Vincent Kompany may not have been Bayern Munich’s first choice to fill the manager position, but it is clear that the Belgian is leader and knows what he is doing.
Speaking about what inspires his leadership skills, Kompany touched upon where he draws his strength as a leader from, and what it means to be a leader, captured by @iMiaSanMia.
Kompany on what makes a great leader: “It would be to be able to put the team before yourself. Very simply. It’s easy to say, it’s not very easy to do. I was fortunate to be in an environment with a lot of reference points, a lot of leaders. I was lucky to play with Patrick Vieira, Frank Lampard, who were leaders at their clubs for many years, but I also had coaches who were good leaders. Then I also had my parents. And you draw a little bit from everything, but the closest thing to leadership for me will always be what is closest to you, and that remains in everything I try to do.
“You earn trust and respect just by trying to be honest, saying what you think, when you think it. A ‘say what you mean and mean what you say’ type of attitude. You might not always get popularity with it because, as a manager, it’s not necessarily possible to always be popular, at least not in the short term.”
It seems that Kompany has the right idea of what it means to be a good leader, and has had the right training leading up to his career at Munich.
Kompany on developing his leadership skills: “You have different phases in leadership. During my time at Man City as a captain, I probably evolved with it as well – the captain I was in my first phase was not the captain that I was in my last phase. It comes with age, maturity.”
You transition much more from when you do things for yourself, and you want to be a leader, the strongest, the fastest, the most aggressive, the most important in the team. Whereas when you get a little bit older, you want to be the one that makes everybody around you better, you want to be the one that calms everything down, or that motivates everyone, and I think that transition happens even in your leadership.”
Kompany perfectly captures how leadership evolves over time, shifting from a self-focused to a team-focused mindset, and how his journey reflects the natural growth in leadership that comes with experience and wisdom.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen? Then check out our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where we cover everything from the starting XI selections, a rundown of the scoring and substitutions, observations from the match, and where things go from here. You can get the show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
