Alastair Cook Quotes

That was something I probably had to go through, a learning curve in terms of trying to develop into the captain I want to be.

It's hard to be a leader right away, but playing quarterback, you have to.

Managing can be more discouraging than playing, especially when you're losing because when you're a player, there are at least individual goals you can shoot for. When you're a manager all the worries of the team become your worries.

I take the role of leadership as the most important job I have. Yes, it's the passes and all the different things you have to do, but it's leading and it's in the huddle and it's in the weight room and the meeting rooms. It's that role I think comes first.

Every goal for me is to be a leader on the court every time I step on the court.

When you are captain at the same time, that's when it gets difficult and when your own game starts to decay because you have other worries and pressures.

Even without tactical discipline, what is important for a team is having players with maturity and a sense of responsibility.

The burdens of being a head coach are different from being an assistant. If I had been an assistant coach for awhile, then become a head coach, I probably would have lasted longer.

You've got to coach worrying about your entire team: whether that gets you a championship or whether that gets you fired. I think it allows you to coach free. You're coaching with freedom because you know you're doing what you think is right.

What I have found is that, in a family business structure, sometimes what is needed is a sense of discipline rather than creativity. You have to take everyone's ideas and make it work. When you are dealing with money, there is a limitation on how creative you can be.

If I'm a leader, I have a mission.

I think leadership is more than just being able to cross the t's and dot the i's. It's about character and integrity and work ethic.

During my time as England captain I have always been both helpful and direct in my communications with the ECB.

I talked to the players and tried to make them aware of what was good and bad, but I didn't try to run their lives.

Leadership is one of sports' intangibles. Guys can score, guys can fight, guys can skate faster than anybody else. But not everybody can say, 'Follow me.'

Guidelines for bureaucrats: (1) When in charge, ponder. (2) When in trouble, delegate. (3) When in doubt, mumble.

I’m an executive now. I have to be a bigger leader, more responsible leader, more careful about how I say things….

A captain shouldn't be chosen on the amount of goals he's going to score.

When you're in a leadership role, you can never please all of the people all of the time. There's also a lot of responsibility that goes along with it that others may not realize.

It's football, you work with humans and humans make mistakes. We will do everything in our power to prepare the players so they know to make the right decision at the right times.

I never knew a manager that didn't have pressure.

As a captain, I just want to lead the team properly.

At LSU, I was a true leader. I know I made some mistakes, but I think I was a leader for my teammates.

Football management is about managing people.

It's the life of the manager: when you make a decision, and the team doesn't win, the pressure comes. But that's part of the life of a manager and footballers as well.