Elizabeth Lindsey, a sports enthusiast since childhood, found herself in a unique situation when her family moved to a town devoid of a girls’ soccer team. The boys in the locality were unkind and refused to let her participate in their team, leaving the young Lindsey with no choice but to fight for her right to play.
At the tender age of nine, Lindsey took the bold step of addressing the city council, arguing her case for being allowed to compete with the boys in the sport she loved. Her efforts paid off, and she was granted the permission she sought. “And I won,” she said, recounting the victory. “They let me play.”
In the following year, Lindsey succeeded in recruiting three more girls to join her on the boys’ team, leading to the eventual establishment of a separate team for girls. Her experiences, while challenging, helped her develop a resilience that would prove invaluable in her future career.
Today, Lindsey serves as the president of brand and properties at the global sports marketing and talent management agency, Wasserman. She reminisces about her past experiences, including an incident when a former CEO threw a book at her in a fit of rage. However, she considers her toughest opponents to have been the group of nine-year-old boys who attempted to make her life unpleasant. “I’m 54 years old and I still think about these boys,” she said.
Lindsey shared her unique journey during Fortune’s 2024 Most Powerful Women summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. The summit included a Deloitte-sponsored panel discussion on ‘How Investing in Women’s Sports Fosters Women Leaders’.
Key Takeaways from the Panel Discussion
Women leaders with a background in athletics reported that the skills they developed through sports participation played a critical role in their professional success. This was highlighted by a 2023 Deloitte survey, which found that:
- 85% of the 1,100 women surveyed attributed their professional success to their athletic backgrounds.
- Among women in leadership roles, this figure rose to 91%.
- Among women earning above $100,000, a whopping 93% credited their success to their sports involvement.
The panel, which included Deloitte chair Lara Abrash, Athleta CMO Ilona Aman, and Exos CEO Sarah Robb O’Hagan, discussed the lessons they learned from sports. According to Abrash, sports teach us the importance of resilience in the face of failure. Aman echoed this sentiment, noting the impact of experiencing loss on her development. Robb O’Hagan, who was ‘forced’ into sports as a child in New Zealand, highlighted the value of teamwork.
Lindsey, for her part, credited sports for her resilience, tenacity, self-reliance, and self-confidence. She also observed that her colleagues who had also played sports as children were easily identifiable due to their ability to take direction and work as part of a team.
Abrash summarised the discussion by emphasising the importance of grit, which she described as an essential quality that can’t be taught or inherited, but is acquired through experiences. “So these experiences, particularly for women who are often told they can’t do something, actually teaches them they can,” she concluded.
