“It’s Not About You” - The Biggest Leadership Mistake in Modern Football with Paul McVeigh

In this episode of the Modern Soccer Coach Podcast, Gary is joined by Paul McVeigh — former Premier League player, performance psychologist, CEO, keynote speaker, and author of the new book It’s Not About You. Paul brings a rare perspective, having lived inside elite football dressing rooms and now working at the highest levels of leadership in the business world. Together, we explore where leadership succeeds, where it breaks down, and why modern teams often struggle despite having elite talent. We discuss the critical differences between football teams and business organizations, why elite performers don’t automatically create elite teams, and how leadership has shifted from command-and-control to relationship-driven approaches — sometimes at the cost of clarity and standards. This conversation dives into empathy versus boundaries, why communication is often the missing piece in leadership, how belief is built (or destroyed) inside teams, and why leadership should be viewed as a process rather than a personality trait. If you’re a coach, technical director, leader, or anyone responsible for developing people in high-pressure environments, this episode will challenge how you think about influence, accountability, and what it really means to lead.

You can listen to “It’s Not About You” - The Biggest Leadership Mistake in Modern Football with Paul McVeigh online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

“It’s Not About You” - The Biggest Leadership Mistake in Modern Football with Paul McVeigh is an episode from Modern Soccer Coach Podcast by Modern Soccer Coach.

This episode is 00:28:40 long.

This episode was published on Jan 22, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Modern Soccer Coach Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.