Female leaders need to elevate people, women of color, NHL exec believes

Female leaders can do more to elevate people of color, especially women of color, in their workplaces, NHL executive vice president for club business affairs Susan Cohig said Wednesday in a panel discussion.

The discussion, which recognized Cohig as one of the four WISE Women of the Year, was held at a time the United States is going through a reckoning in terms of its history of systemic racism, spurred on by the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed while in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, and the ensuing protests around the United States. A white police officer has been charged with second-degree murder. The other three officers on the scene were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

"It's our job to bring others with us, so don't look at it like, oh, there are only two spots at the table for women and I need to protect my spot," Cohig said. "We have to fight that every day and we have to do the same thing for our black colleagues.

"Shame on us if we don't do that because we will have failed when we get back to that post-COVID, post-George Floyd moment. We have to look around the table. We need to see a different reflection. And if we haven't, we have failed."

Cohig was honored along with Rosalyn Durant, senior vice president of operations of Disney Springs, ESPN Wide World of Sports and Waterparks for Walt Disney World Resort; Elizabeth Lindsey, president of brands and properties, Wasserman; and JoAnn Neale, president and chief administrative officer, Major League Soccer. The four spoke on a virtual panel, moderated by Kathleen Francis, the national board chair and president of WISE.

The women discussed managing through the current dual crises of COVID-19 and the protests, especially how one can show up as a leader in the moment, with Cohig praising the work of Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

She also praised one of her own colleagues.

"I feel like we're so fortunate because Commissioner [Gary] Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly hired Kim Davis three years ago in a role to help us as an organization make sure that our values that we espouse when we say Hockey is for Everyone [are true], that we want this game and this sport to be welcoming for players and fans and even our own employees within our organization that what we say, what we do mirrors those values. Kim is really teaching us in this moment," Cohig said of Davis, the League's executive vice president for social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs.

And Cohig said she is committed to listening.

"I feel like I need to listen, and I need to learn, and with that understand how can I be an ally," Cohig said. "How can I support the people on my team? How can I support all of us within the organization? And the difference in this moment, I think, is when we all do that instead of letting this moment go by. It has to translate into action and real change."

Because, she said, the NHL is working on understanding the different perspectives and needs of its employees and fans, she has been particularly impressed by the way the League's players and owners have taken on this moment, without a directive from the NHL, without an idea of a unified message dictated from higher-ups.

"I'm proud of how the NHL has stepped into this moment," Cohig said. "I'm not surprised in terms of how we're managed and how we manage because we are having difficult conversations. We are having what we talk about as uncomfortable conversations. We are creating a forum for our employees to be able to do that because it's essential and necessary.

"And one thing that I really am proud of, whether it's what's coming out of our own organization, coming from our ownership, from our teams, from our players, nobody is spending time crafting what becomes a marketing message to help navigate the moment. It's authentic. People are speaking from their heart. They're talking about the importance of, it's not another hashtag, it's not another proscribed message so my brand can look good. It's an authentic moment where everybody is saying this needs to change.

"It's: We need to be a part of the solution and we're not there yet."