Accessed
4th September 2013
22
August 2013 Last updated at 01:17
Do sporty women make better entrepreneurs?
Whoops and cheers greet Shavannia Williams, who steps onto the
conference floor with an agility unfettered by her 6in (15cm) stilettos.
This is Heels and
Helmets, a training camp for women in Washington
DC
"Sport teaches us
that you cannot allow your accomplishments to make you complacent, and you
can't allow your fears to stop you from soaring," says Ms Williams,
president of Heels and Helmets, and editor of an online magazine of the same
name.
"It's about understanding
the culture behind sports as well as the vernacular. I relate it to working and
studying in another country."
With a background in
sports marketing, Ms Williams is well placed to help other women understand the
lingo.
Prof Sheila WellingtonStern School of Business
But while using
sporting analogies in business isn't new, an increasing number of organisations
are now looking at whether playing sport can make women better entrepreneurs.
Consulting company
Ernst and Young surveyed 821 senior managersand found the
vast majority of top women executives had played sport at school or university.
The company says its
research validates and underscores the fundamental role that participation in
sport plays in developing women leaders. As a result, it has launched its own Women Athletes Global Leadership Network.
Ms Williams also
highlights the networking benefit that businesswomen can gain from playing
sport - access to the locker room, that exclusive male space, real or
metaphorical, where men are said to seal deals, and make the business decisions
that matter most.
Research, by Catalyst,
a non-profit organisation aiming to advance women in business also stresses the
networking boost that sport can offer females, both playing and watching it.
'Stronger resilience'
Ernst and Young's
findings do not surprise Karlyn Lothery, a Washington-based communications
consultant who works extensively with athletes, and uses the psychological
power of sport to help her less active clients too.
Women with a sports
background usually show more confidence, she says. That can range from having a
firm handshake to speaking authoritatively without a rising inflection at the
end of a sentence which some women adopt to avoid appearing confrontational or
too assertive.
"When the
athlete-turned-executive has a point, they make it," says Ms Lothery.
"You can't have that softer, questionable, doubtful sound in your voice.
[Athletes] have this confidence of, 'We are going to do this, we will do this,
we can do this, and we will win.' There's greater strength there.
"They usually
have stronger resilience too, because in sport you have to learn to lose but
then pick yourself up and get back in."
Ms Lothery has played
a number of team sports including softball, football and basketball. She left
her job in television news to work for the US Tennis Association before
starting her own business in 2008 - just as the economy collapsed.
She says her sports
background gave her the skills to transform her $30,000 (£19,000) a year
start-up into a company with an annual turnover of about $1m.
"In sport you
look at what the successful teams are doing, what training you need to do
better. I'm a great communication consultant, but what I learned at that moment
was I wasn't great at running my business.
"So I did the
practice necessary for any team to regroup and rebuild - they've got to make
time for practice and do the drills and work longer hours. Adopting that
philosophy, I think, was it."
Sheila Wellington, a
professor of management at the New York University Stern School of Business
agrees, saying that "having athletic experience gives women a kind of
experience and edge that is undoubtedly helpful in the business world".
She adds: "Women
who are eager to win are sometimes characterised as being bitches. A guy who's
eager to win is called a winner.
"A woman who
competes is considered not to be feminine. A guy who competes is a go-getter.
Sport teaches women that it's all right to want to win and it's all right to be
on top, that there's nothing wrong with caring about being part of a winning
team.
"These are
important life lessons, and the earlier girls learn them the better off they'll
be."
Negative side
But simply playing
sport isn't enough, says Maureen Weiss, professor of kinesiology at the University of Minnesota
"I strongly feel
that competitive sport and other physical activity can provide the skills
needed in the business world, but one key thing - this is not an automatic
consequence of participation," she says.
"When individuals
have a negative experience of sport, it can really have a very negative effect
on self-esteem and motivation."
Ms Weiss is starting a
longitudinal study in the autumn that will assess how structured physical
activity can teach girls social and psychological skills.
She'll be tracking the
development of girls who take part in programmes offered by Girls on the Run, a
nationwide non-profit organisation that seeks to improve physical and mental
health through activities culminating in a 5km (three-mile) run.
Achieving a goal that
many thought was unobtainable instils confidence and teaches the value of
focus, effort and determination, says Girls on the Run president, Elizabeth
Kunz.
Many girls drop out of
sport when they reach puberty, the same age at which they often start to lose
confidence and self-esteem, she says.
"It's like a rite
of passage. We're really trying to give them the tools they need so that when
this time comes they can remember what they learned at Girls on the Run."
Other experts say
sport in general teaches the value of teamwork, discipline and willpower - as well
as creating the physical stamina necessary for long hours and a gruelling
workload.
The message seems
clear - business is a tough game so employ the same tactics you would in
competitive sport and you stand a better chance of winning. And by the way girls,
it's OK to want to win.
