Beth Brooke

Not only do the majority of senior women executives have sports in their background, they recognize that the behaviors and techniques learned through sports are critical to motivating teams and improving performance in a corporate environment. ”

Setbacks are just learning experiences. ”

I think what you have to recognise is everybody has their own deal, and everybody has challenges. Do I think that it was easier for me because at a certain point in my career I didn't have children? Yeah, I think absolutely so. But everybody has their own deal. ”

Research shows that women at that mid level tend to get promoted based on performance, and men tend to get promoted based on potential. ”

It's not the winning that teaches you how to be resilient. It's the setback. It's the loss. ”

Sponsorship involves putting your own political capital at risk, so they are going to help that person to succeed. Women get promoted; they don't get sponsored. Women know they are on their own if they get that promotion. ”

Some companies are already investing in women and thereby betting on a brighter future - for a workforce just waiting to blossom, for emerging economies whose development depends on this new talent, and, of course, for their own financial growth. ”

We all know business financial performance improves when more women are in senior levels of management and leadership. ”

There's no doubt about it that my participation in sports allowed me to compete in the business world in a very gender-neutral way. ”

I find it fascinating that sport has such a strong connection to success in business. Arguably, C-suite women are some of the most successful women, and more than half of them played at a more advanced level than just the general population of women in business that had sport in their background. ”