Becky Hammon

Another..............Barrier............Broken..........

Becky Hammon and Tony Parker

It's all about women this week.  After the previous post on Malala, which wasn't exactly soccer-related, but certainly applicable to young women learning to lead in any situation, young coach Becky Hammon popped up on the radar, and brought a great example of a woman being a leader in sports to mind.  Sadly, soccer is struggling with all the same issues.  Sometimes it feels like we should be there already.

Isn't it common sense that anyone can teach, organize, lead, research, play, create, sell - regardless of social/racial/ethnic/religious/financial/geographic/etc. background?  And yet...

Our determination to preserve a sense of exceptionalism about ourselves is pretty impressive.  I'm special, not advantaged!  And certainly not biased...though how often do we adjudge potential in others based on shared characteristics?  Went to the same school, grew up in the same area, looks the same as me?  It is the very deepest, gooiest mud in which the "other" must gain traction and break through the incessant barriers to equality- though not the only mud.  It's important to see people advance in fields where folks who look like them, come from backgrounds like them and so on have never been before.  But it's starting to feel like there's no end to the glass ceilings, old boys clubs, and protected turf.  Lots of credit to Becky Hammon for working her way into the San Antonio Spurs' organization and convincing Greg Popovich to hire her (and to him for the integrity to hire a good person, regardless of the packaging).  She's another of our dogged heroes pursuing her goals and testing her abilities at the highest level no matter the unlikely nature of even having the opportunity.  She's fortunate to have crossed paths with Popovich; she's inspiring because she made sure she was too good for Popovich to overlook.  There's a lot to unpack in this sort of situation.

BleacherReport has a nice background story on Hammon, and there are some insightful comments presented as common knowledge that indicate another tiny shift in mainstream thinking that will give hope to non-white/male/middle-aged coaching candidates (and people in any other sector struggling against similar demographic sticking points - women make up more than half the worlds' population....seems idiotic to refer to Hammon here as a "minority," though she is in terms of the demographics of coaching...see, lots to unpack!)

A couple months ago, Janet Napolitano spoke in Philly and offered some comments on women and leadership and I shared some her speech in this space, and the BleacherReport article makes them worth repeating here again:

In the final analysis, effective leadership depends on a few key pieces.  Leaders must have a long-term vision.  They must think bigger and persuade other people that they want to be part of this something bigger.  They must also have a sense, operationally, of how to get it all done.  

And then they must have the wisdom and patience to step back and let others do it. 

All of the above is true if you are a man. 

All of the above is true if you are a woman.

From the article on Hammon, here are several good quotes from Pop about his hiring priorities...clearly nothing here that only men can provide (or white guys, or whatever...):

Popovich...seeks out coaches with strong ideas and strong voices, who will challenge him and keep the creative sparks flying, whether in the video room or in a fourth-quarter timeout.
Other traits Popovich looks for in a prospective coach: "Are they comfortable in their own skin? Can they admit fault? Can they admit a mistake? Can they communicate? All those things you think about before you hire somebody, because the worst thing is a coach that can't admit that he or she was wrong, and it's their way or the highway. Or can't participate or give the players ownership in what's going on on the court. That's not going to work in the NBA. It's got to be a participatory sort of thing."
There is one other requirement...that Popovich calls mandatory..."Sense of humor," he said. "No sense of humor, no job."

Just for fun, here's the 112th Congress, with all 13 women - 112 editions of this body has seen an increase in representatives by 6-fold (91 in the first Congress/539 in the 112th), and a mere 13 women have found their way into the club: