The National Women's Soccer League
Review this article. Do you think Lisa Baird's leadership style would work in a corporate organization? Why or why not?
Lisa Baird
Baird's business career began in brand management at the global consumer packaged goods giant
Procter and Gamble. A few years later, she transitioned to the automotive industry and then the
technology industry. Among other lessons, Baird's experience at global fortune 20 companies GM and
IBM, where she oversaw global advertising, media, sports sponsorship, and events, taught her how to
navigate increasingly ambiguous cultural situations.
In
2005, Baird joined the professional sports world when the NFL hired
her. Among her responsibilities,
she oversaw marketing for the league's consumer products business
and managed its relationship with
Electronic Arts, then headed by CEO Larry Probst. Baird initially
reported to Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue, who became a lifelong mentor. She saw firsthand how the
business of sports was covered unlike any other industry. Reflecting on
her time at the NFL, Baird commented, "I really was intrigued
by what sports can do as both sport, which is entertainment, but
also as something that can be purposeful
in society".
In 2009, Larry Probst had just been appointed the chairman of the United States Olympic and
Paralympic Committee (USOPC) i and brought Baird on board as chief marketing officer. She was
responsible for raising and managing all commercial revenue, as well as marketing for the non-profit
organization. During her 11 years at the USOPC, Baird put together over $1 billion in sponsorship and
media deals, and launched Team USA as the brand name for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Baird believed both Olympians and Paralympians belonged together with the same brand. As she noted,
"They are not the same, but they are equal". By the time she left the USOPC in 2018, Baird felt like
she accomplished everything she set out to do.
In late 2019, a year into her role as chief marketing officer at New York Public Radio, Baird received a call from a search firm informing her that a professional league wanted to hire a new commissioner. She was not told which league was hiring, but she pointed out, "When someone calls you about a commissioner's job, you take that call".