Pat Sanderson - Lessons from Sport into Financial Services

Fri 24th Jun 2022

Pat Sanderson picked up a rugby ball as soon as he was able to walk. A distinguished sixteen-year rugby career blighted by injuries took him from Sale to Worcester via Harlequins.

The flanker was first capped for England in 1998 and eventually captained his country in 2006. Pat spent seven years at Worcester Warriors, affectionately known to fans as “Captain Fantastic”, but had to retire in 2011 after battling a shoulder injury.

After retiring in 2011, Pat entered the world of banking. He spent three years working at Deutsche Bank in the transaction division and moved to Citibank working in prime and collateral security. After these two roles, Pat continued working in banking at JP Morgan and also at the Royal Bank of Canada for four years. His last role at Royal Bank of Canada included looking after the UK for Investor and Treasury services. Pat is soon to start working in a new role at Ninety One, working within the asset management industry.

Making the move into banking from a full-time rugby career required a period of adjustment and understanding, Pat said: “ I think after playing rugby for a long period of time, you're somewhat institutionalised in a bubble. Perhaps you don't realise how that sets you apart from other people because you're surrounded by like-minded individuals.” 

Pat Sanderson England
Pat Sanderson playing for England

Pat passionately believes that sporting culture and the world of commerce have huge parallels, with the need to always perform, as well as regularly receive instantaneous feedback on your performances. He added: “Both environments are incredibly intolerant to detractors as you can't have bad people on your team. It’s taken me a while to ignore my instincts, soften and relax. However, I’ve also had a reasonably long learning period to really understand and adapt to my new working environment.”

Playing rugby provided Pat with transferable skills which he took into banking: “It made me a thinker, humble and a value-driven person. Someone that loves being part of a team. I think these kinds of values and subsequent behaviours become ingrained in you, especially if you've played top-level sport. No one is naturally brilliant at anything, who hasn't put in a lot of hard work and effort. Remaining open-minded and humble enough to accept that we must continually learn are qualities that work in all aspects of life.”

Pat is also a hiring manager and believes elite athletes can make excellent employees: “I believe there's a high correlation between values that employers find desirable and people that play sports at the highest level. Sport is a fantastic indicator telling you which people have those values. I think when you hire a skilled athlete it’s an indicator that you're going to employ somebody that is going to be hardworking, humble, disciplined and have order and structure about the way they do things. I would say these are almost all the aspects I look for as a hiring manager because technical ability comes and can be taught. But it's far harder to teach somebody good values.”