workplace burnout, which, according to cited research, two-thirds of American workers experienced in 2025.

The author presents her approach as a new way of running an entrepreneurial firm, but the book offers a lot of old-fashioned but solid leadership advice. By getting back to some basic business-building concepts, Simkins makes good use of her own experiences and uses contemporary research to argue on behalf of such concepts as clarity of concept, pluck, and personal reflection. Nothing in this book is groundbreaking, but Simkins does offer plenty of tangible advice in her examples, which business leaders are likely to find useful. The accessible sporting framework that Simkins adopts also makes this book a good general introduction to the genre of business leadership books for newcomers. It may not be a defining work, but it’s sure to serve as a fine starting point for entrepreneurs looking to build a clear vision for their businesses. At times, the book is a bit repetitive, but that’s forgivable in books of this nature, which often focus on hammering concepts home. Simkins includes a concise glossary to further reinforce the four pillars and other ideas in these pages, which will be particularly helpful for novices.

Familiar but practical business management wisdom, presented in a format that’s easily digestible.

Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026