{"id":2104480,"date":"2026-08-21T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T06:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2104480"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:00:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T06:00:21","slug":"whats-the-single-most-important-leadership-trait-we-asked-12-top-coaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2104480","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the single most important leadership trait? We asked 12 top coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"Article_ContentContainer__jBNW3 article-content-container bodytext1\">\n<p><strong>Peak newsletter \ud83e\udde0 |<\/strong> <em>This is an excerpt from <\/em>The Athletic\u2019s<em> weekly newsletter covering the mental side of sports. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/newsletters\/peak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive the Peak newsletter directly in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Last week, we asked 11 elite athletes from different sports one question: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7511433\/2026\/08\/14\/leadership-pro-athletes-advice-lessons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is the single most important trait for a leader to have<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>This week, we asked the same question to 11 top coaches from different sports, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Two Hall of Fame women\u2019s basketball coaches (Tara VanDerveer and Muffet McGraw)<\/li>\n<li>a World Series champion (Joe Maddon)<\/li>\n<li>and a Super Bowl champion (Bruce Arians).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>College and pro coaches are tasked with managing egos, developing young athletes and leading different personalities and goals in the same unified direction.<\/p>\n<p>In some ways, it\u2019s a masterclass in people management.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid1\" data-position=\"mid1\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Integrity<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Tara VanDerveer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6268149\/2025\/04\/16\/stanford-womens-basketball-coach-tara-vanderveer-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">former Stanford women\u2019s basketball coach<\/a>:<\/strong> When I was coaching the Olympic team, sometime in June, our team just was feeling a lot of pressure, but practice was not going very well at all.<\/p>\n<p>I told Carol Callan, who was the director, \u201cWe need to send everyone home.\u201d\u2029I just felt that, and she said, \u201cIf that\u2019s what you think we need to do, let\u2019s do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I was making a decision that was, I think, in the best interest of the team at the time. (Callan) was trustworthy, and she trusted me, and I trusted her, and I think we got better results because of that.<\/p>\n<p>We had to do things that were best for the team. And when you have integrity, you do things that are best for everyone, not just yourself.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Steadiness in any environment<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Caron Butler, Miami Heat assistant coach:<\/strong> True leadership has to show and feel steady because you\u2019re always going to be tested in competition.<\/p>\n<p>You want your leader to be steady, and you want your leader to be confident without having to say they\u2019re confident. You\u2019ve got to be able to visually see that and feel that.<\/p>\n<p>That makes everyone else more confident. When you have a leader that rattles under pressure, it makes you wonder: Do you abort or do you stay on?<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-pickem\">\n<p>When you have a steady leader, no matter what happens, the mission is still the mission, and we\u2019ve got to try to still complete it.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Empathy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Brayan Pe\u00f1a, minor-league baseball coach:<\/strong> When leaders understand the people they serve and their perspectives, their needs and their challenges, they build trust. They make better decisions, and they help others perform at their best.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Adaptability<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sean McDermott, former Buffalo Bills coach:<\/strong> For me, a big example was the night Damar Hamlin was critically injured. Everything changed in one horrifying moment.<\/p>\n<div id=\"top-league-content-root\"><\/div>\n<p>    {&#8220;endpoint&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql&#8221;}<\/p>\n<p>The question I asked myself that night \u2014 and every time the environment changes \u2014 is: How do we adjust to the situation based on what form of leadership is called for in that moment?<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid2\" data-position=\"mid2\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This especially applies when we\u2019re dealing with people. No two people are the same, and as a result, we must work to meet the person where they are based on what they specifically need.<\/p>\n<p>The final piece in this adaptability trait is the all-important awareness and discipline it takes for a leader to stay connected and remain true to their core values while being adaptable.<\/p>\n<div data-ath-video-stream=\"18Bt8ofvFQRuJNK\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_Root__QeM_i\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_VideoWidth__XjNKI VideoHost_Portrait__XBaJC\">\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Root__AGckL\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Title__npf3B\">This NFL player believes ownership is most important for leadership<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Authors__jxyYV\">Elise Devlin<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_VideoWrapper__Xgp47\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_root__AKv5b\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16;max-height:min(100%)\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_inner__86C_2\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16\">\n<div class=\"VideoStreamPlayer_GridStack__2H0p2\"><video preload=\"metadata\"><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Being a good listener<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Bruce Arians, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6318795\/2025\/04\/30\/i-coached-in-the-nfl-for-years-this-is-the-biggest-reason-young-qbs-succeed-or-fail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">former NFL head coach<\/a>:<\/strong> If you\u2019re listening, you\u2019re confident. People that are not very confident don\u2019t want to hear another voice, especially a different voice. I wanted many different types of voices around that I could listen to so that the collective was better.<\/p>\n<p>People identify themselves when they\u2019re talking. You learn a lot about people just by listening to them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mike Brey, Atlanta Hawks assistant and former Notre Dame coach:<\/strong> My administrative assistant (at Notre Dame) and I had a rule to get me off the phone and open my door for players. I wanted them to just swing through and sit down, and many times, it was never anything about basketball.<\/p>\n<p>If you are listening, then they feel like, \u201cMan, he cares.\u201d And then you start to build up trust. So when you do have that tough conversation and come back and really challenge them, you\u2019ve built up a lot of equity to do it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joe Maddon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7252497\/2026\/05\/05\/joe-maddon-mlb-leadership-cubs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">former MLB manager<\/a>:<\/strong> You really can\u2019t help anybody else, and you can\u2019t form a coalition unless you listen first. I think that\u2019s where it begins and ends.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a great listener, I think a lot of other desirable qualities shoot off of that.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Patience<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Ron Washington, former MLB manager:<\/strong> When you\u2019re dealing with people, you have to have patience, and you have to be able to teach what you\u2019re trying to get them to understand.<\/p>\n<p>You look at any successful group, you\u2019ll see the patience involved.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Awareness<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Shaka Smart, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6801420\/2025\/11\/13\/shaka-smart-college-basketball-leadership-marquette\/?source=emp_shared_article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marquette men\u2019s basketball coach<\/a>:<\/strong> Awareness opens us up to pathways of learning and connecting and leading that we were previously ignorant to.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid3\" data-position=\"mid3\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But the caveat is: Awareness isn\u2019t a badge we earn. It\u2019s something that\u2019s always accessible to us, but we don\u2019t access. It must be cultivated.<\/p>\n<p>When we are at our lowest as leaders is when we are below a certain level of consciousness, leading us to make unconscious decisions. We\u2019ve all been there.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Situational agility driven by contextual awareness<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sean Sweeney, Orlando Magic coach:<\/strong> As a leader, you have all these different situations come up, and you have to be ready to handle whatever arises. And then you also have to pick the course of action that you think is best, and you have to get all of these people on the same page.<\/p>\n<p>Because at the end of the day, we\u2019re trying to go somewhere together that none of us can go alone. As these situations arise, you\u2019ve got to be agile and ready and prepared, and that\u2019s all driven by the context you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n<p>You have the principles that you believe in, but when this specific situation arises, here\u2019s how you have to apply those. Or in this situation, this principle applies more than this other one.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Transparency<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Muffet McGraw, former Notre Dame women\u2019s basketball coach:<\/strong> I thought the best thing that I did was set expectations with players. Sitting down with them, talking about, \u201cWhat do you want your role to be? What are you going to work on to get there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They work over the summer, and we come back and say, \u201cHere\u2019s what I think your role is,\u201d and then we talk in front of the whole team. \u201cHere\u2019s her role, here\u2019s your role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everybody knows what everybody else is doing.<\/p>\n<p>I really think it made us more successful because there was such transparency. Like, she\u2019s going to shoot more than you because she\u2019s a better shooter.<\/p>\n<p>I think players appreciate that. I think people want feedback. They want to be good. They want to know how they can be better. And I think we\u2019re doing a disservice if we don\u2019t tell them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid4\" data-position=\"mid4\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Accountability<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Hines Ward, Arizona State assistant football coach:<\/strong> I was around some great coaches in Pittsburgh with Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin, and the one thing that stood out with both of them was holding people accountable.<\/p>\n<p>It just sets the standard. No matter if you\u2019re the best player on the team or the worst player on the team, what\u2019s right is right and what\u2019s wrong is wrong.<\/p>\n<p>You did it by really attacking the habits during the week. The habits you put into the week don\u2019t determine the outcome of games, but they give you a legit shot if you focus on them on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Rustin Dodd contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Peak newsletter \ud83e\udde0 | This is an excerpt from The Athletic\u2019s weekly newsletter covering the mental side of sports. Sign up here\u00a0to receive the Peak newsletter directly in your inbox. Last week, we asked 11 elite athletes from different sports one question: What is the single most important trait for a leader to have? This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2104480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2104480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104480\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2104480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2104480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2104480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}