Athletes or musicians: What's the right choice for your corporate events?

Article written by Jérémy Celse (ESSCA)

Corporate social events, whether aimed at strengthening team cohesion or stimulating creativity, play a key role in organizational dynamics. But who to choose to host these gatherings? A recent academic study tackled an original question: do participants prefer an athlete or a musician as a keynote speaker? The results reveal some interesting biases and raise questions about stereotyping in the workplace.

Athletes vs. musicians: deep-rooted stereotypes

In the world of work, sportsmen and women enjoy a positive image. Their participation in sporting activities is often seen as a signal of sought-after qualities: discipline, team spirit, resilience and the ability to handle stress. These attributes explain why former athletes are often favored in recruitment and promotion processes.

Conversely, musicians suffer from negative stereotypes. Although musical practice enhances valuable skills such as creativity, attention and memory, musicians are sometimes perceived as unstable or less suited to the professional world. Yet their ability to stimulate the imagination and positively influence mood could be a major asset for certain business activities.

A marked preference for athletes

The study used an innovative method: a fictitious scenario in which participants had to organize a corporate event and choose between a former athlete or a former musician as the keynote speaker. Three types of event were proposed: with no specific objective, focused on team building or centered on creativity.

The results are clear:

• For an event with no specific objective, 78% of participants chose the athlete.
• When the aim was to strengthen team cohesion, this figure climbed to 83%.
• On the other hand, to stimulate creativity, 61% preferred the musician.

These choices reflect a strong association between athletes and values such as team spirit, while musicians are more closely associated with creative qualities.