Lessons on Leadership from Serena Williams

6 MINUTE READ

What can we all learn from an emotionally charged tennis match?! A lot.

Serena Williams may have ruffled feathers this past week at the US Open getting fired up over what she felt (right or wrong!) were some unfair calls that cost her the match. While her explosive reaction cause a lot of people to quickly judge (and we have to ask ourselves, would the same reaction have been so scrutinized if it were a male athlete? This study suggests not.) Not only was I inspired by Serena standing up for herself, it was what happened next that was a true representation of a powerful female leader with a high emotional intelligence.

Not only did she embrace and celebrate newcomer Naomi Osaka, she interrupted a booing crowd to take a stand for the winner and support her opponent in her well earned victory. It made me ask myself, where in my life should I be taking more of a stand for myself and also for those around me?! Lisa Abeyta at Inc examines the important leadership lessons we can all take away from Serena this week.

Forward by Alisha Adams, Co Founder, Talent Lab