What Makes a Leader? with Wells Thompson, Co-Founder of Soccer Resilience and Former MLS Midfielder - RECAST
About this episode
Wells Thompson shares his journey from childhood adversity to professional soccer, discussing leadership, mental health, and life lessons learned along the way.
In Episode 188, we are re-casting our conversation with Wells Thompson, Former MLS midfielder and 1 st Round Draft Pick, Co-Founder of Soccer Resilience, husband, and father. This was our most downloaded episode of 2025 and Top 2 for both Paul and me. In this episode, he talked with Paul and Phil about his journey from childhood adversity to the MLS, his struggles with identity and mental health, his faith journey and his personal why relating to that journey, his difficulties transitioning to life after soccer, why left Soccer Resilience after founding and leading it for a few years, and a lot of wisdom regarding true leadership. They also discuss how soccer and other sports are incredible classrooms, and how he is learning deep life lessons every single day as a stay-at-home dad, husband, and father of athletes. The interview is full of vulnerable moments, personal stories, and practical advice. Specifically, they discuss: · How Wells developed his passion for soccer, leadership, faith in God, and how he went from rolling with the wrong crowd, getting into drugs, and not being recruited to college to playing for Wake Forest and getting drafted 5 th in the MLS Draft (7:30) ·…
People in this episode
Hosts: Philip Darke, Paul Jobson
Guest: Wells Thompson
Topics covered
- leadership
- soccer
- mental health
- personal development
- life after sports
- identity
Keywords
- leadership
- soccer
- mental health
- personal growth
- identity
- life after soccer
- vulnerability
- faith
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Soccer Resilience, MLS, Wake Forest
More episodes of How Soccer Explains Leadership Podcast
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- Paul Caliguiri -- Faith, Perseverance, and National Team Glory (Re-cast)
- Phil Darke - How to Build Better Teams and Stronger Relationships
- Cori Close, UCLA Women's BB Head Coach—Leading with a Broom and a Shovel (RECAST)
- Phil and Paul – The "Nor-Way" - Season 13 Post-Match Show
- Jim Spence – Faithfulness and Leading with Compassion
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