Trust. Timing. Truth. What Sarina Wiegman (The Manager of the England Women's National Team) Gets Right And So Should We...

Last night we watched more than a football final in Basel.

I watched a masterclass in leadership unfold; one that spoke not just to sport, but to every executive, manager, and team leader trying to build something that lasts.

As England defeated Spain to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, all eyes were on the players. But mine kept returning to someone else: Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch coach who has now led two national teams to back-to-back European championships, and five finals in five major tournaments.

Having worked with Dutch CEOs and senior executives, I recognized something familiar: her blend of clarity, honesty, structure, and emotional depth. But what Wiegman does isn’t just Dutch directness. It’s elite-level leadership.

When she joined the England team, her mandate was simple: win. Within 10 months, she delivered. But her true power isn’t only in results; it’s in how she gets them.

She creates a high-trust culture where players say they feel heard, valued, and seen. Some of her team players described her as a mother figure. Another called her “brutally honest but fair.” She knows which player needs tough love, which one needs space, and which one just needs her to sing a Dutch folk song to break the tension. And yes, she does that too.

Her decisions are bold but never rushed. After England’s early loss to France, she reorganized, not out of panic, but with poise. She benched her captain to make space for a 19-year-old. She read the game, trusted her timing, and let structure do its work.

Wiegman’s leadership reminds me of the very best business leaders I’ve worked with. The ones who can:

– Provide clarity when others spiral into complexity

– Make hard decisions without losing humanity

– Build teams that are more than the sum of their parts

– Model calm, consistent behavior especially under pressure

She doesn’t command with volume. She leads with trust.

One of her players said, “Whatever Sarina says, we listen.”

Why? Because her voice doesn’t come from ego, it comes from alignment, experience, and care.

In today’s business world, we talk a lot about resilience, emotional intelligence, and adaptive strategy. Wiegman doesn’t just talk about it. She lives it, game after game, decision after decision.

As Mia Hamm once said:

“The team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”

Last night, Wiegman showed that building championship teams—on the field or in the boardroom—demands more than strategy. It demands presence. Purpose. And people-first leadership.

We’d do well to study her, not just as a coach, but as a CEO of trust, culture, and performance.

In fact, watching Wiegman last night felt deeply familiar. Over the years, I’ve built international teams of experts from scratch across cultures, time zones, and challenges and unknowingly followed a path much like hers: leading with clarity, building trust before control, giving honest feedback with care, and always putting people at the center. I didn’t know her name back then, but I recognize her method now. It works, because it’s human. And because it lasts.