Bet you didn’t know that playing sports frequently lays the foundation for women’s entrepreneurial success, according to From elite female athletes to exceptional leaders: For all the places sport will take you. Participation in sports correlates with leadership success. A whopping 80% of women executives played sports growing up, and 69% said sports helped them develop leadership skills that contributed to their professional success, according to From the Locker Room to the Boardroom: A Survey on Sports in the Lives of Women Business Executives.
Katarina Witt, two-time Olympic champion, is one such leader. She was the closing keynote speaker at the We Own it Summit, a conference advocating, promoting, and accelerating high-growth entrepreneurship for women. This year it was held in Philly and was convened by the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) and The Collaborative. I had good fortune to talk with Witt at the event.
It’s clear that Witt’s experience in sports has made her wise in the ways of the business world and that the life-lessons she learned can help other women entrepreneurs.
1.) Surround yourself with top-notch support: Witt said she hired the best coach. That’s an obvious choice for a high-potential athlete. To succeed, surround yourself with the best people. High-potential entrepreneurs would be wise to hire the best as well. That may or may not include a coach but it does include an accountant and lawyer. Make sure they’re experts in the issues that face vibrant entrepreneurial companies.
2.) Have grit: Elite athletes, such as Witt — and entrepreneurs — know that perseverance, passion, and keeping an eye on long-term goals are the keys to success. “Going through the valleys makes you appreciate the hills,” said Witt.
Interestingly, academics are now finding that success is less about IQ, though that certainly is part of the formula, but more importantly about grit. Grit, as it turns out, is the quality that allows people to accomplish their goals. Angela Duckworth, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, pioneered a study on grit. She found that successful people are more likely to agree with survey statements such as “setbacks don’t discourage me.”
3.) Use failure as a stepping stone to success: Witt fell and picked herself up many times before she was able to land four triple jumps and a double axel in her long form program at the Calgary Olympics. Entrepreneurs know that the road to success is marked by many stumbles.
4.) Avoid labeling yourself a “failure” when you have failed: Just because you didn’t win doesn’t mean you are a failure. Witt made a comeback and competed in the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. She didn’t win a medal but her performance to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” a tribute to the lives lost in Sarajevo, earned her the hearts and minds of the audience. She also received a Golden Camera, a German film and television award, for her memorable Olympic comeback. In the long run, coming in seventh didn’t hurt her professional career. Her performance endeared her to the public.
5.) Handle the heat: Taking center stage is part of high-level competition. However, sometimes adulation can go negative. When Germany unified, anger was aimed at Witt because she lived a privileged life and benefited so much from being a state-sponsored athlete.
Women entrepreneurs need to go for the limelight, whether it is warm or harsh. The visibility establishes your credibility, which will help you grow in the long run. But to attract media attention, you have to say something that hasn’t been said before. People may disagree with you and you may get called on the carpet, which isn’t comfortable for many women. Use Witt as a role model for how to stay mentally strong when disapproval comes your way.
6.) Function well under pressure: For Witt, bringing home a gold medal wasn’t just about being the best figure skater. It was her opportunity to earn money outside East Germany. During the Cold War, before the Wall fell and the borders opened, she was the first East German athlete to persuade her government to let her turn pro. If she didn’t bring home gold from Calgary, she would not have been allowed to perform professionally outside East Germany. Witt delivered.
7.) Reinvent to open opportunities: After the Olympics, Witt formed her own production company. She was both a producer and a star. Audiences loved it, but the company lost money. She now minds her money a lot more closely. Witt joined forces with other ice stars had a lot of success but then tastes changed and ice skating was no longer as popular as it once was. Witt went on to act, write, serve as a judge on Britain’s “Dancing on Ice” TV show, and lead the bid for the 2018 winter Olympics for Munich.
8.) Rest and recover: The Olympics aren’t going to Munich. Witt is taking time off. While I wouldn’t venture a guess as to what her next undertaking will be, the one thing I’m sure about is that it will be exciting.
Listening to Witt, it’s easy to see why playing sports builds the skills needed to succeed as an entrepreneur. Let’s hear it for Title IX! Break down the barriers to sport for women and girls. It’s not because we want to get into the locker room. We want to get into the corner office.
From Forbes
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