Last week, I had a productive interview with Parker Brannon, the captain of my soccer team. Parker is going to play professionally next year in Germany. Parker thinks leadership is important and practices it daily which I have noticed in practice and games. He reads books, listens to podcasts and focuses on being the best leader he can be which is something I admire. When I was talking to Parker, he explained that in sports, the best players aren’t always the leaders and they can’t act like they’re better than everyone. He measures his success if the team is doing well – if the team is winning, he knows he is doing a good job leading the team. You can tell if a team is successful by the team atmosphere, attitude, work rate and desire. One quote that I really liked is when he said, “Leaders fail when they worry about themselves instead of trying to help everyone around them.” While this is basic, it’s so easy to let your ego get in the way of the team. Athletes will put the success of themselves before the team success and that’s when the team starts to fall apart. The teams that are most successful are the ones that put the team’s success first and don’t care what individual gets the credit. Next week, I am interviewing another athlete, Diego Walsh. Diego is now the assistant coach for my soccer team and is a former MLS player. He was picked 7th in the MLS draft and has been in many leadership roles. I am excited for the week ahead and have enjoyed interviewing these people that I look up to. The picture below is of Diego Walsh.
Apr 21
