I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use the phrase in the sentences you’ve quoted.
He was helpful to me in more ways than one (eg finding me a job, a shelter; finding a school for my children etc)
You could let your hair down—‘behave casually or informally’—in the way you dress, keep your home, attend to your duties, etc.
Similarly, Spartans could have made considerable progress in the way they perform on the pitch, their performance attracting more audiences, the club feeing better off financially, etc.