More women than ever now lead Fortune 500 companies in 2026 (55) — the highest share in the list’s 72-year history.
Their leadership spans a diverse array of huge corporations: General Motors (Mary Barra), Citigroup (Jane Fraser), UPS (Carol Tomé), Dow (Karen Carter), Elevance Health (Gail K. Boudreaux) — to name a few.
And there’s also the irony: that record of 55 women is still just 11% of Fortune 500 companies, less than a quarter of the way to parity.
Sports, Success, and the Growing Number of Women Execs
Research from Deloitte, presented on the World Economic Forum’s “Meet the Leader” podcast by Deloitte US Chair Lara Abrash, found that 85% of women executives credit lessons learned playing sports as major drivers of their success, and 90% say they perform at a higher level because of sports.
Sports builds a training system for exactly the traits that show up later at the top: doing the work when no one’s watching (discipline), making the hard call under pressure (courage), and getting back up after a loss (resilience).
Let’s be clear: sports didn’t hand these women their titles. Sports strengthened their underlying capacity. It gave them practice with both failure and success, and built the confidence that helped carry them into the boardroom.
Discipline, courage, and resilience aren’t traits you’re born with — they’re trained, like a serve or a sprint. Want to build these into your leadership or your team’s? Visit amareleadership.com/amare-leadership-lab
The Flip Side: It’s Still Harder for Women Leaders
It’s important to be honest about the other side, too. Progress has been slow and uneven. C-suite representation of women plateaued in 2022 around 27%, with no movement since.
One reason may be that as more women gain real power, some men aren’t adapting. Instead, they’re doubling down, again. In the 1920s, women won the right to vote, and “masculinity preservation” clubs sprang up in response. Today, it’s tech leaders touting a “manosphere” glorifying dominance over collaboration. Fear, poorly disguised.
That backlash lands squarely on women leaders in what Catalyst calls the “double-bind”: praised for confidence, then penalized for showing it. Assertive men are “decisive”; assertive women are “difficult.”
Discipline, courage, and resilience get you in the arena. They don’t yet guarantee the marketplace treats you fairly once you’re there. That can be an obstacle to even trying.
Instant Thought Experiment
Think back to a moment on a field, court, or track, or any place and time when you had to keep going after a setback nobody was going to fix for you. Now ask: where in your leadership today are you still drawing on that same muscle?
Mirror: Three Questions to Reflect On
1. Where did you first learn to keep your composure after losing?
2. Is your organization actually building discipline, courage, and resilience — or just hoping people arrive with it?
3. When did you last make a decision that took real courage, not just competence?
Amare Team Talk
Bring this one to your next team meeting: “What’s the toughest thing you ever had to keep doing after everyone else would have quit, and what did it teach you about how you lead now?” Wrap up with ideas for how to further strengthen resilience in your organization.
Door into Action: 3 Amare Leadership Steps
1. Name the muscle, not just the outcome. In your next 1:1s, ask each direct report where they learned to keep going after a setback. Listen for the story, not the résumé line.
2. Reward the courageous call, not just the correct one. At your next leadership meeting, recognize someone who made a hard, well-reasoned decision — regardless of outcome.
3. Build a “getting back up” ritual. After a team setback, hold a 15-minute debrief on what you’ll carry forward — not blame.
Making the Shift
Nobody just hands you a key to the C-suite. No one blows a whistle and says “your turn.” Fifty-five women aren’t leading Fortune 500 companies because someone finally let them in, they went and earned it, probably after being told to smile more at least once.
Discipline, courage, resilience. You build it in the moments nobody’s watching, long before the promotion shows up. So stop waiting for an invitation. Just start.
Game on!
– Moshe
Today’s Amare Wave Wednesday Quote
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
—Lou Holtz, Hall of Fame college football coach
Click here and read more Amare Wave Wednesday newsletters on related topics:
What Really Happens in Amare Leadership Coaching — And Why It’s NOT About Performance First: What Messi, Serena, and LeBron Learned the Hard Way
Hypermasculine Leadership Costs & Benefits: 7 Amare Steps to Bravely Lead with Heart & Backbone
Coached to Win: The Elite Athlete’s Blueprint for Business Leaders
Win at Work, Lose Yourself? The Leadership Tradeoff No One Talks About
Patrick Mahomes, Richard Branson, and Oprah Winfrey All Do This: A Lesson in Authentic Leadership
Original article published on Inc.com.
