Leading Questions: Frank Lampard OBE

What are the most important attributes that every football captain needs?

First and foremost you need strength of character. In football you spend your career working towards high pressure moments, whether it’s a cup final or a penalty shootout. You need captains who aren’t consumed in themselves, individuals who are going to make a difference to others around them. They have to be able to take the pressure out of the situation – the more you can help everyone focus on the job in hand, the better the team will perform as a whole.

You also need humility. When you look at leaders within the game, they are people who are instantly respected by others. People see the way they carry themselves and want to adapt their own game accordingly.

Having said that, there are many different types of leaders. I myself was more softly spoken, I would set examples in the way I trained and played. Whereas someone like John Terry was far more naturally suited to being a leader. He would lead in the way he spoke, the way he transmitted his voice to others and the gestures that he used.

What’s the toughest thing about being a leader in football?

The toughest thing is sacrificing your own performance for the good of others around you. There are times when being a good leader can be detrimental to your own performance but it’s vitally important for the success of the team – and that’s what makes great leaders.

The interesting thing is that in good times being a leader is easy, everything tends to look after itself. It’s in difficult times that you need great leaders - you need individuals to take responsibility and lift the team, and it’s not an easy thing to do.

You mention “lifting the team”. How important is morale in a winning side?

Absolutely imperative. In all the best teams I played in you could sense a strong spirit in the dressing room. Even before we entered the pitch we had a winning mentality, we knew that every single player was confident that they were going to play well.

And that confidence isn’t something you can just switch on and off. It stems from the leaders at the club and trickles down to the rest of the squad. And I think that goes for any sport or any competitive environment, if you can forge a strong team spirit then you’re far more likely to perform well.

If you noticed a teammate wasn’t performing to the best of their ability, how would you approach it?

It’s a tough thing but as a leader it’s a very important part of your job. It’s easy to criticise, but I don’t think that has a positive effect. What you need to understand is that people aren’t playing badly deliberately, no one wants to make mistakes.

So you have to encourage, because that fills the player with confidence. You have to let them know they’ve got a teammate who believes in them, who wants them to succeed. With the right approach you can get that level of improvement by being supportive.

If you disagreed with your manager on a particular topic, how would you approach them?

I think you’ve got to be careful. In football – or any organisation for that matter ­– there has to be a level of respect. There’s a reason that they are the manager, and that’s why they make the decisions.

However, there are times when you may disagree with the person in charge. In those cases it’s always best to approach the situation in a friendly way, and have a conversation about the issue. And I always felt that the best managers were willing to listen. They weren’t dictators, and they didn’t have insecurities where they felt they had to lay down the law. They’d often invite feedback, so they could find the best solution for the team as a whole.

You’ve recently been appointed manager of Derby County FC, do you think you’ll have a particular managerial style?

I have played under some great managers and I would like to take bits from all of them. I loved the managers who gave me time, the ones I felt I had a really positive relationship with. The ones that speak to you on the pitch and off the pitch, the ones you feel comfortable with, the ones that had that attention to detail on the training ground.

I will care about my players, look after them and try to improve them all.