Playing Sports Can Help You Succeed at Work- Especially Women
Originally published by Aoife Barry for EuroNews
The sports world is littered with successful stars who have made the transition to business: from Venus and Serena Williams to Magic Johnson and George Foreman.
They were canny enough to know that as elite sports careers can end when you’re still young, you need to have something lined up.
But what all of them also have in common is that the skills they learned as athletes would benefit them hugely in the workplace.
There are sporty women at the helm or high up in many major sports and athletic companies – like Whoop, Burton, Puma, and Patagonia.
Meanwhile, a global study of male and female C-Suite executives conducted by EY and espnW between 2013 and 2016 found that 94 per cent of women executives have a background in sport, and over half participated at university levels.
In addition, 61 per cent of the women executives who responded believed playing sports contributed positively to their career success and advancement.
Now, a new study from Deloitte has found that women who played competitive sports in their youth are more likely to be in leadership or management roles.
Eighty-five percent of surveyed women who played sports say the skills they developed were important to success in their professional careers, and the findings are even higher among women in leadership roles (91 per cent) and women who make $100,000 or more (93 per cent).
Of the female respondents who make $100,000 or more annually and are in management or leadership roles, 69 per cent have played competitive sports.
So, what sorts of skills could they have learned on the field, track, or in the pool that went on to benefit them in work?