The Glitter Leader
Four-time Team USA cross-country skiing Olympic medalist Jessie Diggins finds some surprising parallels between a career in the mountains and the business world.
When races get physically uncomfortable—like the time she won the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics while competing with heavily bruised ribs—Jessie Diggins thinks of something unusual: glitter. She finds some unexpected strength in the shiny, sparkling particles.
“It helps me keep digging deeper into the pain cave,” says the 34-year-old cross-country skier, referring to that metaphysical place endurance athletes go to think themselves through the discomfort. “Putting on glitter is an act to remind myself that I love what I do—that it brings me joy and unlocks something in my racing as well.”
You might not find CEOs donning glitter, but they may be able to learn much from Diggins, who describes a career with many parallels to the business world. She ranks as one of the best cross-country skiers in the history of the sport, as well as one of its most recognizable faces, thanks to a dramatic comeback Olympic win that featured the famous broadcast call “Here comes Diggins! Here comes Diggins!”
The Milan Cortina Games this winter were Diggins’ last—after competing in four different Olympics, she decided to hang up her skis. But that doesn’t mean she’s retired. Quite the contrary: She remains an active advocate both for climate change and mental health in sports through her work with the Protect Our Winters nonprofit. She’s also a burgeoning motivational speaker who talks about her experiences with success, failure, setbacks, teamwork, and more to corporate audiences. “I’m preparing for this next phase with the same diligence, energy, and focus as I did training,” says Diggins.
Diggins spoke to Korn Ferry about her career, what high-performing athletes and CEOs have in common, the leadership challenges she’s faced along the way, and why everyone needs their own glitter.
KF: One of your pre-race rituals is to put on glitter. What does the glitter symbolize for you?
JD: I used to get really nervous before races, to the point where it was almost debilitating. A little bit of nerves is good—it means you are reaching, challenging, and pushing yourself. But you also want to be able to do it with joy and be able to execute to your full potential. For me, the glitter became like this last step before I left for the venue, where I would take this moment and remind myself that I’m getting to do something that I love. Whether in sports or business, everyone needs their own glitter, their own reminder of why they do what they do.
You talk about the difference between showing up and showing up with purpose as key to having a winning mentality. Explain what you mean.
You need the consistency of showing up. Without that, it doesn’t matter what your mentality is. But assuming you are showing up, the next step forward is showing up with intent. If I just show up to training, and I’m just going through the motions, and I’m not really engaged, and I’m not listening to my coach, and I’m not trying to figure out how to improve, I’m not going to get a whole lot out of that. So I try to show up to training every single day with a plan to take one purposeful action. It doesn’t have to be huge. It could be working on one technical element to make sure my time is well spent. Because it’s not just my time. It’s my coach’s time and my team’s time. So making sure that I show up with purpose and intent and a goal for every single session, I think that’s really what takes you to that next level where you are competing for medals at the Olympics or you are at the cutting edge of business, right? It’s more than just showing up; it’s showing up with a plan.
Talk to us about teamwork. What were the key factors that you think led to you and your Team USA teammates winning gold in 2018?
There’s so much behind the scenes that goes into any big moment, whether that’s in sports or in life. One of the things I learned was how to be vulnerable and open myself up so that other people were really part of the journey with me. And then when you do succeed, all of these people are bought into that moment. I think that is what really builds that sense of community and makes any goal more worthwhile and more meaningful. Whether you achieve it or not, you’re going after it with an entire community of people, and you’re not just in this solo pursuit.
Training to be an Olympic athlete requires total commitment. Being a CEO requires a similar level of dedication. How did you balance the time and commitment it takes with other aspects of your life?
Well, it has to be a little all-consuming, for a little while at least. I wasn’t perfectly in balance when I was training, but that was OK because I was doing what I loved. There’s also a finite amount of time to achieve your goals. Knowing there is a small window of opportunity to reach your full potential and be vying for Olympic medals, it is important to go at it with everything you have. At least that’s the way I thought about it.
I think about balance as happening over the totality of your life. I’m retired from competition now, so I have time to garden and more time for friends and family and travel. And that’s really exciting. Because I went after my goals with a full heart and never have to wonder “what if?”. And now that that time has come to a close, I can really fulfill all the other buckets of my life and make sure that all the levels are balanced across it.
How did you deal with the level of scrutiny and expectations after you became an Olympic champion? Are there lessons that first-time CEOs who are under the spotlight can learn?
It is challenging, I’ll admit. I felt like every time I would start to get a little bit more comfortable with the level of eyes and attention, the goalposts would move and I was out of my depth again. What helped me was advice from my sports psychologist, who told me to hold my goals and my values sacred and not let other people’s goals or expectations or values become my own. You need to figure out how much you’re going to allow in, because at some point you’re going to reach capacity. So be really selective with what feedback you’re letting in at critical times.
You recently hung up your skis and retired from competition. We’re seeing record numbers of CEOs and senior leaders do the same, either voluntarily or not. What advice would you give them?
I would say run towards the thing you want to do. Don’t simply run away from something that isn’t working for you. Make sure that you are passionate and excited about the thing that you are moving towards, whether that is just time with your family and balancing out those life buckets or a different role or a different job. Or maybe it’s moving towards advocacy, because you’ve learned so much in your career and you want to pay it forward in a different manner. Make sure you’re going towards what excites you.
Be sure to check out our latest Briefings podcast: Diggins Digs Deep.
