For Australian rowing legend James Tomkins, returning to ancient Olympic ideals of "mind, body and spirit" is the answer to ending troubles that have plagued both cricket and the financial services sector.

The triple Olympic gold medallist now works as a national sales manager at UBS Global Asset Management, based in Melbourne.

His clients are financial advisers working for the big banks and financial services giants.

It is a sector that has come under serious fire at Kenneth Hayne's financial services royal commission, with seemingly endless stories of unethical behaviour and corporate misconduct.

So, when asked by ABC News about how to fix rotten corporate culture, he preferred not to comment on specific companies.

But he did draw general parallels between where things have gone wrong in business and sport.



"When you start concentrating on outcomes at any cost that's where problems arise," he observed.



"If it's in a sporting team, winning at all costs without any concern about your own players — let alone opposition players — that is where you fall into trouble."

Revisiting the Olympic movement



This "winning at all costs" mentality was the exact issue highlighted in a 147-page report from the Ethics Centre, which carried out a review into cricket's culture after the ball tampering scandal.

It described Cricket Australia as "arrogant" and "controlling", said players felt they were treated as commodities and that, "Australian cricket has lost its balance … and has stumbled badly".



The report said in some cases players are required to "play the mongrel", with the risk of becoming that person.



"If you don't win a cricket match or don't get a particular deal across the line, your self-worth should not be based on that," Mr Tomkins said.

That is why he thinks those in sports and corporate life need to revisit the ideals of the Olympic Movement.

Its philosophy, promoted by the International Olympic Committee, is that ideals important in sport — such as fair play, good sportsmanship and respect — are worth striving for in society generally.

Former 'Oarsome Foursome' rower James Tomkins now works for UBS asset management. ( ABC News: Danielle Bonica )

"I think that whole notion of trust and respect, that notion of Olympism, is important," Mr Tomkins argued.



"You've got a choice — do you want to cheat or not? We would do everything to make our boat go as fast as possible, but within the rules."



Bring back balance in sport



James Tomkins' other frustration is the unrealistic expectations placed on youth across all sports.

"I'm big on balance in sport," he said.

"My struggle at the moment, in particular with rowing, is that kids are getting flogged at school and it's turning them off."



"You see it in a whole lot of sports, high performance squads for 10-year-olds. It starts setting that sort of behaviour — win at all costs, get ahead, potentially burn people to try get to that next squad.

"This is 10, 11, 12, 13-year-olds. They should be out playing a bunch of sports, getting as much diversity as possible."



Mr Tomkins said balance is something that he tries to instil in his three children.

"I want them to grow up with a love of being active, and having enquiring minds, and an appreciation of the arts," he said.

"If you've got those three things you've got a pretty balanced life- mind body and soul. Which funnily enough is the ideals of Olympism."



His advice to parents that want their kids to be the next sports star is to just relax.



"Let kids be kids. Let them understand how to play with one another, how to play by the rules, be cohesive with teammates."

Be careful what you reward



Things are a little more serious in the business world these days for James Tomkins, although it is not his first foray into finance.



He has worked in the industry, in sync with building his rowing career, ever since he left university.



"My first job was working in a stockbroking firm during summer," he said.



He recalls visiting the floor of the stock exchange during the 1987 market crash.

Back then stocks were quoted on 'posts' or 'boards', and 'chalkies' were employed by the stock exchange to record on blackboards the bids and offers.

"It was open outcry," Mr Tomkins recalls, remembering the day of the crash.

"Chalkies up there — with chalk in one hand and dusters in others. It was unbelievable."

Rower James Tomkins was Australia's flag bearer for the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics. ( Phil Walter: AAP )



Mr Tomkins has also worked for other firms including ABN Amro, Westpac and BT Financial in different roles.

He said there are many parallels between business and sports, but the big difference is pay.

In rowing — James Tomkins was part of the renowned Oarsome Foursome team — incentives were based on everyone performing well. In most business roles, the individual gets rewarded.

He believes bonus structures need to be more carefully considered.

"The pay structure is so critical because people will change their behaviour based on that," he said.

The future of financial advice



But it is ego and greed that has caused most of the sector's well-publicised failings.

For years financial advisers were pushed to sell in-house products, regardless of whether or not it was in the client's best interest.

Mr Tomkins said now that is frowned upon, including by the advisers themselves. He has seen advisers opt for more "independent" products for their clients.



"I think, hand on heart, there are an incredibly high percentage of advisers that are absolutely doing the right thing for their clients," he said.



"It is an incredibly rewarding job. You're helping someone prepare themselves to live a long, healthy, happy life."

James Tomkins now works as nationals sales manager with UBS asset management. ( ABC News: Danielle Bonica )

Mr Tomkins said, in the wake of the banking royal commission, changing community perceptions about the sector will be hard.

However, he also worries politicians may end up delivering too much regulation and compliance and that, he thinks, could leave many Australians worse off.

"The Government's got to be really, really careful — what are you actually going to achieve?" he asked.

"There's a whole bunch of Australians that really need advice and it is going to be too expensive for them to receive it."