How Jene Elzie Applies Sports Rigor to Business Culture and Transformation

WiST talks to people in sports and sports technology who embody a more diverse and inclusive workforce, setting the benchmark for their peers and future generations. 

By Alysse Soll, CEO underdog advisory and WiST Board Chair

Transform Thyself… and Others

At the intersection of sports, media, and entertainment, you’ll find Jene Elzie. From her rigorous, two decades-long gymnastics career and growing up in the multicultural environment of Berkeley, CA, to graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master's degree in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University, Jene is a guiding light to help move people and companies forward. Following a storied career across sports (Fox Sports, NBCU, NBA, Athletes First Partners), Jene now finds herself helping leaders transform organizations by creating the structure companies need to succeed and thrive today and into the future. But before she taught others to transform, Jene had to go through a transformation of her own. Along her own career path and seemingly at the top of her game, she hit a wall and stumbled hard.  

Jene recalls, “The most impactful time in my life was when I was at my lowest. I was mid-career and a senior executive well on my way up the corporate ladder. I was onstage at a high-profile event, and I had a classic panic attack. You may know the one – the mind goes blank, the noises start screeching in your head, the sweaty, shaky palms…it was pretty scary. In reality, what was happening was that there was so much weighing on me, both professionally and personally at the time, that everything started to crack – and I never once asked for help. I never spoke my own truth.”

Transformation – personal, professional, organizational- is about truth-telling. Who are you really? What are those voices in your head saying? Where do you thrive? What are the roadblocks? To hear Jene tell it, her answer lay in one place – eliminating the “poison of perfection.”  

“As a gymnast (which I was from age three to age 22), you are a perfectionist by nature. I spent most of my life in that high stress state. In the gym, people didn’t expect me to falter, and I would never allow myself to do that, so it was always double the pressure. After my panic attack, I took the time to right myself by rebuilding my core confidence. I actually took an improv class, putting myself in front of audiences to connect with people I didn’t even know. It was crazy scary being that vulnerable on a stage, but it worked.”  By acknowledging her fear of not being perfect, she understood the pain of trying to be perfect.  “[Perfection] is not worth it.  Also, it’s boring.”

The end result? “I realized the key to resiliency is to know that nothing is forever, and everybody goes through their own lows. I learned to find comfort and peace in the lows to appreciate the highs. I realized that what I thought was a disastrous moment in my life, was just a moment in time.”

Don’t Pay it Back, Pay it Forward

“Having mentors and sponsors early on and throughout your career is essential,” Jene explains. Sponsors help you navigate your company. Mentors help you navigate your life and career. Good mentors share their knowledge and experience to help you thrive. Great mentors do all of the above for your benefit without expecting anything in return.  These are the people that shape you and let you shine your light.

According to Jene, “if you’ve had the benefit of a great mentor, you add your experiences and pass the accumulated knowledge and information along to someone else. This is paying it forward. I mentor a lot of young people, and the only thing I ever ask in return is that they find a way to pay it forward.”  

There is a common misconception that mentors are those who have reached milestones in their careers and fully achieved their goals. Jene believes that you don’t need to wait until you reach a specific milestone: “If you have experiences you believe are helpful and valuable to others, you can share those. Be a champion for someone when they need you most.” 

Jene recalls, “I remember when I had my first job in sports, and someone became a mentor to me. I thought she was a super badass and amazing. I was a little leery, because she was tough as nails, which I now know she had to be as one of the few women in sports production at the time. I thought she had all the answers. In reality, she was a young executive who I am sure had her own struggles to deal with, but she paid it forward to me, and I was grateful.”

Mind your Ps  

In Jene’s experience, organizations function best when they integrate a well-defined operating strategy, including the 3Ps—people, process, and plan. Best people, best process, and best plan drive the best outcome.

In her consulting role, Jene’s goal is to help leaders identify and define the 3Ps that make their company hum. First up are the People.  Does the company have a high-performing, efficient and inclusive workforce with skill sets in the right place? “Diverse talent is what drives successful companies,” says Jene; “while it is easy to connect with people who look and think like us, it is critical to engage people who have different lived experiences and thought processes.  Have you ever tried having a brainstorming session with yourself?  It’s not great.” 

The Processes are the foundational elements designed to make peoples’ lives easier. With the right processes in place, the company becomes more efficient and, ultimately, more effective. Jene observes, “a classic example of this is how companies finally embraced digital transformation because it made things easier for people. A number of companies fought that change.  As time went on, they either paid the price of slow adoption or bowed out of the race altogether.”

Then there is the Plan. For Jene, this means transforming the company’s vision into execution. “Finding an endpoint, a vision you can lay out very clearly to guide the people to want to adopt the processes so that you hit your plan at the end. Organizations that consider all three Ps are creating sustainable, relevant, and thriving businesses”.

Some Q and A with Jene

WiST: Your multifaceted sports career has many chapters – across media, properties, brands, and consulting. Today’s chapter is focused on Board roles that allow you to share your extensive experience and knowledge with companies shaping the future of the sports ecosystem. How do you impart knowledge, guidance and wisdom that is truly relevant to today’s emerging leaders tackling a historical sector through a new lens?

I think the most important part of being a board member is understanding the difference between your role on the board versus being an executive of the company.  The executives are there to run the company. They're there to set the strategy, to operate the company, and to really understand the nuts and bolts.  As a board member, there is, first and foremost, your fiduciary responsibility.  Our job is to help the CEO navigate toward a successful future, and as a board member, I also bring value through my background in marketing and digital transformation.

To me, the most exciting part of a company’s journey is the constant evolution.  We are living in a time where change is happening at a relentless pace.  That’s one of the underappreciated benefits of having a marketing background; by design, you have had to stay close to the trends that govern change globally. 

I always start by asking questions.  What do we think we need? What data supports this belief?  What are we really good at? What data supports this belief?  What could we use a little bit more of?  What data supports this belief?  You get the picture. By constantly asking questions - and then using data to ensure you’re not just in your own echo chamber – you have the best chance to stay on the right path.

WiST: We talked about the 3Ps – People, Process, Plan – as a framework for corporate success. Your deep experience in Organizational Behavior has helped you reset and reorient roadmaps for companies toward growth and sustainability. How do the 3Ps transform as a company grows from a start-up to sustainable? 

The 3Ps – people, process, plan – are essential elements for every company from day one. In the early stages, the founders drive the vision, and later, it’s the CEO plus her or his leadership team, but you always need to ensure there are people who can execute the plan. Some leaders are very good in the short term and see what’s right in front of them, while others are more visionary but lighter on execution. 

In an early-stage company, you’ve typically got the evangelical founder, the relentless champion who paints this amazing picture and gets people riled up and on board. A truly self-aware Founder knows their strengths and their weaknesses.  For example, one may say, I'm really good at planting the vision but not good at executing, so let me find someone who complements me.  Once the company is on its way to sustainability, showing solid growth, revenue generation, and product market fit, the leader has to think about its next phase of growth. CEO skill sets required to drive a company forward– through concept, launch, growth, and sustainability – are often different with each milestone. Sometimes the Founder CEO needs to be so deeply embedded in the vision of the company that it becomes an extension of them.  But as that evolves, so must leadership.  My goal is to help them identify the path forward for the company.

My personal favorite leader is the Self-Aware CEO. The ones without massive egos… or at least, the ones who readily embrace the fact that they do have massive egos and are secure enough in themselves to find people who challenge them.  These types of self-deprecating Servant Leaders are often well-positioned for the roller coaster ride of transformative growth.

WiST: As a black woman, your perception of diversity, equity and inclusion has been shaped by your firsthand experience - from childhood, growing up in Berkeley, CA, college, and grad school at Stanford University, to executive roles in both domestic and international. Amidst today’s backdrop, where DEI is a corporate catchphrase for “best practices”, how does your personal DEI roadmap serve as a blueprint for the companies you serve?

The term DEI has become so polarized that we have lost sight of exactly what we are talking about. DEI is simply about building more inclusive organizations to meet the demands of the changing world around us. People talk about sustainability in terms of environmental sustainability, but we rarely talk about diversity in terms of business sustainability. The marketplace is moving to a more diverse base of customers and employees, so if you aren't moving in the direction the marketplace is moving, you are not setting yourself up for success.  That should not be a terribly difficult concept.  

Furthermore, inclusion has been proven over and over to drive business outcomes, like building and expanding your addressable market, problem-solving, and having diverse points of view when brainstorming.  When you've got diversity of thought, diversity of experience, and diversity of leadership, you’re driving your business to success. 

If you want to build a long-term sustainable business, you must move with the market. The market is moving, people are moving, and cultures are moving. Corporations that seem so solid - as if they will be here forever - won’t be if they don’t evolve. There are business graveyards littered with companies that refused to find a way to embrace change. DEI is not a “nice thing to do”; it is just a good, sustainable business practice.

WiST: Any last words of wisdom for the WiST community?

Find your center - and embrace it!  After my own personal low, I took time to get centered, to concentrate on what was fundamental to me and the things that drive me. I rediscovered my passion and my purpose.

Do not fear the lows! Everybody has valleys in their career, their personal life, and in their professional life. In that lull, you may feel like time stops – like you’re suspended in midair. The reality is that you are just going through change… you are literally gaining momentum to propel you to the next place. I share the story of my lows with people because it is so important to show young people that even with the pressure, they are just moments in time.

In hindsight, owning my failures was a beautiful and brilliant thing and maybe the proudest thing I have ever done.  

A special thanks to Jene for sharing her journey with the WiST community. Pay it forward. Inspiration comes in all forms.

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