Fireside chat with an ICON

March is Women’s History Month. This year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting all American women the right to vote. We all should reflect on how far the fight for equality has come the past 100 years but we should also recognize that we have further to go…

This morning The World Affairs Council hosting the 5th Annual Women’s Breakfast. In front of a full house the audience listened to Jill Ellis, the Winningest Coach in US Soccer History, share some of the highlights of her career reflecting on key lessons learned. Rickey Bevington, senior anchor/correspondent from the Georgia Public Broadcasting, asked thought provoking questions. Questions that helped the audience learn about Jill’s decision-making process as a leader, how she helped her team achieve the top, what they have done to get back to the top and many other questions. 

In her opening comment Rickey reminded us that studies show athletes bring leadership skills to the workplace. Participating in sports teaches young athletes confidence, character, focus, resilience, problem solving and working under high pressure. These traits are all critical in any leader. Yet, in the board room women are still not well represented. Rickey said that ‘We will never be defined by statistics and will not accept the status quo’. What a way to introduce Jill Ellis who has just done this in all her career!

Jill took a leap and followed her passion (over a paycheck) when she accepted her first assistant coaching job. She has benefitted from great mentors along the way and mentioned that FIFA (the world’s soccer governing body) has also created a formal mentoring program for coaches! This was music to my ears….)

When asked about how she dealt with pressure she learned from the best, her mentor (John Wooden, head coach of UCLA basketball)… ‘It is a privilege to feel the pressure, this means that someone has taken a notice of your success’. Jill has carried this advice with her as she learned how to deal with pressure when the team was winning and even more when the team lost unexpectedly.

Rickey asked Jill about her secret how she was able to maintain success for such a long time. Jill’s response showed humility and real connection with reality. Her message resonated with me - never stop to evolve, part of her DNA to always want to be good at what she committed herself to do and the constant search for the next success #lifelonglearner #humility #commitment #excellence #resiliance – ‘EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK IF YOU JUST SIT DOWN SOMEONE WILL COME AND RUN YOU OVER’

Ricky reminded the audience that Jill lead the US Women Soccer team to win the World Cup in 2015 which was followed by a disappointing showing in the 2016 Rio Olympics and then the team rebounded to recapture the World Cup title in 2019. What an incredible roller coaster from the high of winning to losing and back to winning. Ricky asked Jill how she led her team through these highs and lows. 

2015 Jill lead from the front as there was shorter time to prepare for the World Cup. In 2019 Jill had more time to prepare the team so she empowered the team and gave them the tolls to be successful. The 2016 failure helped the team to defend their world cup tile in 2019. Why? Following her Dad’s coaching advice of ‘OWN IT, BUILD IT, BELIEVE IT. YOU SHARE THE SUCCESS AND YOU OWN THE FAILURE’ – Jill has done just that. She has seen the failure as an opportunity. In 2017 she rebuilt the team, some players made the journey, others did not whilst others had new jobs…. Some were not happy but the job got done! 

Once she made this change the team evolved and focused on where things were trending as she wanted to be a trend setter. Jill summed it up best ‘As a leader you need to realise when consistency is needed and when change is needed’

When asked about the unexpected loss of a key player on the team (to injury) and how she adapted to this change Jill’s response was consistent – she saw this unexpected event as an opportunity. This philosophy should be the same we apply in business, when a key employee resigns unexpectedly there is an opportunity for another talent on the team to step up! One person cannot and should not carry the team.       

Rickey asked Jill about gender parity and what she has learned from her team to drive change. One of her former bosses called her ‘the most reluctant icon’ he has ever met. Jill learned over time how to use her platform to drive positive change and to create awareness. She has become visible, uses her voice and advocates for women. Incredibly important responsibility which I have also assumed (in much smaller ways, of course) and try to do the best I can to give people a voice and be heard. Jill uses diversity on the soccer field, she realized that ‘our differences are our strengths’. This has been my guiding principle when I created the ‘MEETING OF THE MINDS’ invitation only female professional group 6 months ago.     

When asked about TEAM WORK, Jill talked about the importance of celebrating success together. There are only 11 players on the field and instead of calling the rest of the players subs she called then ‘GAMECHANGERS’ - #genious!! On many occasions she showed pics of the bench when a goal was scored so that the team on the field could see the excitement of the entire team #TEAMSPIRIT

Jill reminded us to celebrate success and learn from failures. When asked about how she encouraged her team after a loss Jill’s response was simple – let them grieve but then there is the next game right around the corner… Refocus on ‘what you control, there is always another game and grow from the loss’

Jill used the analogy of the mountain; ‘There is a reason why the mountain is small and the air is thin. You are not supposed to hang out at the top. You have to climb up again and conquer it’.

Jill has now retired from coaching and has been enjoying the change, sees this is another growth period. We all need change; leave a job when you are on the top!