Leading a team, whether as an executive of a multi-million dollar corporation or as the captain of the local recreational soccer squad, requires certain essential characteristics. These traits are prevalent in any instance of administrative or organizational success. A sense of purpose, passion, commitment, dedication, competition and motivation are all concepts and skills important to managerial roles and, incidentally, qualities that apply to the realm of athletics as well. About 94 percent of women in C-suite positions and other corporate leadership roles were collegiate athletes (Hess 2024). Regardless of field or income level, women with a background in sports at any point in their lives tend to earn more, report more passion for their work, and infuse a sense of drive and competition into their work lives that inspire innovation and motivate the people around them (Torres 2025).
The positive benefits and influence of organized sports on young people has long been understood. Touted as one of the staples of the picturesque, idyllic, all-American childhood, sports have occupied a place in Western society and culture for decades. From the avid fans in the 1930s of America’s favorite pastime to the passionate football supporters of today, the influence of sport on the minds and hearts of the American people cannot be taken lightly.
It is only in the last several decades that women have been tolerated as participants in this cultural and social setting. Initially thought of as unladylike, female athletes have fought long and hard to prove their right to engage and participate in these ‘masculine’ activities. The traditional distance in competitive rowing, 2000-meters, has only been open to women since 1984 (“How Women Won the Right to Row”2020). Previously, female rowers were thought too delicate to endure this length, competing on 1000-meter courses instead. The precursor of modern softball was born through the necessity of fielding female athletes when most men had enlisted or been drafted during the World War II (Little 2021). The resilience of female athletics is an inheritance of these early trailblazers, those who, with spirit, tenacity, and stubbornness created the opportunities they were denied. This tradition of persistence and discipline is echoed by many women in athletics to this day. In recent decades, women have slowly begun to close the many gaps between men and women’s sports. Participation rates among young women, and their retention in sports as they grow through middle and high school, have climbed steadily. Universities across the United States have poured more funds, marketing, and media into their women’s teams following the influence and popularity of athletes like Livvy Dunne and Caitlin Clark, as well as the successes and prowess displayed by teams like OU softball and gymnastics (Zuritsky 2025). These women have only highlighted a larger, steadily increasing trend, and the growing demand for women’s sports and spaces to be afforded the respect and recognition they’ve earned.
The striking correlation between women’s success in the workplace and on the field merits closer examination. What about sport equips women to take on the challenges and struggles of executive decision making? How do the responsibilities of a teammate and athlete translate to the office and various administrative pressures? The overlap of qualities indicative to success on the pitch and in the office has only recently been studied along with this surge of interest in female sports.
From an early age, the majority of American children dedicate many hours and weekends to tournaments, scrimmages, practices, weightlifting sessions and private coaching lessons. As they grow, girls drop sports at a slightly higher rate than boys, a steep drop off occurring between middle and high school (Black et al. 2022). Many public schools pour funding primarily into their men’s teams, specifically football, without much of an effort to develop women’s teams. Though this has been slightly alleviated by the incorporation of equality of opportunity provisions like Title IX (Ernst & Young 2015) the fact remains that women and girls have no reason to be encouraged by any perceived material benefit of participation. From high school on to college, the drop off rate is even more pronounced, and competition even more intense. Scholarships for athletics at Division 1 programs are difficult to attain, with women being held to a high academic standard as well as an athletic one. Athletes from around the world strive towards admittance into collegiate programs. For many of them, the opportunity affords the chance of a better life, provides a springboard for an elite career, or simply creates the means of a long sought-after education. Nonetheless, these competitive factors foster an atmosphere designed to shape young women, sharpening characteristics of determination, persistence and commitment, as well as a goal and future oriented mindset. In the fast-paced, global corporate culture of the United States, competition is a constant factor, and a view of long-term growth and success, committed to with discipline, can become the lynchpin of company success. The familiarity of female athletes with high pressure, high intensity environments equip them for these career situations.
In the collegiate setting, coaches and athletes alike have high standards, lofty goals, and serious commitment to success. The reality of being a student athlete is juggling over twenty hours of sport related activities per week along with school and sometimes work. Homework is completed on a plane to SEC Championships, finals must be taken early to avoid traveling conflicts. Organizing studies around a full-time athletic schedule is not for the faint of heart, classes, tutoring, and sometimes even housing arrangements often revolved around sport pressures, practices, and commitments. In-season, athletes are expected to arrange their academics to better accommodate the team, all of which require a monumental effort and attention to detail, foresight, and proactivity. Women’s teams tend to average higher cumulative GPAs than men’s teams at the D1 level, specifically among high performing programs. Liberty Universities Volleyball team reported a combined GPA of 3.82 in the 2023-24 school year, with Women’s Swimming and Diving and Women’s Tennis closely following with 3.75 and 3.63 respectively (“Liberty Volleyball…” 2024).The requirement of women to excel in both academic and athletic spheres throughout college, a pressure unequal to that of their male colleagues, cultivates qualities indicative of success in any career or field post-grad. In a work environment, responsibilities and pressures come quickly, necessitating the organization of various elements and people at once. Through sports, women are prepared for the time constraints and demanding pace of administrative, managerial, and leadership obligations.
Aside from the learned and very important skills of time management, a future-oriented, driven mindset, and an intense sense of competition in the pursuit of success, there are many leadership roles in athletics that contribute to long-lasting qualities of healthy and effective governance in administrative settings. The emphasis on example in a merit-based competitive system tends to produce leaders of action rather than those who rely on easy words. Leading by example, showcasing a willingness to work at the highest executive levels, is an incredibly productive administrative technique. This type of leadership is more effective than any other, contributing to higher levels of inspiration, innovation and motivation than other methods in both a work and athletic setting (Dewan et al. 2008). Captains of teams usually have the added responsibility of personality management, upholding team standards and a positive team culture. Good leaders in sport are able to connect empathetically with their peers, relating to them on a personal level that fosters individual buy-in to overarching team attitudes and goals.
Women in leadership in sport also gain experience of leading through conflict, with quality leadership viewing disagreement as an opportunity for growth and innovation rather than a setback. Managing through conflict can create a more solidified sense of culture, prompting the unification of talented individuals through shared resiliency. Leaders in sport are exposed to these concepts, struggles, and practical resolutions early. These situations provide invaluable experience for use in the post-comp working world, yet another reason contributing to such an astonishingly high rate of successful former athletes among women executives throughout the world.
One of the most important aspects of leadership in both sports and the workplace, is communication, whether with teammates, coworkers, coaches, or executives. On a team, especially at the collegiate level, communication is crucial, a skill that is necessary to group and individual success and understanding. Communication and the willingness to adapt are essential qualifications of leadership across fields. Administration and executives that communicate efficiently are more effective in their day-to-day execution of tasks, leading to better group dynamics and overall performance (Fondas 2014). Peer communication, in sport and in life, is also fundamentally important for workplace and team culture. Unhealthy situations and atmospheres that effect entire companies and teams can be avoided through the institution of a leadership system modeled on clear communication. The resulting comradery is an added boost to progress, productivity, and success. Women in sports are able through their athletic experience to gain insight and familiarity with the situational subtleties and overall importance of this aspect of leadership.
The realm of women’s athletics, although increasingly popular, catching the focus of both public perception and the media more than ever before, is still a considerably less profitable industry than men’s sports. This is partly due to a lack of funding and historical disregard. Men are also more likely to watch sports than women, leading to a lopsided support base (Granville 2024). Support has grown with participation, though there is still a significant disparity. This creates an environment altogether unique, prompting the fiercely competitive atmosphere apparent of female athletics. However, the import of these realities are a net positive. The undeniable victories of the industry have contributed to the career success of thousands of women. Undisputably, beyond the athletic arena, the sense of competition, perseverance, and the goal-driven mindset developed through the repeated engagement with sports supports and prepares young women beyond their athletic and collegiate careers, well into their corporate administrative roles.
The mindset of female athletes, developed to win on the field, on the court, on or in the water, are correlated to the qualities and perspectives guiding women to success in executive settings. Although sport encourages these types of characteristics across the board, the unique experiences of women, ingrained traits earned through years of growth through conflict, tend to result in the tools needed to overcome and thrive in many competitive business situations. The main reason why women in leadership continue to be dominated by athletes is due in part to their childhood devotion to success. In a way, these women have prepared for these roles since they first picked up a bat or an oar, shot a free throw, won a meet, race, or game.
As a focus on women in the workplace continues to pervade public life, with activists calling for blanket standards and quality of opportunity between men and women, the implications and benefits of women’s athletics can only become more appreciated and praised. Sports has become more than the vehicle of expression and passion so long desired by women throughout history, it has become an education in itself, a preparatory course in life and headship beyond the obvious learning of sport specific techniques and skills. The overall grit acquired through hard work and dedication mirrors corporate efforts and methods of achievement. The continues rise of representation and increased volume of women’s voices in the athletic arena will prompt and inspire the next generation of girls and future female athletes to dreaming, aspiring to lofty heights and determinedly working through obstacles in order to achieve. Sport becomes a microcosm of life, an opportunity for girls to familiarize themselves with the world around them, shaping their characters despite social and cultural pressures of conformity. The many forms of feminine strength are underlined by this active parable of struggle, progress, setbacks, and victory. The parallel of women in sport and women in the workplace continues to grow and expand, with the representation of female athletes contributing to youth participation and passion. This prompting of the next generation of competitors bodes well for the future of women in leadership, in sport as well as in society.
Works cited
Black, L. Terlizzi, E. and Vahratian, A. (2022). Organized Sport Participation Among Children Aged 6-17 Years: United States 2020. National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db441.htm#:~:text=While%20the%20percentage%20of%20children,observed%20differences%20were%20not%20significant
Dewan, T., & Myatt, D. P. (2008). The Qualities of Leadership: Direction, Communication, and Obfuscation. The American Political Science Review, 102(3), 351–368. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27644525
Ernst & Young, espnW. (2015). Why a female athlete should be your next leader. EY Global. https://www.ey.com/en_au/athlete-programs/why-a-female-athlete-should-be-your-next-leader
Fondas, N. (2014). Research: More than half of top female execs were college athletes. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/10/research-more-than-half-of-female-execs-were-college-athletes
Gerber, E. (1975). The Controlled Development of Collegiate Sport for Women, 1923-1936. Journal of Sport History, 2(1), 1–28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43609178
Granville, M. (2024). Girls Watch Sports Too. The Anchor: Hope College Student Newspaper. https://anchor.hope.edu/opinion/girls-watch-sports-too/#:~:text=Women%20(50%25)%20more%20closely,with%20sports%E2%80%94no%20surprise%20there.
Henderson, D. J., Olbrecht, A., & Polachek, S. W. (2006). Do Former College Athletes Earn More at Work? A Nonparametric Assessment. The Journal of Human Resources, 41(3), 558–577. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40057269
Hess. A (2024). Women who played sports are more likely to be business leaders. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/91194420/women-who-played-sports-are-more-likely-to-be-business-leaders
How Women Won the Right to Row. (2020). Boathouse Row. https://boathouserowthebook.com/2020/08/11/how-women-won-the-right-to-row/
Little, B. (2021). How World War II Spurred a Decade of Women’s Pro Baseball. History. https://www.history.com/articles/womens-baseball-league-world-war-ii
Liberty Volleyball Posts Top 52 GPA in Nation (2024). Liberty University, libertyflames.com/news/2024/7/19/womens-volleyball-liberty-volleyball-posts-top-52-gpa-in-nation
Torres, S. (2025). The Correlation Between Female Athletes and Successful Leadership. Cowen Partners. https://cowenpartners.com/the-correlation-between-female-athletes-and-successful-leadership/
Zuritsky, H. (2025). The Caitlin Clark Effect is an Economic Engine for Women’s Basketball. DC Report. https://www.dcreport.org/2025/01/10/the-caitlin-clark-effect-is-an-economic-engine-for-womens-basketball/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20262484538&gbraid=0AAAAADD6J80z6VxEGag5hoKHmW_Q1sUuR&gclid=CjwKCAjwz_bABhAGEiwAm-P8YXJ6CKAntaUp3R13MXi7MbQv0VLvxZO1YTyUf9t9PF0RArca_8AG6hoCUroQAvD_BwE
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