Catching Up With U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone

[Editor’s note: This article is from The Spun’s “Then and Now” magazine, featuring interviews with more than 50 sports stars of yesteryear. Order your copy online today, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

Cindy Parlow Cone is just three years into her first full term as president of U.S. Soccer, yet she’s already become one of the most consequential leaders the federation has ever had—if for no other reason than the groundbreaking gender-equity agreement she negotiated between the men’s and women’s national teams, a labor deal that has become an inspiration—if not a template—for the rest of the world.

And it might never have happened if not for Cone’s starring role in the 1999 World Cup, where she started all six games and contributed nearly a quarter of the U.S. team’s 16 goals.

“I don’t think that I would be the person I am or in the leadership position that I am without having played on the women’s national team and literally grew up with some of the best leaders I’ve ever been around,” said Cone, who was just six weeks past her 21st birthday when the 1999 tournament kicked off. “Just watching and learning from all my teammates was hugely impactful in shaping me as a person back then as well as who I’ve become today.”

Cone went on to play 158 times for the U.S. but served as captain only once. Now she’s leading all of U.S. Soccer, in part because she’s been able to channel what she learned from the women she played with.

“You know, Mia [Hamm] led very differently than Carla [Overbeck] and Carla very differently than Julie Foudy,” she said. “As a young player, who was quiet and reserved, [I was] trying to figure out what was going to be my leadership style. Because I was surrounded by such amazing leaders, they just let me be me and grow into my voice in my own time.

“I’ve learned throughout my career that leadership is leadership. Regardless of the audience or situation, from being a player to then a coach and now on the executive side, all the same principles of leadership apply.”