We had an unexpected win through our last newsletter. As you know, we spoke about MAD’s shift to a frontline-first approach. Once it was out, the message spread. The MAD team and we were approached to present it as a case study to two massive organisations in the not-for-profit space. We’re pumped about it.

Thanks for reading, writing back, and sharing it around. Deeply grateful.

Let’s dive into this month’s chapter.

It’s about Sports and what an amazing teacher it is.

My relationship with sports

I didn’t grow up loving sports.

I wasn’t the athletic kid. I showed up to school tournaments, after-hour games.

But I never stood out. Not fast. Not strong. Not confident.

I quietly told myself—sports are for other people.

That story stuck for years. Even as I stepped into leadership, built things, drove teams forward, I kept sports at a distance.

By 2016, I was spent. A decade into mission-driven work, and my body was done. I was 12 kilos overweight. Smoking. Drinking. Burnt out.

That’s when I turned to running. Not to compete. Just to survive.

It was rough. But I kept showing up. In Chandigarh’s heat. In choking fog. When it rained. When it hurt. When it was lonely.

Slowly, something shifted. My legs found strength. My breath returned. My mind cleared.

Image 1 : Me from my marathon days.

It wasn’t the medals. It was the mornings. The grind. The rhythm. The sweat. The silence. The small, silent wins.

This wasn’t fitness. This was a rewrite.

Of identity.

Of how I pace.

Of how I lead myself.

That’s when I realised—sport isn’t a metaphor. It’s a great teacher.

But back then, it stopped with me.

When Arhan, Shruti and I started Co.labx, we often brought sports metaphors into our sessions. Arhan and I were sports nerds. (Shruti? Not so much.)

We shared stories. We used analogies.

But something didn’t sit right.

We knew the power of sports. But we weren’t bringing it into our work.

So we asked: what if we stopped talking about leadership? And started training for it.

Like athletes do.

So What did we do?

We were our first guinea pigs.

We took the Co.labx team to the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence (CSE). Those two days left a mark, it taught us more about leadership than any book or framework.

Here are two things that hit us hard:

1. You can scale without growing in size.

First is from the team of PDCSE itself. It is a 21-acre sports facility. Ten sports. 500–700 people move through it daily.

Know how many full-time staff they have for this? 20.

When Ved, the CEO, told us that, we were stunned “Our model isn’t to do everything. We grow through partnerships.”

That landed. At Co.labx, we’ve always wanted to stay small on the inside while growing outside. This gave us a new playbook.

2. Sport drops the guard. Fast.

As coaches, it often takes us days—sometimes weeks—to earn enough trust so leaders and teams open up.

But something magical happens on a field. You play. You sweat. You lose. You win.

Suddenly, the shield cracks. And the real conversations begin.

I have seen the most real and raw conversations between team in sports field.

What used to take 2 weeks now happens in 30 minutes, even the team feels surprised by the level of candor and vulnerability each of them shows up on the sports field.

3. Impact beyond work.

For us the impact didn’t end there, it extended beyond work.

– I picked up swimming after a knee injury paused my running few years back and its becoming a rewarding experience.
– Monica, who had never played football a year back now plays for a club team. Her story here: Link 
– Arhan returned to tennis after years.

If 2 days could do this for us, what could it do for our clients?

So we went ahead and invited teams in 🙂

In the last 15 months, 15 teams have joined us on the field.

Image 2 : Our first visit as a team to CSE

So what did it create for the other teams ?

Too many impact points to keep track of, but here are top 3 which moved me :

1. A CEO finally let go : 

This was a group of friends who built a firm together. Close-knit. High trust. But as they scaled and added verticals, something shifted. Silos crept in. Communication slowed. The founder—became the only glue of the group—suddenly found himself in every meeting, solving for cross-team misalignment.

But something shifted massively within this group during the 2 days with us.

The CEO messaged 6 months later: “That experience at CSE? It hasn’t worn off. I’m not the bottleneck anymore. My vertical heads talk to each other now. They sort things out themselves, the bond from those initials days are back”

2. A quiet leader found his fire.

He had joined the company 6 months ago. Thoughtful. People-friendly. But always stayed in the background.

But over these 3 days, something changed.

He shared boldly

He owned feedback

And in a cricket game it all culminated—he led, he coached. And played an attacking innings while be batted.

Everyone in the room including the CEO was surprised to see this side of him.

During our debrief after the game when the team enquired that “You were showing up so differently here, it was refreshing and powerful and why don’t you bring this self to work?”

He said: “I hold back at work. I’m new. I don’t want to step on toes.”

The CEO responded:
“This exactly is the energy we need from you, you aren’t stepping on anyone’s shoes ”

You could feel the shift, the leader has discovered a new way to lead.

3. And a dad found his way back.

A senior leader shared during the closing circle.

“Monica’s story hit me. My daughter plays football. I’ve not been making it to her games. That changes now. I’ll be there. Every game, I have already committed to that over a call with her yesterday.”

This was a surprise for us. We were never expecting such an impact.

Image 3 : Team Soulace after a sweaty, grueling football match in PDCSE

Sport has surprised us over and over again.

It teaches in a language boardrooms forget.

Sport reveals who you are.How you lead. What you fear.
Sport resets your nervous system. It brings you back to your body.
Sport equalises. Titles vanish. Mistakes are public. Learning is shared.

So next time you plan a team space—meeting, retreat, celebration.

Don’t book a 5-star.

Find a field.

– Move
– Compete
– Breathe
– Reflect.

And if you want help in designing this space—we’d love to play with you.