Female Executives Share Advice They Got From Their Moms

Cathy Englebert – Commissioner Of the WNBA

Cathy Englebert has served 33 years at Deloitte before joining the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2019. She is the first woman to serve as the CEO of Deloitte from 2015 to 2019 and the first woman commissioner of the WNBA (previously there were titled, president).

She remembers her mother’s wisdom, which has shaped her leadership skills. My mother always told my sisters and me, “You can do anything the boys can do. After all, you are growing up right alongside five of the brothers.” Cathy recalled, “we were sent outside to our backyard to play sports together all the time with no differentiation of boy and girl, just two teams playing. By that, she taught us to be tough and never give up.” “It is important that we always remind each other that we are equals,” she said.