Personal achievements as fuel for professional growth

27 January 2026

Sports

"Physical activity has a profoundly positive impact on our work. Clarity of thought, energy, stress resistance, creativity—all of this comes with movement. When the body is in shape, the brain is working at full capacity," this is how one participant in the Global CIO summer challenge described the connection between personal athletic achievements and professional effectiveness.
The conversation was sparked by the "Global CIO Summer of Sports" summer challenge, which the community hosted on the Sigma Sport platform. It involved 161 participants and 15 teams, using a familiar Telegram bot interface. The discussion featured IT executives for whom sport is part of their lifestyle:

Moderator:

Yuriy Glushchenko, CIO of iStapel, founder of the SigmaSport.pro service, running enthusiast and marathon runner.

On-air experts:

Maria Mezentseva, Head of Resource Management, CIT LLC (Ametum TM), long-distance triathlete with World Championship qualification.
Boris Frolov, CEO, VegaTech; IT Director, TK Alfa, has been running for many years and this year took on the marathon.
Vyacheslav Vlasov, CIO, Teleperformance Russia, marathon runner and trail racer.

Their stories illustrate well how personal achievements influence project management style, prioritization, and the ability to navigate through crises without burnout.

Global CIO's Summer of Sports Case Study on the Sigma Sport Platform

This summer, the Global CIO community launched the "Sports Summer" challenge on the Sigma Sport platform. 161 people across 15 teams participated, burning a total of 287,532.49 kilocalories. All activity was tracked via a Telegram bot: register, choose a team, and mark a workout—you can immediately see your contribution and your team's ranking.

Yuriy Glushchenko, the challenge organizer and founder of the Sigma Sport platform, emphasizes that the main result wasn't the kilometers and calories burned:

"The most valuable thing was the emotions the participants shared, the photos from different cities, and seeing colleagues running through parks in Moscow or Sakhalin. It was inspiring when someone tried a new sport or returned to training after a long break. This sense of community and mutual support was the most important thing the participants gained."

The challenge was technically simple: no complicated mobile apps, not even a fitness tracker was strictly required. The key was consistency and a desire to share your activity with the team.

Essentially, it was a gentle nudge toward regular exercise and simultaneously a chance to socialize. Jogging, cycling, swimming, yoga, and even the first conscious ten minutes of movement after a long break appeared in the feed. People from different companies and roles began to recognize each other not only by their positions but also by their exercise habits—and this is what participants later most often recalled when discussing the challenge's results.

How the challenge impacted participants and teams:

For Boris, the challenge became an entry point into a new sporting format. He developed a taste for online competitions and gained a new perspective on team running: one long workout noticeably improves overall results.

For Vyacheslav, the community effect kicked in. Photos of runs, new routes, reactions, and comments created a sense of shared movement with colleagues in other cities. This added discipline: skipping workouts became more difficult.

For Maria's team, this was the first truly collaborative sports project. The small team of six made every activity visible, so they recorded long workouts, short exercises, and even regular walking. Maria herself became the absolute champion in consistency: 150 workouts during the challenge period, six different types of activity, and 78,893 calories burned. That's more than three workouts a day—a result that forced the other participants to rethink their notions of what was possible.

Motivation or discipline: I want and I have to

The discussion participants agreed on one thing: motivation is important, but discipline is crucial in the long run. A brief burst of enthusiasm helps take the first steps, but it doesn't sustain them for months or years. The working model looks different:

a clear desire is formed: to be in shape, to run a marathon, to withstand a high pace of work without harm to health;
I want to turn into a must: regular training according to a schedule, early rising, reasonable restrictions on the load;
needs to be transformed into part of the normal daily routine.

Boris suggests starting with a goal. If your goal is to run a marathon at any cost, there's a high risk of burning out and losing interest in the sport: