Leaders and How They Lead: Joanna Coates

Former CEO of England Netball and UK Athletics talks the highs and lows of leadership, and the weight of responsibility that comes with the role.

Welcome to Leaders and How they Lead, the podcast series that looks at what it means to be a leader in the sports industry.

We’re going to be taking a range of perspectives over the next six weeks; going deep with leaders of teams, agencies, governing bodies, venues, and charities – very different types of organisation and very different types of leader.

We’re going to be pressing them on what makes them tick; how they think they manage (upwards and downwards); how they handle failure and conflict; how they communicate strategic vision; how they communicate full stop; how they develop people; how they lead to win – whatever ‘win’ means where they are.

Our second guest is Joanna Coates. Having initially aspired to work in fashion, Coates gained experience in multiple different areas before becoming a sports industry leader, rising to CEO of England Netball in 2015 and overseeing the immensely successful commercial and public rebuild of the sport. In 2019, she left England Netball and began a challenging stint as CEO of UK Athletics in early 2020, before stepping down from the role in November 2021.