From Sunday 8 to Friday 13 September, Sarah Cruickshank, Head of Communications at Scottish Rugby, travelled to the University of Chichester along with 34 delegates from 19 countries to attend the 2024 Women’s’ Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA) residential.
Established in 2014, the WSLA provides unique development opportunities for women leaders from around the world to step up, take the lead and make an impact. Each participant of the programme is identified as a future leader at senior management level by their organisation who also commit to supporting their employee after the programme.
This year, sportscotland funded internal delegates, alongside two Scottish Governing Body (SGB) delegates, who also received funding support from their respective SGBs.
As Head of Communications, Sarah’s current role at Scottish Rugby is to manage all media operations for events at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, in addition to managing the communications team of five. The Scottish Rugby communications team works across corporate activities, men’s and women’s national teams, pathway programmes and grassroots rugby.
The 2024 WSLA programme
The 2024 programme was based upon four objectives to support the further development of participants:
- Leadership Competencies: to support female leaders to enhance their leadership skills and behaviours to navigate the challenges that are part of leading an organisation
- Confidence: to encourage female leaders to identify their strengths, goals and ambitions to support their desired career path; championing who they are and others around them
- Contextual awareness: to understand the organisational and cultural environment, recognising opportunities and challenges, and influencing fellow allies and champions to create positive change
- Commitment of employers: to engage with the employers of female leaders and support their ongoing development and wider influence
Following the residential, Sarah reflected: “The central theme throughout the week was belonging, vulnerability and giving and receiving feedback. In our day-to-day roles, we often shy away from showing vulnerability, but I found it really interesting to see all the benefits and growth that can come from being our authentic selves.”
During the residential, each participant produced a personal development plan setting goals on leadership behaviours, career strategies, future opportunities and to consolidate learning. Workshops, reflection groups, peer support sessions, physical activities and guest speakers were also an integral part of the residential.
Sarah said: “Our facilitators, including Sarah and Tina from Leading Edge Performance, as well as Olympic Gold medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh and many others, were amazing. They created an environment that allowed us to focus on ourselves and our learnings from the first moment, with minimum distractions and maximum engagement in the exercises. They emphasised how growth rarely happens without vulnerability, and every single person had the courage to be open, share their experiences and discuss their challenges.”
Leadership mindset and key takeaways
Attending the WSLA is a fantastic opportunity to hear stories from women in leadership roles which can be shared to help the younger generation and enable them to see the opportunities that working and being involved in sport can bring.
Sarah said: “It was a really unique experience which I have gained so much both personally and professionally. The opportunity to meet and learn alongside phenomenal women was invaluable. The cohort came from all corners of the world, and it was fascinating to learn about the challenges they have all faced, as well as some of our shared challenges.”
“We talked a lot about belonging at WSLA and how the opposite of belonging is fitting in. Many of us felt there were times when we were trying to fit in rather than helping to shape an environment where we truly belong. The best way to start is by talking to as many colleagues as possible to understand what belonging means to them and understanding that everyone within your organisation is unique and their differences should be embraced as strengths.”
She added: “Speaking with a close friend who attended in 2022 really helped me understand what to expect and eased any nervousness or questions I had. Enjoy the process—even though the application can be quite extensive and it's not often we talk so much about ourselves, it's a great way to reflect on how far you've come.”
Pictured: Scottish contingent (left to right) Pam, Sarah, Jillian, Nikki, Steph, Mairi and Sheena.
About the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy
WSLA and long standing partners Leading Edge Performance are experts inspired by high performance and people-led partnerships.
Through the design and delivery of development solutions focused on engagement, the organisations recognise that the biggest enabler of success is shifting the mindset, skill and behaviour of people.
The WSLA have observed and listened, coached, and facilitated hundreds of leaders over the past 25 years, and their reflections have defined their point of view on leadership.
