Transitions are hard: what I am learning from the GOAT, Serena — Susan Chapman-Hughes
But not impossible. All eyes this week and in the coming weeks will be on Serena Williams. Legend. GOAT. I have been sitting here watching her post-match interview and I can’t help but shed a few tears of gratitude for the example she has set. As I read the Vogue Magazine article about her impending transition from tennis to focus on other things, I couldn’t help but see so many parallels for many of us as we have sought to transition and GROW in our careers and lives.
A few things jumped out at me.
- Moving on from something you love is really hard. You get a tugging feeling in your gut that tells you to go, but at the same time your breaking heart tells you to keep trying, to stay despite all the signs pointing that it’s time to move on. I don’t know what Serena’s feelings are, but I know from talking to many people — as well as from my own experience — that these feelings aren’t foreign. When you work with people you love and do things you love yet are called to greater things it’s hard to make the decision to leave, but you must. Ask yourself: is your gut telling you it’s time for your next step, but you are resisting because you are comfortable where you are or fearful of the unknown? You have to push forward. You owe it to yourself.
- In the end, you have to make some hard choices. For those of us who want to have a family AND a career, it’s never an easy decision. Serena’s desire to have more children is a real thing and many women struggle with that choice daily. You are asking yourself, will this derail my career? Is it taking me off track? Can I really do it all?
I had my daughter at 47 years old. I think about the many years of wanting to be a parent but it not coming to fruition. When you decide and are blessed to have children after you turn 40, it doesn’t matter how many resources you have, it’s still hard. You have to make difficult choices that weigh heavily on your heart. In the article, Serena talks about having not been away from her daughter for more than 24 hours since she was born. That takes amazing coordination and dedication. Difficult choices. Having motherhood and a great career means you aren’t going to be on top of your game at some point. Learning how to accept that as ok takes work. A lot of work.
In the end, for me, I’m hoping that it will balance itself out. My daughter knows that I love her deeply. I tell her and try to show her every day. I also want to show her that being resilient is important and that striving for goals, not settling and wanting to do big things is fine as well. I talk to her about how I think about my career and what I’ve learned from the mistakes that I’ve made. As leaders, we have to push our companies to change the corporate culture and thinking so that motherhood is not viewed as a derailer, but rather a bonus. We can’t let talented women get “off track” because they desire to be mothers.
3. You need help to get you through. I love that Serena speaks about having a therapist helping her navigate in addition to her family and friends. Getting professional help only makes you better. Life is hard and the past couple of years have taught us that we all need help at some point in our lives. When you are going through a transition that’s likely when we need it most. We should be creating better pathways for our teams to get both career AND life support. Employees who know you value and support them will show up and show out for you! You think your business performance is good now? Wait until you really prove that you value them and the things that are important to them. We will leave that discussion for another day…
4. Serena talked about wanting the 24th grand slam and what it would mean to her. She also talked about handling disappointment and putting things in perspective. Whew. This one really hit me because how many times have we all tried really hard for something that we wanted and it didn’t work out that way? I know I’m not the only one. Some people will always put an asterisk next to her name and say that because she didn’t win 24 majors (yet!) that she isn’t the GOAT. But we all know, she’s the GOAT. She has changed the whole game! When you think about how you move and have impact in your workplace, have you changed the game? Have you leaned into your gifts to make your team better? She’s made an entire sport better. I mean! We can always be GOATs to the people who matter to us the most. When you make an impact, people will let you know.
5. I also love that Serena has been planning her next steps for a while and building infrastructure to make those things happen. I have no doubt that Serena Ventures will be game changing. I love that my daughter and little girls like her not only look at the example that Serena has set on the court, but will see the standards she sets off the court as she pursues her next chapter.
There are so many other lessons, but I’ll leave it here. Serena has achieved things that many of us will never see and she has been generous in sharing herself with us for so many years. We have a lot to learn from her. What I do know is that we all can use her example to help ourselves be better leaders who manage with empathy, as well as game changers. Our people need and deserve that from us.
One final lesson: the importance of being grateful. So with that, thank you Serena for being an inspiration, a game changer, and an example. I love that when my daughter goes to her tennis lessons she always says she wants to play like you. Here’s a toast that as you evolve and go onto your next stage, she will look to have an impact on the world by continuing to follow your example.
Cheers to the GOAT, Serena Williams.
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Susan Chapman-Hughes is a C-level executive, global speaker, and connected leader. Known as an effective change maker, she has expertise in serving multiple industries in various leadership and executive roles and has a distinct talent for bringing stakeholders together to develop shared winning strategies. Her ability to develop talent to high levels has been recognized by the organizations she works at and serves at the board of. Most recently, Susan served as the Executive Vice President, Global Head of Digital Capabilities, Transformation and Operations at American Express.
