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Which path to senior leadership? Some advice for young women

If you walked into a department head meeting at Nationals Park, you would find that the majority of the people sitting around the table were women. The majority is slight, but it’s there. Women represent 45 percent of our business vice presidents and 60 percent of our leaders at the senior vice president level and above.

Organizationally, we don’t reflect on our team makeup very much. Day-to-day, we’re just a group of leaders trying to sell tickets, drive our brand, improve the fan experience and so forth. But just because we don’t focus on our gender composition doesn’t mean the situation is not atypical, perhaps even unique in all of professional team sports.

Statistics presented in SportsBusiness Journal show that women leaders at the team level are pretty rare. Outside of the NBA, there are no female team presidents or COOs. And, every major pro league scores a D or F in terms of women in senior administrative positions at the team level. The lack of female leaders isn’t about a lack of interest; according to Korn Ferry, about half of all entry-level employees coming into sports are female. They just aren’t making it to the top.

What’s behind this reality? One might offer that major U.S. pro sports teams are historically male-dominated organizations, with a majority male audience, and a male-centric product (the players are 100 percent male, after all). One could further state that the infamous “glass ceiling” is a broad and real problem that stretches well beyond the sports industry. And not every employee, male or female, has set their personal or professional goals on capturing high-pressure senior leadership positions that require 24/7 engagement. But when young women approach me asking for advice on how they can best position themselves for the top roles at teams, I want to offer them more than discouraging stats or sociological commentary.

So, here is what I tell them:

1. Stay close to revenue.

If you look at team business-side operations, you will find that women tend to be underrepresented in revenue-generating/management functions like ticket sales, corporate partnership sales and finance, especially at the manager level and above. Women tend to over-index in ticketing/premium service, corporate partnership activation, marketing and administrative roles. While these are critical functions and satisfying career fields, team leaders predominantly emerge from new business development areas. In fact, if you take the NBA alone, Korn Ferry calculates that 85 percent of team presidents spent significant portions of their career in new business sales. Likewise, at the vice president level, if the choice comes down to a senior director candidate from sales versus one from service, I’ve rarely seen the latter candidate win the job. Simply put, revenue-generating roles lead to the top, and women need to purposefully pursue these skills and experiences if they want to maximize their chances of leading a team.

2. Join a team that can help you hone relevant sales skills.

For women who have already invested a good portion of their careers in non-revenue-generating areas, I advise them to look for roles at teams that are leveraging these pieces of the business more aggressively. Several teams, like the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Boston Red Sox, have an agency approach, with service staff doing more than just keeping clients happy; they also directly own and execute renewals and existing account growth. These experiences better position their employees to compete for vice president slots against sales candidates down the road.

3. Embrace analytics.

Sales is not for everyone, so I often get asked, “Is there any other area of the business that might emerge as a key path to the executive suite?” While it’s relatively a newer career path at teams — and therefore doesn’t yet have a proven leadership development track record — analytics may serve as an alternate path. Team business practices are evolving through the greater availability and usage of data to inform decision-making. Team marketing is no longer just about slick creative, but increasingly about understanding target segments, measuring the effectiveness of media buys and leveraging social analytics to inform campaigns. Corporate partners are demanding more research and proof that their investments are paying off. Ticket sales relies more and more on understanding the 360-degree view of the fan, retention and lead scoring models, and dynamic pricing based on ever-shifting market demands. The ability to collect, analyze and leverage business information to inform decision-making is another way to differentiate a candidacy for leadership positions.

4. Play the odds.

Leagues have a better track record of promoting women to top positions, especially the NBA. So, if you really want to be a leader in sports, leagues can be an ideal place to grow and thrive. Just this year, the NFL, NBA, MLB and PGA Tour kicked off formal programs to attract and retain women. But, if you have your heart set on working and leading at a team, play the odds … apply for a job with the Nats.

Valerie Camillo (valerie.camillo@nationals.com) is chief revenue and marketing officer for the Washington Nationals.

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