Explorers on the expedition for Women Leading in Sport met with Kelly McCallum, a former Canadian rugby player who represented Canada in both 7s and 15s Rugby World Cups. Kelly’s journey in sport has spanned multiple spaces, from athlete to coach, PE trainer, university lecturer in sports leadership, and now sports governance.
Having spent years navigating leadership in male-dominated sporting environments, Kelly brings a unique perspective to conversations around Essence and Elements within the Women Emerging 4Es. This conversation particularly explores how women in sport interpret strength, the Elements Kelly has had to combine and jettison in her leading, and the importance of discovering authentic ways of leading within pressured environments.
Strength as an Essence
At the core of Kelly’s Essence is strength. As an athlete, strength first showed up physically. Rugby demanded physical resilience, endurance, and toughness. But as Kelly transitioned into leadership positions within sport, her understanding of strength began to shift.
She explained that, over time, strength became associated with adopting a more masculine leadership style in order to be heard within male-dominated spaces. In sports leadership and governance, she often felt pressure to communicate, lead, and show up in ways that aligned with male expectations of authority and credibility.
For a period, strength meant carrying “male energy” in order to navigate those spaces successfully. However, over the last three years, Kelly has intentionally reconnected with physical strength again, not as performance for others, but as something deeply connected to herself. Returning to physical training and strength became a way of returning to authenticity and to what she describes as her “happy place.”
This reflection led Kelly to challenge Explorers to think more deeply about how women in sport define strength for themselves.
What does strength mean for women in sport?
Is it toughness? Visibility? Control? Resilience? Softness? Boundaries? Authenticity?
Combining Inclusivity and Boundaries in Sports Governance
Kelly also reflected on one of the Elements she continues to navigate in her leading: balancing inclusivity with boundaries.
Working within sports governance means hearing many perspectives while still being required to make decisions within limited timeframes. Kelly shared that this tension can be difficult, particularly when trying to ensure people feel heard while also maintaining clarity and direction.
To help navigate this challenge, Kelly developed an approach she calls “validate your voice,” which places dialogue at the centre of leadership.
For Kelly, dialogue should not only happen during formal board meetings. She believes that the more conversations leaders have with team members outside official decision-making spaces, the more confident people become in sharing their perspectives openly.
She explained that when people feel their voices are validated beforehand, they are more likely to contribute honestly and constructively during key conversations.
This approach reflects Kelly’s belief that leadership is not only about making decisions, but also about creating environments where people feel confident enough to participatein shaping them.
Navigating Male-Dominated Spaces
The conversation also explored Kelly’s experience navigating rugby and sports governance as male-dominated fields.
Kelly admitted that much of her journey has involved “nudging” consistently opening conversations, building relationships, and engaging in ongoing dialogue with men within the industry.
One of her biggest learnings has been the importance of male champions. She encouraged women in sport not to underestimate the value of men who actively advocate for and support women within leadership spaces.
For Kelly, navigating male-dominated environments has not only been about pushing against systems, but also about building relationships that help shift those systems from within.
Playfulness and Authenticity in Leading
Despite working in high-performance sporting environments, Kelly describes coaching as her “happy place.”
Coaching allows her to access what she calls a play state — the version of herself that feels most natural, relaxed, and authentic.
This playfulness has become something she intentionally carries into her leadership, teaching, and governance work. She joked that some of her university students are often surprised by how playful she can be in professional settings.
Yet for Kelly, playfulness is not the opposite of seriousness or competence. Rather, it is connected to authenticity, Energy, and human connection.
This also shapes her view of charismatic leadership. Kelly believes charismatic leadership can be incredibly powerful in teams because of the positive Energy it generates. It can lift moods, strengthen relationships, and encourage openness within groups.
However, she emphasized that charisma only works when it is authentic. Performed charisma without authenticity quickly loses trust.
Leading Across Cultures
One of Kelly’s biggest lessons about leading came while coaching in Japan.
She explained that when she first began coaching there, she approached the role with assumptions shaped by Western sporting culture. One moment that stood out to her was watching her Japanese team spend an hour and a half warming up for a fourteen-minute game. Coming from sporting environments where warmups were far shorter, she initially struggled to understand the reasoning behind it.
Over time, Kelly realised that patience sat deeply within the Essence of Japanese culture and that these practices brought out the team’s best performance and sense of preparation.
This experience fundamentally shifted her understanding of leadership across cultures. Rather than imposing her own approach, Kelly learned the importance of understanding the cultural Essence of the people she was leading. For Kelly, leading should never become disconnected from people. She now describes the Japanese team as one of the best teams she ever coached.
Key Reflections from the Conversation
The conversation with Kelly left Explorers reflecting on several important themes:
- Strength can evolve over time and may need to be redefined personally rather than culturally.
- Women in sport often navigate pressure to adopt masculine leadership styles in order to be heard.
- Authenticity matters deeply in leadership, especially within charismatic and high-energy environments.
- Dialogue and validation help create healthier, more inclusive decision-making spaces.
- Cultural understanding is essential when leading across different contexts.
- Relationships remain important at every level of leading, including governance.
- Male leaders can play an important role in helping women navigate male-dominated environments.
About the Author
Kelly McCallum currently lectures for Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in the Masters/Bachelor of Sport Leadership and Management program and manages her business Integrity Interactions. Her research focuses on inclusion, emotional and cultural intelligence and sport governance. Kelly’s leadership expertise stems not only from her academic avenues, she has also captained and played for her country Canada in two rugby World Cups. She was recently inducted into the Canadian Rugby Hall of Fame and in 2020 she was the first women’s rugby player to be inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. Her business Integrity Interactions is a collaboration of experienced scholar-practitioners aimed at providing custom solutions as well as public workshops focused on leadership capability and personal growth and effectiveness.
