For me, sport events are similar to case studies – real life case studies in human psychology and behaviour as well as team strategy and team dynamics. And it was the same again at last Saturday’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Portsmouth.
Drogba – bending reality to one’s own will
After the saved penalty, Chelsea marched all the way to Pompey’s box and were awarded the free kick that resulted in the winning goal. Drogba’s body language was incredible, you could see that he just had enough and once and for all wanted to put an end to Pompey’s uprising. And he did magnificently. He had all the belief in the world, all the confidence, all the knowledge that if the game wouldn’t go his way, he would just make the game go his way. There is something beautiful, magnificent and pure about this state of being.
Didier Drogba certainly is a rockstar and to transform a team – on or off the pitch – into a great, successful team – you need this type of person someone that take responsibility for changing an outcome and ultimately reality.
Cole – his life is his life
I am not a fan of Ashley Cole, mainly because of his reported off field antics, but seeing him play on Saturday just confirmed that he’s one of the world’s best footballers in his position. I tell you, I’d be delighted if he would play for Germany.
And it confirmed for me the belief that the private life is the private life and employers, recruiters and in Cole’s case the media, should stay away from it. It’s the individual’s life and therefore their responsibility.
As long as individuals are delivering impactful performances, and as long as they are not engaged in criminal activities, the private life is off limits. I certainly won’t check the Facebook pages of my next recruits or my colleagues.
Grant – fortune favors the bold
Avram Grant is the anti-Drogba and that’s why he is well liked and why he’s behaving so graciously. But it doesn’t make him a winner
My take is quite simple: If your team is 1:0 down and stuck, you need to change something. And importantly, you need to make the change early enough, not 8 minutes from time, but 20 minutes. A loss is a loss, so you might as well go for it. A 1:0 loss to Chelsea might look like a good fight, but it’s still a loss. And for the little time Kanu and Belhadj came on, Pompey posed some questions.
It’ll be interesting to see how the master tacticians van Gaal and Mourinho will influence the outcome of the Champions League final through team set up and team changes.
For all of us managing people, it poses the following questions:
- How can we change our team structures and therefore dynamics to adapt to changing environments?
- And at what point do we change it?
I certainly believe that this change needs to happen on a regular basis, at least once every 18 months.
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Twitter: james_mayes
says
Glad you’re continuing to draw parallels between sport and business. You’re one of the few I know who is professionally positioned to do so, blogs regularly and writes well. Killer combo!
Rockstars are difficult – I’ve managed a few in my time and it’s ALWAYS a painful experience. Ultimately rewarding, but painful nonetheless.
My main interest is your final point. 18 months is (I believe about the right length of time for a person to stay in one role in the corporate environment. It takes 3 months for someone to get up to speed, hopefully then giving 12 months of service, and finally 3 months of preparing to hand over, grooming the successor, preparing for the next role. Indeed, I spent seven years with one of my previous employers (a lifetime in recruitment, some would say). One of the reasons was undoubtedly the ability to move internally, preventing both myself and my employer from the risk of going stale.
Running my new business, I certainly won’t have the opportunity to change role every 18 months – but I believe the ever-increasing pace of change in this industry will provide it’s own solution!
Twitter: FelixWetzel
says
Thanks for the really cool comment, James.
I have been with Jobsite now 11 years & as the company was growing from a start up to its current position so was and am I growing and expanding. Additionally, the external changes meant new skills needed to be learned and new practises adopted and they still are…so I am not talking about changing company.
I think in 18 months time, you might still have the same job title, but your role as an owner/manager/thought leader/innovator will have changed beyond recognition. And that will happen to more and more people in this ever changing world. It’s exciting, isn’t it?
Also, I’m not necessarily talk about changing roles completely, but to adapt and to tweak a team’s structure according to external influences and more importantly in line with the vision and the capabilities. During a recession we might want to play a more defensive and traditional 4-4-2 and during massive growth a more expansive 4-3-3. Some people might be stars, some people might be the Makelele’s of this world – it’s all about the right mixture, right positions and the ability to succeed. And it’s about being integrated and playing one fluid system – that’s why I don’t believe in agencies that add another social media arm – that’s like putting a player on the bench.
I also think there are different kind of rockstars – I certainly prefer team spirit instead of dependency on one rockstar – it ultimately just creates unhappiness within the team and the wider company. If the rockstar is playing his part, however, it’s the best combo you can have. The club is always bigger than the player.