Latest events and photos
Beyond this month's issue
Women's health issues
Securing your financial future
Resources for entrepreneurs
Atlanta Woman Connects
Your voice unfiltered
Take your career to the next level
Travel, fashion, decorating & more
Past articles and issues
advertisement
advertisement
Send This Story
Leadership: Balancing What's Best For The Company And Employees
by Beth Brandon, Chief Operations Officer, Career Sports & Entertainment
January 6, 2008
M
y career started as the first employee of Career Sports & Entertainment. Lonnie
Cooper, the founder and CEO, hired me in 1989 when he was just getting started representing
athletes and coaches like Spud Webb, Mike Fratello and Lenny Wilkens. As the first employee, I was
responsible for building and leading the strategic operations that ensured that the business ran
smoothly and had the culture and capacity for growth.
A little less than 20 years later, we are now a full-service sports marketing, media and
athlete management agency. I am extremely proud that the culture of honesty, passion for our work
and respect that I incubated is one in which women not only lead but also thrive.
Beth Brandon,
Chief Operations Office,
Career Sports & Entertainment
Within the male-dominated sports industry, we have women in leadership positions throughout our organization. While evolving CS&E into a full-service agency, it has always been important to me that the unique culture I helped foster is maintained. I never want to lose sight of the core values and innovation that created the successful agency we are today.
However, maintaining the core principles that made us who we are is often easier said than done. I believe that the best way to protect the values that helped create CS&E is by listening to the talented team we have assembled. My leadership skills have been developed by listening to others and applying those lessons.
This focus on the individuals that make up the whole goes hand-in-hand with my keen interest in people. I want to learn what motivates them and how I can help them meet their goals. As a leader, I firmly believe my role is to serve and remove barriers for the team so that it can in turn serve our clients and together meet shared business goals and objectives.
As a leader, people are always watching you, which makes it even more vital that you lead by example. Day-in and day-out I strive to live our service-oriented culture, which clearly demonstrates to the team what is expected of it.
I also firmly believe in the importance of listening to many different points of view in order to foster and embrace a spirit of growth. As chief operations officer, I’ve had to pick up entirely new facets of business to both serve our clients and manage our business. From athlete management, marketing, interactive and creative services to legal, acquisitions, finance and human resources, I’ve had to learn each of those functions to run the operations of CS&E. This ability to adapt with the times is a vital part of being a leader in any business.
Being a leader is never an easy task, and my leadership has been tested and reinforced over the past 12 months like never before. In that time CS&E has grown exponentially as we’ve cemented our position as a leading sports marketing and client management agency. We have nearly doubled in size, acquired another company and developed a clear path for how we’re going to continue that growth. CS&E employs more than 130 people and has offices in Atlanta and Little Rock, Ark. It has been a challenge to maintain the balance of what is best for the organization with what is best for the people that make it up. It has been both the most demanding and most rewarding time of
my career.
I have been blessed to be part of a dynamic and growing company that has provided me with opportunities to develop my leadership skills. It is often said that leaders are made when no one is watching, but I would argue that the opposite is true – leaders are made when everyone is watching.
Loading
