Episode Description

In this episode of the Women Emerging podcast, Julia Middleton is joined by Polly Bancroft, a former footballer and now an executive in the world of football, to discuss how the principles of football apply to leading, especially the importance of ‘losing well.’

As a sportsperson and a leader, Polly shares how she has worked to maintain a balanced perspective on winning and losing, ensuring she never gets too high with the highs or too low with the lows. She explains how this mindset has helped her become a resilient leader, a reliable teammate, and someone who can bounce back stronger from setbacks.

Julia and Polly explore how leaders, like athletes, must learn from every challenge, stay focused on long-term goals, and embrace losses as opportunities for growth.

Tune in to this episode to discover why keeping your eye on the ball. focusing on the lessons rather than the outcome is key to leading with resilience and adaptability.

About the Guests

Polly Bankcroft

Polly Bancroft is the Head of Women’s Football at Manchester United. She oversees the strategic direction, operations, and performance of the women’s first team and academy. Polly has over 10 years of experience in executive roles in five distinct high-profile UK and European football organisations. She also serves as a Technical Committee member at the Association of Sporting Directors and a former Trustee at Albion in the Community.

About the Host

Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: “Leading beyond Authority” and “Cultural Intelligence”. She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading.

In 2020, Julia launched Women Emerging and in 2022 she lead an expedition of 24 women to find ‘an approach to leading that resonates with women’. She now leads expeditions with women all over the world based on 4Es methodology, discovered in the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.
Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now, which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan.

Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.

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