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M H J O N L I N E . C O M | M A R C H 2 0 2 1 30 P R E S E N T E D B Y Russo's Rants are very impressionable," Parise, 36, said. "Showing up at practice, working the right way, playing the game the right way. When I was younger, that was contagious. … We were all going for the same thing. That was understood." Learning on the Fly When Guerin first met with Wild players during a pre-training camp meeting after getting the GM gig in 2019, the one thing he tried to convey to each of his players was a team-first mentality. But no leader is perfect. He learned that as a player. "Sometimes I was right. And there were times where I also said the wrong things," Guerin said. "But I always felt my heart was in the right place and you want to. You just have to say it in a respect- ful way and just understand that these guys are your teammates, they're humans, they have feel- ings. I made that mistake once, and it was awful. "I called a couple guys out in front of the team, and it was the worst mistake as a leader I made. I think young kids think that if you call people out in front of every- body, you're doing your job, you're being a leader. That's not always the case. You have to understand how that affects someone and you can get your message across in a different way, or privately." A nd that goes on the business side, too. Majka always tries to be respectful to every single one of his Wild employees. "I think what parents can or should do is to encourage their kids just to be themselves, to be genuinely themselves, because they don't have to fit a particular style of leadership," Majka said. "They don't have to be someone they're not in order to be an effec- tive leader. They need to be them- selves and genuine and authentic. "Because again, there's lots of different ways to lead. And I some- times worry that we human beings think there is a prototypical style of leadership that looks a certain way, and feels a certain way. "Everybody can find their place in a leadership position no matter what their personality is." Michael Russo writes for The Athletic. This is his 16th season covering the Wild and 26th cover- ing the National Hockey League. He co-hosts the Worst Seats in the House podcast on talknorth.com and Straight From The Source podcast on The Athletic. Both podcasts can be heard wherever you get your podcasts. Russo can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3- FM) and seen throughout the hock- ey season on Fox Sports North and the NHL Network. Follo w Russo on Twitter and Instagram at @RussoHockey. To subscribe to The Athletic at a discount, go to theathletic.com/student. Photos / Getty Images, Images on Ice "The most important thing about leaders is to say and do the right thing because young players are very impressionable." – Zach Parise Above: Wild President Matt Majka welcomed the Ryder Cup to Minnesota in 2016. Left: Parise captained the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team in Sochi.