The Great Coaches: Joe Montemurro

Exploring Selflessness with Joe Montemurro

Our podcast guest this week is football (soccer) coach Joe Montemurro.

Joe began coaching during his 20s in the early 2000s, progressing steadily through Australian state league teams before achieving his first international position with Papua New Guinea.

In 2014 he was appointed to lead Melbourne Victory, and a year later joined Melbourne City, leading them to back-to-back championships.

In 2017 Joe became the coach of Arsenal Women, leading him to the League Cup and FA Cup in his first season with them and to a League Title in his second. From there he moved onto Juventus, leading them to the treble: winning the Supercoppa, the Italian Cup, and Serie A.

In 2024 he joined Lyon in France to help them win the Premier League, and since 2025 he has been acting as the coach of the Australian national team, the Matildas.

This was a fantastic interview, but there were three main highlights that prompted me to reflect on my own leadership (see them below). Those three were:

• Joe’s words on having a clear identity and principles — stressing that success requires a clear playing identity built around simple, non-negotiable principles that players understand, internalise, and even coach themselves through.

• The importance of understanding culture — Joe adapts his leadership and communication styles to match the cultures of the workplaces and nations he finds himself in, but without losing his core football philosophy.

• His strong belief in values-driven leadership — identifying selflessness as the foundation of both team culture and performance on (and off) the pitch.

This week’s podcast is a great reminder that success relies on more than metrics and physical performance, and I hope you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

Some key questions raised from today’s episode:

• What are the core principles that define how I want to lead or work, and are they clear enough for others to act upon without constant direction?

• How well do I understand the culture of the environment I’m working in, and where might I need to adapt my approach?

• Which values truly guide my behaviour each day, and how visible are they to the people around me?

Find all of our past interviews with some of sport’s most successful coaches and leaders on our website.

Lessons In Culture From 200+ Coaches

In this section of our newsletter, we like to bring attention to the topics and areas of leadership and coaching that can pose the biggest challenges and problems, and to share a small lesson or interview clip that can help you to assess your own approach to them.

In this week’s podcast, guest Joe Montemurro reflects a lot on team culture and the role that certain principles and values can have in creating a winning, successful culture where players and staff are aligned and united.

Building a successful team culture is something that many leaders can struggle with, particularly those taking on new roles with teams that may have pre-established cultures that aren’t quite getting them where they need to go. Likewise, starting from scratch with a group of people who don’t yet know each other or share any camaraderie can make establishing a new organisation a challenge.

In this video, Great Coaches host Paul reflects on eight key lessons that he has learned from interviewing more than 200 podcast guests about building and maintaining successful team cultures. The video is just over 15 minutes long, and provides some fantastic insight and reflection that can be of use to all leaders and coaches, no matter what stage of their leadership career they may be in.

You can find the video here on our Youtube channel, alongside many other lessons, interviews, and insights designed to be shared and used by leaders and teams.

We combine videos of the Great Coaches that we have interviewed with our experience as corporate and sporting leaders in order to bring insight, energy, and ideas to your teams.

Is Leadership Going Soft?

Earlier this year, a clip of Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese interacting with one of her players received mixed reception. The coach was passionate, perhaps slightly aggressive in her approach — but the player (Oluchi Okananwa) took it completely in her stride and later described it as the way she likes to be coached.

In this article from the OutKick, Kathy Taylor looks at modern ‘tough coaching’ approaches and asks if perhaps the shock at Frese’s coaching is a reflection not of the coach herself, but of an overall ‘softening’ of American sports.

A very interesting piece, especially for those who may wonder just how ‘tough’ or ‘gentle’ they ought to be with their own leadership.

Challenge Yourself with the Macquarie MBA

This newsletter is brought to you by Macquarie University Business School’s MBA program. Designed to empower, challenge and transform, the Macquarie MBA gives you the business skills and knowledge you need to succeed in an evolving global economy.

The program bridges the gap between theory and real-world application, bringing together world-leading professors, executives and industry partners to teach you how business can be used for good.

I have started working with the team at Macquarie on some projects and can attest to the quality of the people and material. To find out more, search for Macquarie University Business School’s MBA.

Find out more: https://www.mq.edu.au/macquarie-business-school/

Elevated Leadership

If you’re looking to improve your own leadership skills, get in touch with us at elevatedleadership.com.au 

Our team of executive coaches — including The Great Coaches host, Paul Barnett — bring a wealth of experience as international CEOs who have faced the challenge of stepping forward in uncertain moments.