Cathy Engelbert’s learnings as a leader trace back to one eye-opening incident during her days at Deloitte. Having worked for 33 years in various positions at the brand, Engelbert picked up many lessons along the way, but none affected her like the one she had with a random co-worker at the company.

“A woman left Deloitte once, and I don’t even know her, and she left, and this was a huge slap in the face,” Engelbert said on The Athlete Effect podcast. “Someone was interviewing her, “Why are you leaving?”

“They do exit interviews, and she said, “Because my role model is Cathy Engelbert.” Never worked with her, never met her. “And I see her logged in at 10:00-11:00 at night, and I know she has two kids, and I don’t want that.” This woman wasn’t even married yet, let alone having kids. “

The moment left a lasting impression on Engelbert’s psyche. It didn’t just hold a mirror to her leadership pattern but forced her to activate the reset button. She quietly realized she wasn’t living up to the standards people expected of her.

“But that’s when I realized, you know what?” Engelbert added. “I need to tell people I had left that day at 5:00 to go coach a basketball game. So, yes, did I log in at 10:00 at night after the kids were in bed? Yes. We’re all guilty of that.”

“But when I realized, everyone’s watching you, especially when you’re a role model leader. People are watching you, especially young women who want to envision themselves as you. So, I started telling people, “I am going to my daughter’s game” or “I’m going to my son’s game.”

Transparency is a non-negotiable part of leadership. It helps leaders earn trust and respect from those around them. And this episode was the perfect setting for Engelbert to learn that in a bitter way.

But Cathy Engelbert’s ethos about transparency also faced a tough challenge in her role as the WNBA commissioner. Recently, she had to oversee a high-profile CBA negotiation that, by any measure, wasn’t smooth or comfortable. The players had opted out of the old CBA to push for better pay and a larger share of the league’s growing revenues, with revenue sharing becoming one of the key topics in negotiations.

While the players were clear about their aspirations, many analysts felt that the league, including WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, hadn’t been vocal enough in defending their positions. Analyst Sophie Jones clearly pinpointed it last year during an episode of the Locked on Women’s Basketball podcast.

“Every single one of the WNBA players,” Jones said. “They’re just laying out A, B, and C, what they’re looking for. But it doesn’t appear that there’s been the same level of transparency by the league in the WNBA.”

But at the end of the day, Engelbert didn’t stand down. She took repeated criticisms and hard blows with poise and eventually got the job done. Engelbert oversaw the new CBA that benefited the players first. 

The salary cap increased from $1.5 million to $7 million, paving the way for stars like A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jackie Young, and Kelsey Mitchell to become the league’s first millionaires. But a salary hike was never the players’ top priority. They wanted a bigger share of the pie, and they got that too, with the league agreeing to a revenue-sharing model that gives players 20% of league revenue.

Cathy Engelbert showed her mettle as a leader during this challenging phase for the league. She made sure the fans got to see the 30th season of the WNBA, which is currently in full swing. But none of it would have happened if Engelbert hadn’t made a bold career decision seven years ago.

Cathy Engelbert Makes Her Feelings Known on Her Motivation to Shift From Accounting to WNBA

Cathy Engelbert’s resume doesn’t mention even a single basketball managerial job before she became the WNBA commissioner. So, the decision to transition into the WNBA is expected to turn a few heads. Being a Deloitte CEO in itself is a huge achievement for someone who started her journey through an entry-level role in the company.

So, the career flip from such a high-profile job to a rather challenging one as the WNBA commissioner, where every decision of hers is dissected under the microscope, doesn’t seem plausible to many. But for Engelbert, it was an opportunity to take on a new challenge.

“I think the thing I learned through sports that carried me into business was take your shot,” Engelbert said on The Athlete Effect channel. “Don’t be paralyzed by risk. Balance risk. And for me, taking your shot was raising my hand to do different things in my career to build capabilities. So, I didn’t become the CEO of Deloitte because I was a woman. I became it because I raised my hand every five, six years or so, and said I want to do something different.”

While Engelbert had no prior experience as a basketball executive before becoming WNBA commissioner, she did have a strong basketball background as an NCAA Division I player at Lehigh University, where she also served as team captain. All in all, her journey from a D1 player to overseeing the WNBA’s endeavors has been one for the record books. And to be honest, there are many more chapters to be added to it.