{"id":11604,"date":"2018-12-06T22:58:33","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T03:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/?p=11604"},"modified":"2018-12-07T10:55:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T15:55:20","slug":"interview-with-billie-jean-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/interviews\/interview-with-billie-jean-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Billie Jean King"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most respected athletes and change makers of the 20th century, tennis legend Billie Jean King, is still making her mark today as a champion for social change and equality. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently caught up with King at the Women\u2019s Sports Foundation<\/a> Athletes Leadership Connection in New York where she was being honored for her 75th birthday and where I heard her speak at a Q&A session and had the opportunity to interview her. She shared her personal insights on why women\u2019s leadership is so important, how being involved in sports helps girls develop leadership qualities, and what her call to action is for women and girls everywhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sports as a Platform for Change\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

King explained that at the age of seven she knew she wanted to do something great with her life. As she got involved in tennis, she began to gain confidence as an athlete and as an activist. She said, \u201cAt twelve I had an epiphany. I was daydreaming, and I thought, [in tennis] everybody wears white shoes, white socks, white clothes, we played with white balls in those days, and everybody who played was white. And I said, \u2018Where is everybody else?\u2019 That was the moment I promised I was going to fight for equality for the rest of my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She went on to become the world\u2019s number one tennis player\u2014winning 39 Grand Slam titles, including a record 20 titles at Wimbledon, and defeating male opponent Bobby Riggs in \u201cThe Battle of the Sexes<\/a>\u201d match, considered one of the greatest moments in sports history. King founded the Women\u2019s Sports Foundation<\/a> in 1974, a powerful organization dedicated to ensuring all girls have equal access to sports and physical activity and the tremendous life-long benefits they provide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Leadership Matters\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Why is it so important to have women in leadership positions? King told me, \u201cThey have proven now with data that if you have more women on your board in business, net profits go up to 16 percent more. Also, you want to hear different ideas, so you should have different cultures and you should have women. What happens is you stay ahead as a company; you\u2019re going to fall behind if you only listen to yourselves all the time. They\u2019ve proven it over and over. So it is good to have women represented in C-Suites, and 96 percent of women in C-Suites played sports, so sports really go hand in hand with leadership.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

King herself says that it was being involved in sports that gave her the confidence to overcome shyness and speak up: \u201cWhen I was a kid, tennis was what gave me confidence when I felt like I didn\u2019t fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Words of Wisdom for Women and Girls<\/b><\/p>\n

When I asked King what words of advice and inspiration she has for women and girls, she said, \u201cTo keep believing in themselves. We\u2019ve been socialized\u2014girls have been taught to be perfect and boys have been taught to be brave. Don\u2019t let yourself think that you have to be perfect.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This socialization can hold women back in their careers, King told me. \u201cHere\u2019s what happens a lot with a job. A job will have ten points to it, and the girl will look at nine and go, \u2018I can\u2019t do that tenth one.\u2019 A guy will look at it and go, \u2018I knew five out of ten, and I\u2019ll bluff my way through the other five.\u2019 She doesn\u2019t have to be perfect. If she can do six or seven or five, she is fine\u2014go for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother thing is women are usually hired on performance and men are hired on potential. It is very important that when companies are hiring they start thinking about women\u2019s potential, not just their performance because they always keep us back that way. Like if a woman is going to get on a board, what kind of experience does she have? Well, 75 percent of men that are on boards are rookies. They haven\u2019t been on any board either, but no one ever questions that. So women have to stand up and remind them, \u2018Look, I have potential. I can do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Know Your Strengths<\/b><\/p>\n

King urges women and girls to believe in themselves and in what they have to offer: \u201cThink about your potential\u2014what you\u2019ve been given. Practice your strengths. Know your strengths because just like in sports, we practice our strengths every single day and we make our weaknesses adequate. If you have a strength, go for it. Zone in on that and that will help you decide where you are going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to Bounce Back\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In addition to boosting confidence and leadership skills, sports also teach us important life lessons and ways of handling success and failure, King explained. \u201cSports teach us resilience. We bounce back.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her advice is to stay in the present moment: \u201cIn tennis, I take it one ball at a time, staying in the now, staying in the process. In every single sport and in life, being in the moment\u2014when you\u2019re in the zone, when your head and your heart and your gut are integrated\u2014that\u2019s when we do our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when things aren\u2019t working out, King offered this piece of wisdom: \u201cIt\u2019s not failure, it\u2019s feedback. You\u2019re always getting feedback from whatever experience you have in life, whether it\u2019s good or sad or difficult, you keep learning. You\u2019ve got to keep learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We Can All Make a Difference\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Billie Jean King has certainly made a difference as an athlete and activist. With all the problems our world is facing, it\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed when we think about how to individually do our part to make positive change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But King wants us all to remember this: \u201cWhatever you care about, you can make a difference. You really can. Don\u2019t ever underestimate yourself. Do not underestimate the human spirit.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the Women\u2019s Sports Foundation Athletes Leadership Summit, I also took part in a panel called \u201cRaise the Bar: Using Your Voice to Make a Difference<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0I joined Sandra Richards,\u00a0Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and veteran sports journalist and advocate\u00a0Sam Marchiano\u00a0as we talked with 2012 gold medalist in gymnastics\u00a0Jordyn Wieber, an outspoken voice for change.\u00a0Find out more<\/a> about the event and our Women & Sports Initiative<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared at ForbesWomen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tennis legend and changemaker shares insights on why women\u2019s leadership is so important and what her call to action is for women and girls <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":637,"featured_media":11623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[581],"tags":[],"coauthors":[589],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Billie Jean King - What Will It Take<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/interviews\/interview-with-billie-jean-king\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview with Billie Jean King - What Will It Take\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/interviews\/interview-with-billie-jean-king\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"What Will It Take\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-07T03:58:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-07T15:55:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DIA_1394-e1544198059741.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2101\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Angela Joshi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ConsciousCoMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Angela Joshi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/interviews\/interview-with-billie-jean-king\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/whatwillittake.com\/interviews\/interview-with-billie-jean-king\/\",\"name\":\"Interview with Billie Jean King - 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