Meg Lanning, the former captain of the Australian women’s team, believes that her leadership style has evolved dramatically since leaving the national team in November 2023. She is a much different leader currently captaining the Manchester Super Giants in The Hundred than she was while guiding the Southern Stars, driven by a deeper understanding of her players.
While captaining Australia, Meg Lanning won two 50-over World Cups, five T20 World Cup titles, and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Her captaincy was built on her winning attitude and composure under pressure.
“I always used to do like 360-degree reviews and stuff like that on your personality, and I was always very low on empathy,” she said, acknowledging a serious flaw in her people management approach that she has worked hard to fix.
That was consistently quite low. Meg Lanning stated on the Wisden Women’s Cricket Weekly Podcast, “I think you get better at understanding those situations with more experience and stuff like that.”
Why is transparency such an important part of Meg Lanning’s leadership style?
The Australian credits her willingness to be vulnerable with others around her for her heightened empathy. During her time overseas, she was cautious and rarely showed signs of vulnerability. She came to see that more candid and open communication about personal struggles promoted strong bonds with teammates.
“I believe it simply came down to me being a little more truthful with those around me. I believe that you sort of figure out that if you can be a little more forthright, honest, and honest about things that aren’t going well or that you haven’t done as well as you would have liked, that sort of opens the door a little bit more and just helps to sort of build those connections and relationships a little bit better, which is where I think that empathy sort of grows. Meg Lanning remarked, “I’ve probably had to think about that a lot.”
In what ways has delegating strengthened Meg Lanning’s captaincy?
Beyond empathy, the Australian feels that delegation has been crucial to her growth as a captain. “I think one of my strengths is actually being open to delegating and letting other people help out rather than feeling like I need to do everything,” she says, giving her players and support staff the opportunity to own their positions instead of taking on every task herself.
Because they have some power over what you’re trying to do, I believe that actually makes the group function much better. Meg Lanning stated, “I think I got a lot better at that, and it really is one of my strengths in that regard.”
Lanning will lead the Manchester Super Giants in The Hundred 2026. The 34-year-old continues to participate in several local and franchise events after retiring from international competition, and she brings comparable smart leadership qualities to her new franchise role.
