Empathetic Leadership: Ama Agbeze

There’s a lot to be said for truly empathetic leadership, where caring for and taking an interest in the individual comes first. Not only does this create an environment in which people can flourish, it makes winning and success more likely. And my guest this week, Ama Agbeze, undoubtedly proved that to be the case, when she led England to their greatest netball triumph – a historic Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2018. The Commonwealth Games is the pinnacle competition in netball, because currently the sport is not part of the summer Olympics. Team England’s victory in 2018 was their first gold medal in the competition – and was the undoubted all-time highlight for the sport in this country. How did Ama capytain the team to triumph? We talk about the importance of valuing individuals within a team set up, and Ama also shares insights such as the impact on her life and mental health when she was unexpectedly dropped from the team the following year. And Ama’s emotional intelligence doesn’t just shine on court – she does some amazing work off it, too, in her role as an ambassador for Greenhouse Sports, the charity that uses sport to help disadvantaged young people.  In this episode: The importance of valuing individuals within a team set up Empathy and sincere compliments Sport as a great leveller "If you work hard anything is possible” The key mentors in Ama's life – and what she took from them Making your own mind up about people, not accepting pre-conceptions Success is not a straight line The importance of belief Remembering people are just people – and taking them off pedestals Managing voices of doubt Importance of a support network The journey is more important than the medal Learning that it is ok to be vulnerable The power of time management & prioritising Greenhouse Sports - Changing lives Through Sport: https://www.greenhousesports.org/ ** MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-mundie-89379114/ And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email) Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Thank you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices