The former Manchester City captain, who was appointed Burnley boss this summer, spent three seasons with Guardiola before embarking on his first coaching role at boyhood club Anderlecht.
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Six of the 12 trophies Kompany won with City were achieved under the Catalan and the legendary former centre-back says the influence of his old boss was a decisive factor in his decision to go into coaching.
“He has definitely been someone who triggered me wanting to become a manager and he meant so much to my career as a football player,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“But it’s what you take away from it. Rather than trying to solve everything in the same way, you take away an idea of solving problems.
“He was very important in me looking at the game in a different way, like he has been for many players and many other coaches.
“I just adapt what I think is feasible to my situation and I want to be my own manager, so that remains a big part of my day to day.”
After calling time on his City career at the end of the 2018/19 season, Kompany was initially appointed player-manager at Anderlecht before taking up coaching full-time in the summer of 2020 following his retirement from playing.
He guided the Belgian outfit to fourth and third place finishes in the Jupiler Pro League and, whilst he admits the round-the-clock nature of football management can be particularly challenging, he considers himself lucky.
The 36-year-old remains certain that playing football remains the best job in the world, but coaching comes a close second.
“The best thing about being a football manager is it’s the closest thing to being a player,” he added.
“Having been lucky enough to have the best job in the world, you then want the second best!
“You’re in the job for a challenge so hard is really the way I would describe it. You have to put in the hours.
“We have a squad where 13 players have gone and they were good players so you have to replace them with quality, which involves a lot of background checks and then you come to the tactics and training.
“It’s a lot of hours! That’s the magic word in football: time.
“There is no magic recipe, it’s usually hard work. Time is a big part of it and every now and then you need a little bit of luck.”
