Franco Baresi: What It Truly Means to Be a Leader

By Piero Lorenzo

For anyone who truly loves soccer (especially the soccer of another era) and for anyone who loves AC Milan, the passing of Franco Baresi is profoundly sad.
For me, it feels like the loss of much more than one of the greatest defenders in the history of the game. It's the loss of a symbol: a man who represented professionalism, integrity, commitment, passion, loyalty, and love for what he did.
Franco Baresi represented the AC Milan I grew up loving.
He belonged to a time when players seemed connected to their teams in a deeper and more personal way: when wearing a jersey meant carrying its history, identity, and responsibility. He spent his entire professional career with Milan, staying with the club not only during its greatest triumphs, but also during its most difficult years.
That loyalty mattered.
He did not lead through speeches, self-promotion, or theatrical gestures. Franco was a man of very few words. Yet his eyes, his silences, his concentration, and the way he carried himself communicated everything his teammates needed to understand.
He led by example.
He gave everything in every game and every training session. He demanded the highest standards from himself before expecting them from anyone else. He showed that wearing the captain’s armband is not about status or authority. It's about accepting responsibility, particularly when circumstances become difficult.
That is what it means to be a captain. A real leader does not simply tell others what to do. A real leader shows them the way, through preparation, consistency, discipline, courage, and personal accountability. Leadership means helping others believe that success is possible because they can see, directly in front of them, what the required commitment looks like. Baresi embodied all of this.
On the field, he seemed to understand what was going to happen before everyone else. He was not physically imposing by the standards of a central defender, but his intelligence, anticipation, positioning, and extraordinary understanding of the game made him almost impossible to overcome.
He did not merely defend. He organized, directed, and inspired.
Even when he raised his arm to command Milan’s famous defensive line, it was not simply a tactical movement. It was the gesture of someone whose teammates trusted him completely. They moved together because they believed in his judgment.
And trust is perhaps the most important quality a leader can earn.
It cannot be demanded, purchased, or manufactured through words. It must be built over time through competence, consistency, honesty, and example. Franco Baresi earned that trust every day, for twenty years.
His leadership was also visible in adversity. One of the most powerful examples came during the 1994 World Cup. After undergoing knee surgery during the tournament, he recovered with extraordinary determination and returned only twenty-five days later to captain Italy in the final against Brazil.
We ultimately lost on penalties, and Baresi missed his own penalty kick. But that moment didn't diminish him. If anything, it made his greatness even more human.
Leadership doesn't mean never failing. It means having the courage to accept responsibility, to step forward when the pressure is greatest, and to give everything you have, even when there is no guarantee of success.
Franco Baresi was admired by Milan supporters, but the respect for him extended far beyond the colors of one club. Opposing players, coaches, and supporters recognized his greatness because respect in sports is not produced only by victories. It's earned through behavior.
For me, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini represent the highest expression of Italian soccer, not only because of their technical ability and everything they accomplished on the field, but because of their impeccable professionalism and the way they represented their club, their country, and the sport itself.
They demonstrated that excellence and integrity don't have to compete with each other. The greatest success is achieved when the two become inseparable.
These principles extend far beyond soccer.
In my own professional life, especially when advising people making important real estate decisions across countries and unfamiliar systems, I often think about the meaning of responsibility and trust. Clients don't need someone who merely talks confidently or tells them what they want to hear. They need someone who is prepared, who remains present during difficult moments, who accepts responsibility, and who leads through actions.
Perhaps this is also why I admired him so deeply. We live in an age of constant self-promotion, where people often feel compelled to appear everywhere, produce endless videos, and repeatedly tell others how successful, talented, or exceptional they are. Baresi represented the opposite. He didn't need to advertise his qualities or place himself at the center of attention. He went straight to what mattered, did his work at the highest possible level, and let his actions speak for him.
I have always believed in that same principle. I don't feel the need to constantly promote myself through videos or tell people how good I am. I prefer to be clear, get to the point, do the necessary work, and let the quality of that work and the way I treat people reveal who I am.
The lesson I take from Franco Baresi is simple: never ask others to follow a standard you are not prepared to uphold yourself.
Do the work. Be consistent. Accept responsibility. Remain loyal to your principles. Earn people’s trust. And when circumstances become difficult, don't disappear. Step forward.
That is leadership.

Franco Baresi was the greatest captain I ever saw. His number 6 will never again be worn by an AC Milan player, but his true legacy was never simply a number, a trophy, or a statistic. His legacy is the example he gave us.
An example for soccer, for leadership, and for life.

​Rest in Peace, Captain.
​
Franco Baresi forever.

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