How has the leadership role changed you?
– Leadership has helped me to grow as an individual and as a human being. I believe that we are human before we are anything else. It has taught me valuable lessons about myself and the game. I’ve grown a lot in the past season. I’ve learned more about myself and how to influence my teammates as well to bring the best out of them.
What are some of the lessons that you’ve learned as a leader?
– I’m very grateful that the team has granted me such an opportunity and the platform to lead and become the player that I am now. In all honesty, If it wasn’t for the people that are surrounding me, I don’t think that this will be possible. It is very difficult for me to point out the leadership aspect where I’ve done this right or wrong. But it is humbling to hear people saying you’ve led the team well and you had a very good campaign. I take that with pride and honour and with the utmost appreciation. I know how far I’ve come to be where I am now. To be where I am now, it is a great feeling.
What has been the most challenging aspect of leadership:
– With the little experience that I’ve had being the captain and the leader of the team, the most challenging part or aspect is the accumulation of things but just to mention one, I’ll opt to go with the performance side of things. I think and believe that the only way that the leader can influence his teammates, or his followers is to do things from the front.
You must lead by example. You can’t lead by example if you are not on top of your game. At times during the season, I wasn’t on top of the game. The ability to bounce and lead by example would prove to be a challenge because you are dealing with a lot of mental elements that come to play when it comes to maintaining consistency in performances. I’m still learning as an individual. When I step into the field, I try to and help my teammates. Before I do that, I need to ensure my own performance is on point so that I can influence them based on what I’m doing on the pitch. That’s one of the challenges of being a leader. In the late part of the season, I did that very well. I’ve maintained a very good level of consistency in my game. I’m getting there.