Leadership Special Report: Deloitte and the WNBA reimagine the business playbook

The WNBA has recently surged in popularity since it began in 1996 in part due to a combination of perseverance, talent and a growing fan base. The first five games this year drew more than one million viewers on ESPN -- a 226% increase from the year before -- and in-person attendance is up 14% from last year.

The league has turned to Deloitte to reimagine its off-court playbook and boost business through apps, ecommerce and more.

Basketball also holds many lessons in leadership, such as the resilience needed to face inevitable setbacks, the ability to focus on goals and objectives amidst distractions, making decisions with limited information and working with a team to achieve success.

In this special report, we focus on how leadership, like basketball, requires a single-minded pursuit of excellence, and how Deloitte is working to enable transformational change, resolve significant challenges, enhance value and fuel opportunities for growth.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert says her priorities are the league's players, stakeholders and fans, and she emphasizes leadership qualities such as confidence, courage and curiosity, and says she's learned how to handle a crisis through empathy and listening. Engelbert recently showed those skills after apologizing for characterizing the rivalry between star players as good for the league without condemning the abuse some have faced from fans.

Leadership lessons from the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament extend beyond the court, offering insights for leaders on adaptability, perseverance and leading by example, writes lawyer and former basketball player Jill Walters. The tournament showcases the importance of teamwork, resilience and diverse leadership roles, with examples from players like Caitlin Clark and coaches like Dawn Staley, Walters writes.

Workplaces are creating positions related to AI ethics, such as researchers, policy analysts and compliance managers, to ensure responsible use of the technology, with 68% of executives focusing on internal training and upskilling to fill these positions, according to a Deloitte report. The report also shows that 77% of C-level executives are confident in workers' ability to make ethical AI decisions but that only 24% of these executives allow independent decision-making.