Molly Fletcher Inspires Us at the Women in Leadership Institute | Day 4 of #WILinstitute

Can you feel that? That’s innovation, inspiration and passion—the spirt of the Women in Leadership Institute^tm (WIL), which concludes today.

Throughout this week, thousands of women leaders joined us in-person and virtually for a transformative leadership development experience focused on them. We are recharging, reimagining and reigniting our leadership journeys, and the impact is tremendous.

The past four days have been jam-packed with incredible speakers, timely insights, advice from trailblazing women leaders, and more. Be sure to check out our full blog coverage, including takeaways from Jennifer McCollum and Shannon Bayer, Carla Harris and Reshma Saujani, and Anne Chow and Magie Cook.

Today, on Day 4 of WIL, we closed out the 2023 conference with an exceptional keynote talk with Molly Fletcher, pioneering female sports agent and CEO.

MOLLY FLETCHER ON “BOLD”: Discover the Power of “Branding & Presence” 

Do you assert yourself courageously and professionally? Do you speak assertively and are you willing to promote yourself and your ideas?  

The “Bold” competency is all about how you present yourself to the world—and when you unlock bold leadership, you can ascend to new leadership heights.

Bold leaders project and actively manage a professional image. They volunteer to take on high-profile projects, empowering themselves to do what they do best in a public setting. They always show a willingness to take calculated risks to accomplish results, and they “seize the moment” to make decisions to move things forward—even when they are not in a formalized leadership role.

It’s time to unlock the power of the Bold competency to move our goals forward—and achieve our dreams.  

Hailed as the “female Jerry Maguire” by CNN, Molly Fletcher made a name for herself as one of the first female sports agents. During her almost two-decade career as President of CSE, Molly negotiated over $500 million in contracts and represented over 300 of sports’ biggest names, including Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, PGA TOUR golfer Matt Kuchar, broadcaster Erin Andrews and basketball championship coaches Tom Izzo and Doc Rivers.

As a World’s Top 50 Keynote Speaker, she delivers her inspiring message to audiences around the world. She is the author of five books, including The Energy Clock and Fearless at Work, and her latest TED Talk, “Secrets of a Champion Mindset,” has more than one million views.

Molly is a longtime partner of Linkage, a SHRM company, serving as a faculty member and keynote speaker at the Women in Leadership Institute and as a presenting partner of the Game Changer Negotiation Program, which is facilitated by Linkage’s expert consultants and brings her innovative approach to negotiation to women leaders at premier organizations.

During her keynote, Molly talked about how to unleash your potential by stepping into small moments of boldness.

Key Takeaways from Molly: 

• In her former career as a sports agent, Molly had a front-row seat to peak performance from top athletes and coaches. While the outside world saw their big moments of boldness, Molly saw the small moments that “laddered up” to those big moments—moments of dealing with and overcoming self-doubt, failure, change, and challenge. These moments where our Inner Critic takes over with self-doubt are opportunities to “shift our story” to take us where we want to go, to get curious and make real change.
• “At some level, complacency is the enemy of boldness,” said Molly. To be bold, we want to be curious about what’s possible inside of us.
• Molly talked about the discomfort she had to step into when starting her sports career in Atlanta and being unsure where she would end up. “When we believe in and bet on ourselves, we can do some incredible things,” said Molly.
• We tend to think about what’s at risk if we make a bold move—but we also need to think about what’s at risk if we DON’T make that bold move.
• We need to be intentional about managing our energy, not just managing our calendars. If we don’t decide where to put energy, the world and everybody else will decide for us—be intentional about who deserves you.
• We have to be present to be bold, deciding strategically where we put our best energy forward. “Be where your feet are,” said Molly.
• “What if we viewed ‘no’ as feedback?” suggested Molly. When you receive a “no,” it’s time to get curious—how do you close the gaps between you and the other person to get what you want; and is this genuinely what you want? It takes courage to know when to walk away and chase something different.

Molly ended her keynote with an inspirational message to lead our post-WIL journey: “You all have a spark of boldness—go and reignite it!”

Linkage’s 2023 Legend in Leadership:  

Yesterday, we honored Maggie Wilderotter as our Legend in Leadership. Maggie has a distinguished career in leadership that led her to be considered for this award. Currently serving as Board Chair of DocuSign, Wilderotter has led Fortune 500 and startup companies throughout her career. She has extensive Board experience, serving on over 35 public companies and 14 private company Boards of Directors.

Maggie shared her purpose, what inspires her, and how she works to unlock the potential in those she impacts. Check out the recording of this session – and all Keynotes – in the platform via your 90 day access, expiring on January 31, 2024!

Didn’t get a chance to join us for the experience? The Women in Leadership returns in 2024! Find more information here.