Best Leadership in Sports

It would be unfair to put professional athletes on the same level as leaders of countries, industry, and organizations. In the grand scheme of things, their accomplishments amount to little more than footnotes in history. But they do share many of the qualities with the great leaders in the world. Leadership is a universal concept - so let's examine the best leaders in each of the three major US sports:

Basketball - Tim Duncan. Tim Duncan, aka the Big Fundamental, leads quietly and by example. You will never see him ripping into a teammate during a timeout or calling out others in a postgame press conference. All he has done is goes out and works his butt off, providing the same consistent production for a dozen years now, which has resulted in a dozen titles. Unlike Kobe Bryant, he has never demanded that management make a move to keep him or asked for a trade when the going got tough. Clearly this has rubbed off on his teammates as the entire team has taken on his demeanor. It often gets labeled as boring, but four times it has also been labeled as "champions".

Baseball - Derek Jeter. The Yankees have more assets and advantages than any other team in the game. But that does not mean that it's easy to win with a collection of huge contracts and egos. Keeping the egos in check and players working hard after they have cashed in on huge deals is much harder than it looks. Derek Jeter has always set that tone. He's the professional's professional, a man who brings his best every night. The highlight reel plays are there, but it is also important to take note of the little things that he consistently does to help his team win ball games. You need to move a runner over in the late innings, he will give himself up. There is little doubt that his game begins and ends with the concept of team.

Football - Peyton Manning. It seems that every football question over the past decade has boiled down to Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. Brady has more Super Bowl Victories. Manning has the individual numbers. But Manning has also done more with less. He has never had the surrounding talent that Brady had. Brady could have an off game and win 17-14 because he had a stellar defense. But Indianapolis has almost always needed a great game out of Manning if they were to come out victorious. Another reason for Manning is that his persona comes across as being all about football. While nobody could begrudge Brady for dating celebrities and becoming one himself, Manning has the reputation as a football junkie - a man who lives, eats, and breaths the game. Don't think that goes unnoticed by his teammates.