"It's hard for great leaders to get the credit they deserve because, by definition, if they do their job well then nothing happens."

Journalist and author, Sam Walker, is musing on the notion of leadership at this time of global crisis.

"There's a perception that leadership is what you do in a crisis; how you respond," he continues. "But we forget that leadership by its purest definition is what you do when there is no crisis; between crises, it's what you do in terms of planning for the next one.

"There's an argument that a crisis, especially one on this level, is a failure of leadership."

Walker, who is the author of The Captain Class and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal is the latest guest in our new minseries of podcasts brought to you today by our co-hosts Matthew Stone, Leaders' Senior Product Manager, and Steve Gera, the CEO of Gains Group, which helps some of sport’s greatest teams and athletes maximise the value of their data and technology.

At Home With Leaders brings you a wealth of guests drawn from across sports performance to explore how they are adapting to the new normal, attempting to thrive and contribute to the eventual reboot of the sports performance landscape.

Walker, direct from his home in Long Island, New York, also discusses:

- Why he feels we have forgotten what competent leadership looks like [4:30];

- Leaders such as Jung Eun-kyeong and Anthony Fauci, who have grown as leaders during the pandemic despite not conforming to our conventional view of leaders [8:00];

- The qualities that make deputies, such as Fauci, become so revered at this time of crisis [18:00];

- Why the idea of rivalries in sport will be unhelpful as we emerge from the pandemic [25:30];

- Whether or not leaders will learn humility in the future and be less prone to bombast [33:00].

Steve Gera: Twitter | LinkedIn

Matthew Stone: Twitter | LinkedIn

Further listening:

At Home With Leaders - Eddie Jones

Listen above and subscribe today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Overcast, or your chosen podcast platform.