Reading the Play: Why Strategic Insight and Empathetic Leadership Must Go Hand in Hand
By Brett Patten
In high-performance environments—whether in sport, business, or government—the leaders who thrive are those who can read the play strategically and manage people with empathy and clarity.
In Australian leadership circles, we often speak of vision and execution. But without the ability to understand the shifting terrain beneath your feet, or to guide your team through change with authenticity and care, those two pillars quickly lose their power. True leadership today demands a dual lens: one fixed on the broader strategy, the other tuned in to the lived experience of your people.
Being a strategic leader means more than setting goals and measuring outcomes. It’s about identifying the early signals of change, anticipating pressure points, and seeing patterns before they fully emerge. Much like a great quarterback or cricket captain, leaders must read the momentum of the game—not just react to it.
That requires intellectual curiosity, deep listening, and a willingness to zoom out. In today’s Australia, where change is constant—economically, socially, and technologically—leaders who can ‘read the play’ gain a competitive edge. They’re not blindsided by disruption; they’ve already repositioned.
In sport, you don’t wait for the ball to land to move. In leadership, the same applies. You shift early. You sense where your competitors, your team, and your market are headed. You don’t guess—you read.
Equally critical is how you lead your people through that journey. Strategy without empathy is cold. Management without clarity breeds confusion.
The most effective leaders are emotionally intelligent. They understand that empathy is not softness—it’s strength. It’s the foundation for trust, and without trust, there is no team worth leading.
Empathetic leadership means taking the time to understand what motivates your people. It’s checking in before checking off. It’s giving clarity when there’s confusion and support when there’s fatigue. It’s setting high expectations while respecting human limits.
Empathy also means having the courage to make tough calls with kindness, transparency, and consistency. That’s what creates high-performing cultures—environments where people feel valued, but also challenged to be their best.
The best leaders—those who last, and those who matter—blend strategic awareness with human understanding. They know that reading the external game is just as vital as reading the internal temperature of their team.
In my own leadership journey across elite sport, government, and business, I’ve learned that people will forget what targets you hit. But they will remember how you made them feel when times were tough, and how clearly you could see the road ahead when others couldn’t.
Strategic readers of the play, and leaders of empathy—that’s the model we need more of in Australia right now.