It’s certainly been a great summer of sport with the Rio Olympics finishing the season off on a high. Our talented Team GB won medals across various key events and their achievements have been nothing short of inspiring for individuals across the UK.

In the business world, it’s important that we take note and recognise how many of their attributes can be applied to the workplace. After all, many of our athletes have demonstrated aspects that are important for having a healthy and successful career. Below, I explore how businesses can take the lessons learned from the GB Olympics team and apply them in their workplace.

Teamwork and collaboration

It goes without saying that many businesses can learn from the teamwork displayed during the games.

From Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark in the women's 470 class sailing, to the fantastic performance from the men’s rowing team, the collaboration we have witnessed has been key to their success.

In organisations, working in a team is extremely important and often as entrepreneurs and business owners we forget this, going about our day-to-day doing things the way we want to do it. But, building up a team that you trust and can work with to achieve a common goal can be extremely beneficial to the success of your company.

Focus and drive

The determination of all of our athletes is something that many businesses can learn from. The best entrepreneurs bear similarities to sports people as they tend to be extremely disciplined in the way they manage their time and allocate their resources.

Strength of character is beneficial in business as in sport

Both jobs require a tremendous amount of tenacity and as a business owner you will no doubt hit numerous dead ends, as many athletes have had along the way.

Jessica Ennis-Hill for example could not compete in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 because of an injury, but after re-training herself to take off for the long jump on her left foot, she won a gold medal four years later. All successful businesses have suffered setbacks, but seeing them as an opportunity learn from, and move on from, is key.

Passion and resilience

In today’s working world, the term ‘resilience’ has become more prevalent than ever before and it has crafted many Team GB athletes into successful and respected individuals. The ability to recover and bounce back is essential in both business and sports, as turning a negative into a positive allows us to learn and evolve.

Take Katherine Grainger for example: she achieved gold in London 2012 after three previous attempts and came back this year and won silver. Throughout this time she has been through quite a lot, having fallen out with her double sculls partner, not making the women’s eight crew and taking many risks along the way.

Her passion for the sport has shone through and it’s definitely been inspiring to witness.

In every discipline and at every stage, our Team GB has shown the world exactly what Britain is made of and their determination, dignity and true sportsmanship should be applied to any business that wants to ‘Go for Gold’ in the same way our athletes have!

Lee Biggins is founder and managing director of CV-Library.