Women, Sports and Leadership
Women, Sport, and Leadership
Studies have shown that a background in sports can improve a woman’s leadership potential; and not only can land her the jobs of her preferences but also can assist her in managing her own firm. What is about sport participation that can help take women unto the track of success?
A survey conducted by 400 women in 4 continents have shown that 51% of women that play competitive spots hold 51% of management positions. While 74% of respondent say a background in sports helped accelerate their career, 61% confirmed that sporting involvement contributed to their own career success and candidates with a sporting background listed determination and strong work ethic as traits learnt.
Three out of four respondents say that being described as competitive was considered an asset to their leadership style.
Having played sports my whole life, starting with tennis at summer camps and private lessons from the age of 12, I must say that playing a sport has definitely developed my communications skills and courage first and foremost as joining a team outside of school has forced me to step out of the unknown and put myself in out of my comfort zone, it also forced me to mingle and make friends outside of my circles. I started playing football, basketball, netball, and badminton in my early years in high school, and developed a special liking to football due to the close-knit feel you develop with your team and the raw obsession of wanting to win games. This drove an intense hunger to win and do well. We would celebrate loudly and heavily after a win, and be glowing with happiness for days after, and equally be disappointed after a loss, and work twice as hard to prove yourself in the next game. Much like winning over a client or project the high is the same, the low is a crash, but I soon came to understand practice makes perfect.
Football for me involved developing stamina, skills, and the need to maneuver and problem solve on the spot, it also involved learning to understand your team-mates their positions, strengths, and weaknesses. At the end of the day we completed each other and have to communicate directly and indirectly. We discussed our strategy before each game, we managed our own team huddles, gathered for moments of prayer before the start of a game. If one of our own got hit, or got a bad game call we would rush to defend them, we were all part of the pack. The more we traveled to play games the closer we became, the better we worked on the pitch.
Looking back now, these set of skills, the hunger to win, the sheer competitive and sportsmanship spirit, and the work that went to strengthening our skills I carried with me into my day to day working life, especially when starting up my company. I sacrificed many events, birthdays, and get together to not miss a practice and those habits I process into my working life, with priorities going to client lunches and late night meetings.
I am lucky enough to have parents that think playing team sports is cool, and they scold me when I miss a game or match. I find my dad is always grinning when he seems me all battered up in my jersey after a game, eager to know the details of the match, which I enjoy sharing with him. This is something I take for granted having seen other fathers and husbands stop the women in their families from playing sports due to the fact that they think it is unfeminine and manly, not appreciating the advantages that come with playing sports.
It is generally great to see Bahrain investing in sports with women, I have attended numerous local tournaments in all sports, and I feel so proud to see Bahraini women matching the skills of expats and even ex professional footballers. It just proves the fact that we can empower and build more women leaders through sports, and it is our duty to be supportive.