Well… what a game that was!
I’m certainly no football expert (or even a die-hard fan), but I stayed up to watch it and I’m so glad I did.
It had everything… skill, pressure, resilience, teamwork, leadership and those moments where individual brilliance met collective effort.
But as someone who works with leaders and teams every day, I couldn’t help but watch it through a different lens.
Recently, I also watched Dear England, the powerful drama based on Gareth Southgate’s leadership journey.
For me, his greatest achievement wasn’t simply taking England to finals.
It was changing the culture.
Haunted by his own missed penalty at Euro ’96 (I was 24, I still remember it… and yes, I cried!), Southgate inherited an incredibly talented team that lacked belief, trust and genuine togetherness.
Instead of relying on tactics alone, he brought in sports psychologist Pippa Grange to help develop something many organisations still underestimate…
Emotional Intelligence.
Together they created a culture built on trust, openness, resilience and psychological safety.
A culture where vulnerability became a strength, not a weakness.
A culture where people could perform because they felt safe enough to be themselves.
Some thoughts from my own professional experience…..
Great leaders don’t have all the answers. They surround themselves with people who bring expertise they don’t have.
They listen. They trust. They invite challenge.
Great leaders aren’t afraid to be vulnerable. They know authenticity builds trust far more than pretending to be perfect ever will.
Great leaders celebrate their teams. They step back, let others shine, and take responsibility when things don’t go to plan.
Because leadership should never be a solo journey.
The very best leaders build an A-Team around them, people who coach them, challenge them and tell them what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear.
There is so much we can learn from elite sport.
Not just about performance… But about people.
Developing Emotional Intelligence should never be treated as a wellbeing initiative, a tick-box exercise or another KPI.
It is fundamental to building resilient leaders, psychologically safe cultures and high-performing teams that thrive under pressure.
At LP Leadership, Emotional Intelligence sits at the heart of everything we do because organisations don’t succeed simply because they employ talented people.
They succeed because they create environments where people can do their very best work, together.
Watch this space….I’m excited to be launching more from our Developing Emotional Intelligence programmes very soon.