Game Changers: Leadership Lessons From Popular Sport Icons

ABSTRACT

This article explores leadership lessons that can be drawn from popular sport icons. These lessons reveal how athletes leverage their status to drive social change or how they inspire others through performance‐based practices that align with effective modern‐day leadership skills. We present four cases to illustrate key leadership competencies that can be gleaned from the nuanced ways these popular sport icons operate within and beyond sport. These include adaptability, emotional intelligence and humility, collaboration and inclusivity, and purpose‐driven, values‐based leadership. Recommendations for pedagogical approaches to leverage these leadership lessons include discussion‐based activities, active learning experiences, and creative expression. While acknowledging potential limitations and challenges, we show how the accessibility and resonance of sport icons can be a powerful access point for leadership education and development.

1. Introduction

A popular icon from the corporate sector, Satya Nadella, understood how lessons learned from sport could impact leadership in the technology sector. Nadella played cricket in his youth and, as part owner of the Seattle Orcas, supports one of six teams that launched Major League Cricket in the United States in July 2024. Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in February 2014 and is known for his leadership that turned around a company whose stock was underperforming, whose reputation in the industry was declining, and whose culture was known for stifling innovation (Somasegar 2024). Nadella understood how making impactful strategic decisions relied on shifting the culture. To this end, Nadella brought in Dr. Michael Gervais, a sport psychologist, to work with the senior leadership team and, subsequently, over 50,000 Microsoft employees to learn and apply the mindsets and practices of top teams and athletes (Gervais 2018). These efforts led to a culture no longer characterized by fierce competition, but one grounded in purpose, empathy, and a growth mindset. This shift has led to Microsoft being once again among the most relevant companies in the world.

While the connections between sport and leadership have historically been focused on what it takes to win, Nadella's example shows that leadership for contemporary organizations aligns more closely with the mindsets and practices required to compete at the highest levels of sport today. Although intertwined, the distinction is important. Even though access to top sport psychologists is reserved for large corporations and elite athletes, stories of sport icons abound. Today, sport features prominently in popular culture thanks to social media, the rise of the influencer phenomenon, sport news, special interest stories, and evolving brand alignment with sports leagues, teams, athletes, and coaches. Athletes are even being heavily courted by and building their brand through the fashion industry (Friedman 2024). In this article, we offer several starting points for leadership development grounded in high‐performance mindsets and practices from the sport context that can transfer across contexts. Our examples are drawn from athletes whose achievements in and through sport have made them popular culture icons.

2. Overview of Topic

Although sport has been a prominent part of cultures throughout history, it became associated with leadership development in the late 19th century. Sport participation was introduced in elite British boarding schools to develop character, teamwork, and leadership (Harvey 2005). Since that time, the association of sport with leadership has been multifaceted. From sport metaphors used in business (Hanold 2013), to leadership principles of great coaches detailed in books, the connection of sport to leadership development has continued. Although these connections remain prominent throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, other connections have emerged as professional athletes have become popular culture icons.

The most notable accounts of when sport and pop culture intersected begin with athletes who leveraged their success and popularity to lead social change movements, often at personal cost. For example, Billie Jean King used her on‐court success to advocate for women's tennis. She led the creation of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), whose aim was to bring women's tennis to a level equal to men's tennis, and founded the Women's Sports Foundation, whose mission is to support and empower young girls and women to excel in sport and life (Ware 2011).

Other examples of athletes who used their platform for social change are Muhammed Ali, who refused to be inducted into the military as a protest against the Vietnam War, and John Carlos and Tommy Smith, who wore black gloves and raised their fists on the podium at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games in solidarity for all black Americans oppressed by racism (Bates 2018; Swinton 2020). Building on the ways athletes fought for social justice in the past has allowed activism to re‐emerge as an acceptable use of sport icon status. The more contemporary ability to leverage social media for larger networks has further grown athletes' ability to influence. For example, the fact that Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, and Naomi Osaka are willing and able to use their global recognition and social media platforms to raise awareness about mental health has resulted in broader audience engagement, helping to move mental health conversations from shame to compassion.

The rise of sport as a popular culture domain has expanded the possibilities of where sport and leadership intersect. Watching full competitions has given way to finding short clips of the day's greatest sport moments, scrolling through professional athletes' social media feeds, watching films about favorite athletes, and reading articles about how athletes invest in helping communities, championing certain causes, and running small business ventures. The rise of athletes as sport pop icons creates a multitude of pathways to explore leadership lessons that can be drawn from their lives beyond the stats, wins, and losses.

3. Pedagogy

In the following examples, we explore leadership lessons from athletes who leverage their status as popular sport icons, relying on referent and expert power rather than positional authority. Our examples illustrate the application of theoretical leadership concepts supported by the leadership literature and essential to today's leadership practice. The concepts we focus on are adaptability, emotional intelligence and humility, collaboration and inclusivity, and purpose‐driven, values‐based leadership. The lessons come out of processes that drive athletic success in ways that are not readily apparent within a sport context. The nuances of these athletes' practical and attitudinal processes point to leadership concepts that are vital across contexts in an ever‐changing world.

3.1. The Case of Lionel “Leo” Messi

Global sport icon Leo Messi offers leadership lessons in adaptability to leverage strengths and apply new skillsets and humility to be a team player. The Argentine professional footballer is acknowledged as one of the greatest players in the sport's history. Highly decorated with awards and accomplishments, Messi has been recognized by FIFA as the world's best player eight times and holds a record eight Ballon d'Or, a recognition by France Football magazine of the best footballers in the world. He has repeatedly been ranked in Time’s 100 most influential people, was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2020 and 2023, and won the MLS MVP Award in 2024.

A key to Messi's continued success is his ability to openly adapt to changing circumstances. We focus here on the circumstance of age. Messi is known as a prolific goal‐scorer, and one of the greatest dribblers and playmakers in the game's history (Davis 2015; Reng 2011). These actions require sustained quickness, agility, speed, and strength, along with a savvy vision of what's unfolding on the field. Rather than forcing these strengths as age slowed him down, Messi shifted by leveraging his ability to see the field and focusing more on becoming an outstanding passer and playmaker (TS Staff 2015), allowing him to conserve energy by running and dribbling less. Messi could have stubbornly tried to play with the style that had made him so successful; instead, he accepted the changes and chose to leverage his existing strengths and create new strengths while working within his constraints. He recognized that effective leaders continue to improve their performance by adapting their skillsets to align with changing circumstances (Goldsmith 2010). Messi chose to do the hard work of change rather than resist change due to the common fear of loss—for example, of star identity (Heifetz and Linsky 2017), or unconsciously avoid changing due to competing commitments such as maintaining status or avoiding failure (Kegan and Lahey 2009). Messi's case exemplifies how openly pursuing adaptability and taking on the challenge of change and growth can allow leaders to build upon existing successes.

Messi's case also offers a lesson on the virtue of humility. Even in the spotlight of extreme football success and popularity, he has been praised for his ability to stay humble and be a team player. Messi states on his personal website, “I appreciate that some may consider me as one of the best footballers in the world, but I try not to think about that…I don't care about personal awards” (Messi n.d., p. 4). Instead, he focuses on improvement, gratitude, life beyond football, and his contributions to team accomplishments. Focus on team accomplishments provides the direction, but humility is the essential quality of leaders that contributes to psychological safety (Frank 2023). When leaders create psychological safety, overall team performance and creativity improve (Garvin et al. 2008). Messi's quality of humility is even tied to the goal of The Messi Brand, where those who work within the apparel brand “…strive for excellence, precision, and humility in everything we do” (Messi n.d., p. 1). Humility is a great asset to leaders, as one outcome of humility is the ability to relate to others, which enhances our capacity to understand and integrate other perspectives into problem‐solving (Frank 2023; Garvin et al. 2008).

3.2. The Case of Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark's case offers leadership lessons in emotional intelligence and humility in defining your own success and keeping perspective when performing under pressure. Clark exploded onto the pop culture scene for basketball fans and beyond as she elevated the play and popularity of women's basketball during her career at the University of Iowa, earning a slew of accolades and breaking multiple records. She has been hailed as one of the greatest players in the history of collegiate basketball and is the NCAA Division I all‐time leading scorer for the women's and men's game (Big Ten Communications 2024). Clark's talent prompted what has been dubbed The Caitlin Clark Effect, which is the phenomenon that women's basketball “has seen a rocketlike rise in popularity in recent years, and Iowa senior Caitlin Clark…has provided a lot of the fuel…Clark's generational talent brought more eyeballs to broadcasts, fans to arenas and all‐around attention to the game” (McGuire 2024, paras. 1, 3). Clark went on to play for the WNBA's Indiana Fever as the first overall draft pick.

Clark models what it looks like for a leader to rely on emotional intelligence to have the self‐awareness and confidence to define their own success. There's constant pressure on athletes to adopt the mindset that winning and statistics are what makes them worthy. In contrast, Clark is fueled by intrinsic motivation, one characteristic of emotionally intelligent leaders (Goleman 2005, 2021). For instance, prior to the NCAA Division I championship game her senior year, Clark was asked if her measurement of success was going to depend upon whether she could claim a championship title. She explained that, for her, success isn't about wins, points, or records; rather, her legacy is about how she behaves, how she impacts people and their lives, and what she does to grow the game of basketball (The Gazette 2024).

Clark's response shows that her intrinsic motivation is grounded in humility. In the face of all of the traditional markers of success and public attention, Clark keeps focus on her impact on others rather than self‐aggrandizement. Humility from this stance is particularly salient in today's social media landscape, which rewards self‐focus on accomplishments and public image (Chamorro‐Premuzic 2024). In contrast, Clark's framing and behaviors illustrate specific ways that humility and high performance are not mutually exclusive. Her humility is reflected in her focus on legacy and embodies the humility found in “Level 5 leaders” that, when combined with professional will, are key drivers of sustained high performance (Collins 2001).

Clark attributes her success in part to working on her mental game. Specifically, she honed her skill to emotionally self‐regulate, another characteristic of emotionally intelligent leaders (Goleman 2005, 2021), and especially relevant for high‐performing teams (Tamminen and Crocker 2013). When it comes to Clark's on‐court performance, it's been said “…the real magic of her success lies in what she does in between shots” (Gallo 2024, para. 3). She and her performance coach call it “…the action between the action” (para. 4) and see it as a space where Clark can be an asset rather than a liability for her team (What Drives Winning 2023). An example of this “action between the action” emotional self‐regulation is that Clark doesn't allow herself to get stuck in moments of failure, such as missing a shot. Instead, she shifts to focus on what could go right rather than wrong. This emphasis on a positive mindset allows her to avoid a cycle of negative thoughts and keeps small failures from festering and impacting future performance.

Further, attending to her mental game has helped Clark understand that, especially as a leader, how she responds to adversity impacts her teammates even more so than her physical performance. She has come to see basking in her own frustration as self‐indulgent and harmful to her team (What Drives Winning 2023). As she matured her mental game, Clark remained just as passionate while shifting from being emotionally reactive to calm in the face of pressure. Emotional self‐regulation is particularly useful during competition and runs counter to other dominant narratives in sport that allow for or even condone unfettered emotional displays (Arribas‐Galarraga et al. 2020). Clark's level‐headedness can be witnessed not only during competition but also in dealings with tricky media situations. Her work to regulate her emotions illustrates another reason why emotional intelligence is crucial for leaders, because in trying times, others observe the leader to determine how to react (Goleman 2005, 2021).

3.3. The Case of Togethxr

Togethxr, the media and commerce company focused on creating community, visibility, equity, and equality around women's sports, is purposefully designed to make its impact at the intersection of sport and culture. The co‐founders got fed up with the status quo and decided to address the glaring lack of media coverage for women's sports (Wasserman 2023). This case illustrates leadership lessons in the value of practicing collaboration and inclusivity to build a community around social change.

Founded by four of the world's greatest athletes, Togethxr is a collaborative, inclusive leadership and social change initiative operating with core values of equality, equity, and visibility and driven by purpose and passion:

Legacy is about what you give back and who you lift up. It's about the world you create for the next generation. We want to be champions for every young woman who dares to dream…There's never been a place dedicated to her story. A place that saw her in a way others did not. A place that heard her and elevated her voice. And gave her shoulders to stand on. We got tired of waiting for someone to build it. So we did (Togethxr 2024, About section, para. 4).

In 2021, Alex Morgan (soccer), Chloe Kim (snowboarding), Simone Manuel (swimming), and Sue Bird (basketball), alongside Chief Content Officer Jessica Robertson, used their platform as sport icon influencers to begin building a company that leverages inclusive storytelling across sports, lifestyle, culture, and activism with the objective of building community and support around women's sports. They have built their own media platform where they feature content created by female athletes to “…shatter the often‐narrow depictions of women in the media with content featuring a diverse and inclusive community of game changers, culture shapers, thought leaders, and barrier breakers” (About section, para. 3). The brand offers narratives of women as multidimensional, meaning they are depicted not just as athletes, but also as partners, mothers, professionals, intellectuals, and activists, for example (Draper and Minsberg 2021; Long 2021), with content and promotion tailored for Millennial and Gen Z women (Caron 2021).

The creation of Togethxr provides a prime example of collaborative leadership from the start. Understanding the power of working as a team, the co‐founders integrated their individual strengths and perspectives to bring their vision into reality. As evidenced in their statement, “We got tired of waiting for someone to build it. So we did,” they operate from a place of “we” not “I.” Their approach offers a highly visible leadership narrative that counters the pervasive “archetype of leaders as agentic solo heroes leading through competition and power over others” (Rothausen 2023, p. 627).

Togethxr not only collaborates internally, they also bring others into their efforts. The media content and production itself is a collaborative endeavor, with women across the globe working together on creation and delivery. There are also opportunities to collaborate through the Athlete Network and Community Champions. Further, Togethxr's platform allows people to join the “community” where they can “hang out” and “stay in the loop” by accessing content about events, guides, films, sports calendars, and exclusives (Togethxr 2024, Community section). More recently, Togethxr began to build community in‐person by organizing watch parties, pop‐ups, hoop runs, and clinics.

The collaborative leadership approach evident throughout Togethxr’s brand is grounded in inclusivity. Inclusivity is enacted through content focused on different types and levels of sport; stories from women of different races, ethnicities, ages, and sexual orientations; events that welcome all aligned with the mission to be part of the Togethxr community; and a commitment to storytelling that conveys a wide range of experiences of women in sport to provide a more inclusive and richer narrative. Collaborative leadership is inherently inclusive, offering a culturally significant alternative to prominent conceptualizations of leadership, which focus on one‐way influence, power over, and the “good” of the organization (Rothausen 2023). Togethxr's collaborative, inclusive approach results in multidimensional influence, engagement of “power with,” and leadership focused on societal good.

3.4. The Case of Venus Williams

Venus Williams is not only one of the most successful tennis players in the history of the sport, she is a fierce advocate for equality for women in sports and business. Her case offers insights into purpose‐driven, values‐based leadership grounded in authenticity and resilience to achieve social change.

Venus rose to tennis stardom in the late 1990s, inspiring younger generations as a trailblazer in a primarily white sport. Over her career, she amassed seven Grand Slam titles and launched initiatives beyond tennis, such as her fashion line EleVan and V Starr Interiors. Venus, alongside her sister Serena, is widely acknowledged for changing the trajectory of women's tennis by bringing an attacking mindset and athleticism to the game like never before (Edmondson 2005).

Across her tennis achievements and entrepreneurial endeavors, Venus exemplifies purpose‐driven, values‐based leadership. Her purpose is informed by her values, and as a values‐based leader, her behaviors are grounded in her ethical and moral foundations (Copeland 2014). Venus's sense of purpose arises from “doing the right thing,” a deeply held value instilled by her mother. Venus explains, “I like to think that my decisions to stand up for what's right—and be an advocate for gender equity and women's empowerment—has inspired the next generation” (Cultured Mag n.d., para. 5). For Venus, doing the right thing is not just a guide for her own life, it's also both the impetus and mechanism for her “why”—her purpose of making a social impact (Sinek 2009). For instance, after having to withdraw from a match against her sister at Indian Wells in 2001, Venus and Serena faced booing and racial verbal abuse. Neither chose to play at Indian Wells for the next 14 years. Venus also found purpose in fighting for her value of equality in women's tennis, where again, “doing the right thing” fueled her leadership. In the ESPN documentary series Nine for IX, DuVernay's (2013) film titled “Venus Vs.” tells the story of how Venus uses her platform to fight for equal pay for women at Wimbledon. Venus's actions reflected the pursuit of her “why” through her values of respect and equality, providing an additional leadership lesson in the character and fortitude it takes to enact one's purpose and espoused values, especially when the stakes are high.

Venus's fight for equal pay at Wimbledon illustrates other specific capabilities required to enact purpose‐driven leadership. Since Billie Jean King founded the WTA in 1973, one of its aims has been to achieve equality in women's tennis. Venus embraced this mission, framing her fight for equal prize money at Wimbledon as a leadership opportunity for the sport. In 2005, she addressed the Grand Slam Committee, appealing to their values rather than repeating historical arguments. This brief meeting began a 2‐year effort during which Venus remained vocal, collaborated with the WTA, and engaged strategically with the media. Her persistence included writing an op‐ed in The Times of London, sparking public discourse. In 2007, Wimbledon approved equal pay. Venus's leadership exemplifies resilience, determination, and the belief that meaningful change often requires enduring challenges to achieve what is right.

Venus extends her focus on purpose‐driven, values‐based leadership to her entrepreneurial endeavors, indicating the applicability of leadership lessons from sport across sectors. She emphasizes the significance of being authentic as a leader when setting the vision and culture of her businesses (American Express 2020). Authenticity is one of the most emphasized behaviors, and authentic leadership is one of the most foundational theories under the umbrella of values‐based leadership (Copeland 2014). Further, Venus leads with the values of trust in the talent and experience of her team, listening and collaborating, and growth through being coachable and learning from setbacks and failures (American Express 2020).

We only had space to dig into a few case examples, and to point out a handful of connections to theoretical leadership concepts, yet there are multitudes to explore. We encourage you to consider cases from a variety of sports and less‐mainstream sports, within different global geographies and cultural contexts, and that include a variety of participant identities and situations. Here, we focused on athletes, but there are valuable lessons from cases centered around coaches, teams, fans, owners, and managers. Further, there is a wealth of leadership concepts in practice that can be highlighted in such cases. As usual, when examining leadership, we focused on leaders and successes, but there is just as much to be learned from focusing on followership and failures (Chaleff et al. 2008; Kellerman 2004).

4. Recommendations

Leadership education and development via sport and pop culture cases can transpire in an array of learning environments. While a classroom setting may be most obvious, using such highly applicable and accessible cases allows flexibility in pedagogical approaches to suit the setting. For learners to gain background information, the most popular cases will be detailed in books and academic articles, and almost any case will be covered in websites, news articles, videos, and social media (with the caveat of ensuring the legitimacy of non‐scholarly sources). If you don't assign readings or viewings ahead of time, quick access to a case overview could be accessed in the moment on smartphones or laptops.

Regardless of the setting, one staple pedagogical approach is to start by asking for general reactions to the case, then move into posing discussion questions spurred by the case to be pondered either individually, in small groups, or in the full group. For instance,

• What other examples have you seen of leaders defining their own success, and what has that looked like? What will you define as success for yourself in your current leadership roles?

• What has been a struggle in your organization over the past year that requires you to adapt to changing circumstances? What ideas do you have for how you can make that shift?

• What is one situation, in your organization or society, that makes you think, “I'm tired of waiting for someone to do it?” What could you do to take the initiative to make some change happen? What are three opportunities and three challenges to your ideas for intervention?

Another pedagogical approach is to withhold your own ideas about how a case connects with leadership theory and practice, and first ask students what they see emanating from the case. You can set parameters specific to the session topic. For example, responses must connect with leadership theories, group dynamics, ethics and morality, neuroscience or psychology, systems thinking, or branding. We also advocate for the “WWYD approach” to dig into cases, where learners are asked, “What would you do if you were in that situation?”

Then, ask the learner and others for feedback on each idea, such as “Visualize enacting the approach that was explained. What might be some unintended consequences of that choice, for the leader, for other people, and for their organization or community?” The first part helps uncover different behavioral options and values priorities, which is especially helpful for learners who haven't had much leadership experience. The latter part can help get to a systems perspective and illuminate areas of ambiguity to help challenge right/wrong thinking.

Pedagogy to leverage sport and pop culture cases as a learning tool is not limited to discussion‐based approaches. We encourage engagement via active learning and creativity. Cases can be turned into practiced or improvised skits or songs, performed either in‐person or recorded on video, where learners act, sing, or rap out their responses. Learners could explain the case to others outside the group and interview those folks about how they interpret the case regarding leadership, thus providing a variety of perspectives. Drawing or crafting can also be helpful; learners can draw their ideas on presentation pads or create visuals with technology and present them to the group. Collages could be created to capture leadership concepts or lessons they see in a case. In settings where learning cannot be as physically active, learners can free‐write or journal with or without prompts, either before or during the session.

As various cases are presented, learners should be reminded of two things. First, it's not about whether you like a certain athlete, coach, team, or sport. Leadership lessons are still available in cases that involve undesirable or rival participants or sports. Second, sport leaders are not perfect; even though they have flaws, they provide lessons worthy of consideration. In part because of the emotional, competitive, and belongingness aspects of sport fanship (Hirt and Clarkson 2010), it is easy for learners to peg a sport figure with some unidimensional judgment and not remain open‐minded to available lessons.

5. Implications and Limitations

There is value in leveraging sport and pop culture cases for leadership education and development in and out of the classroom, with a range of pedagogical approaches available to bring the cases to life. Cases grounded in sport arguably resonate strongly with high school and college‐aged learners given the ubiquity of sport and their likely connection to it in some way, and sport's intersection with pop culture, influencers, and social media. The greater resonance may allow these learners to engage more easily and personally with the material and see the relevance to their own leadership. Be prepared that not all students are interested in sport or know much about it. In fact, in one author's experience, some actively avoid anything sport‐related out of disinterest to disdain, negative experiences, or beliefs about sport's societal impact or value.

Sport leadership cases also provide real‐world examples and practical applications that learners crave. It's challenging for younger learners to latch onto hypothetical case studies or cases outside of their known world because they don't yet have the experience to understand the contextual nuance. Using cases from business or government, for example, is asking younger learners to construct a reality based on limited knowledge. Further, even though lessons come from the sport context, most can be generalized across sectors and situations. This generalizability can help younger learners consider and articulate the applicability to their own current situations and future leadership endeavors.

However, using pop culture sport cases for leadership development is not a pedagogical panacea. Pop culture, by nature, is in the moment; thus, current cases will, at some point, no longer be considered pop culture. Lionel Messi eventually won't be as recognized. When building leadership education opportunities upon pop culture sport cases, educators will frequently need to devote time to developing new cases. Further, aspects of cases could change quickly. For instance, Caitlin Clark could do something that tarnishes her image as a role model, or investors could lose interest in Togethxr, and the initiative could ultimately fail. Although, any significant shift in a case would provide an opportunity for examination from a different angle.

Another challenge is conflicting beliefs about whether athletes, coaches, and teams should use their platforms and status for social influence (Cleland et al. 2023; Warren 2022). We see this challenge as a pedagogical opportunity to open space for exploring beliefs around what is acceptable. Educators can ask the following: What are the boundaries of and spaces for leadership action by sport figures? For which social purposes is it acceptable or not for sport figures to share their views? Does whether an athlete is getting paid or the competition level weigh into consideration?

Using sport cases for leadership lessons also has the potential to reproduce dominant narratives within capitalism, commodification, and commercialism. For instance, the capitalist narrative is that when someone is exceptional at something, they will benefit by making money, and as an extension of this self‐interest, society will also benefit. Relatedly, there's the narrative of financial wealth as a marker of success, with commodification and commercialism of the “self” as the best means. Studying popular sport icons can reproduce the idea that their athletic abilities are in service of “making money,” even when it is grounded in a social responsibility effort. Thus, holding up the sport icon as a leadership exemplar can reproduce commercialism grounded in being an influencer and one's identity becoming a brand.

6. Conclusion

Technological changes, commercialism, consumer demands, and the influencer phenomenon have allowed sport to feature more prominently in the popular culture domain, which in turn has expanded the possibilities of where sport and leadership intersect. Given the rise in status of sport icons to pop culture icons, along with the ubiquity of sport across societies, there is value in leveraging sport and pop culture cases for leadership education and development. Leadership lessons that are relevant, if not vital, across contexts come out of attitudinal and behavioral processes that drive athletes' success beyond wins and losses.

Further, sport leadership cases provide real‐world examples and practical applications that learners crave. While this approach has limitations and challenges, a multitude of highly applicable and accessible cases allow flexibility in pedagogical approaches to suit the educational setting. In this article, we offered several starting points for facilitating leadership development grounded in popular cases from the sport context reflecting high‐performance mindsets and practices that can transfer across contexts.