My sports story: Ionut Simion, country managing partner, PwC Romania, and president of AmCham Romania

Business Review talked to Ionut Simion, country managing partner, PwC Romania, and president of AmCham Romania, to find out how the sports influence his professional activity.

Competitions: At first, I did not have a precise goal in my mind in terms of long-distance races. But then I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish a long-distance competition and so I started with a 10 km run, then a half-marathon, and then in September 2014 I completed my first marathon in Berlin. By now, I have run many half marathons not only in Bucharest but also in Warsaw and Vienna, and I plan to continue with Tokyo and London.

Relationship between sport and professional career: I have always done some kind of sporting activity, mostly football with my PwC colleagues. I used to play for the firm’s football team, competing in tournaments both within the firm, but also with PwC firms from other countries in our annual football competition. I took up running five years ago because I wanted to improve my lifestyle a bit. I started to take better care of my diet and to run several times per week. I like to run early in the morning. It gives me the energy boost that I need in order keep up with my busy and sometimes hectic daily schedule. Regular running helped me get back in shape. I lost some weight and started to really feel good in my body, full of energy and healthy. Not to mention that I have time to go through the agenda of the day ahead of me.

Business lessons learned from sport: I think that there are a lot of lessons to be learned from practicing sports, lessons that are helpful in general, not just in one’s professional life. First, that hard work does pay off and that you can’t take a shortcut to success. No matter how talented you are it requires work and practice, a lot of practice to be successful. In these last five years I have understood the difference between: “I am working hard in order to be happy” versus “I am happy therefore I work hard”. My preference clearly is for the second option. Second, that no obstacle is too great if you approach it correctly and methodically. It is like eating an elephant: all at once is impossible but try a slice every day and you will see the results. If there is a will, you will for sure find a way.