Taking Football into Business

Taking Football into Business

 

I’ve always compared football to business management, for me the two go hand in hand. With this thought in mind I thought I’d have a look on the internet to see if anyone else had the same views. To my surprise I wasn’t able to find anything; I’m sure someone else has had these views though.  

So just where do I get the idea that the elements of football can be taken into business? To start if a Football team fails then it’s the manager who takes the flak, the same can be said in business, if KPI’s aren’t being met then it’s the line manager who has to provide the answers.

Picking your team is also no different than that of the team on a football pitch. First of all you have to think which team member suits which role. You wouldn’t put your best striker in goal just like you wouldn’t put a member of staff who is nervous and doesn’t like speaking to customers into a complaints department. This is just suicide. If you want your team to perform at their best then you need to put round pegs in round holes.

For me the positions in football are very similar, in football you have Defence, Midfield and Attack. These are the rules that can be applied to business.

The attack is the sales team, without sales you don’t have a business just like in football if you don’t score goals then you don’t win games.

The midfield is the supply chain and sales assistance

The defence, this is your aftersales department. If you don’t support logistics, sales and your products then the business falls down.

People would say that your defenders do occasionally score goals and do help out with the attack. The same can be said in business. When pitching to a potential new customer you may tell them about how good your aftersales support is or about how you always delivery the finished goods on time. It’s these factors that could clinch the sale.

The manager of a football team also has to deal with individuals with multiple personalities the same as a business manager. There will be staff who have big ego’s and know everything but may not be as good as they think. There may be a member of staff who has a skill that even they don’t know about yet but the manager can see it in them and has to nurture this out of them.

Some staff/players respond to being addressed directly and sternly, some need an arm put around them. I remember being a young footballer and playing with someone who was far more experienced than me and a far better player than me but he only knew one style of dealing with players and that was to shout at players. I explained that it doesn’t always work and that although in football this method may get the best out of certain players it doesn’t all. What he said next shocked me; he simply said “what do you want me to do? Put my arm around him and tell him everything will be ok?” I told him YES if that’s the way to get the best out of him!

This showed that to be a good manager you need to be able to adapt to an individual’s personality.

I’ve recently been learning about management at college and one particular theory is McGregors X and Y theory. Although I don’t agree with the theory in principle it teaches that to be a good manager you have to be an X and Y manager, some people simply cannot be trusted but can work to deadlines as long as you keep on top of them but within the same team you may have someone who can be left and trusted. You will get the same results but with different methods.

I remember reading a story about Jose Mourinho and Mario Balotelli. Jose Mourinho is famous for his ability to manage individuals and players have said that they don’t know how but he always seems to get the best out of them, however even he stuggles.

Jose Mourinho

“I remember one time went to play Kazan in the Champions League. In that match I had all my strikers injured. No Milito, no Eto’o, I was really in trouble and Mario was the only one.

"Mario got a yellow card in the 42nd minute, so when I go to the dressing room at half-time I spend about 14 minutes of the 15 available speaking only to Mario.

"I said to him, ‘Mario, I cannot change you, I have no strikers on the bench, so don’t touch anybody and play only with the ball. If we lose the ball no reaction. If someone provokes you, no reaction, if the referee makes a mistake, no reaction.' The 46th minute, red card."

This shows that even the finest man managers in the world struggle at times and that at times you cannot be an X manager or a Y manager, you have to constantly slide the scale to get the best from that individual when required.

There are other examples that can be given as to why my Theory works and I don’t doubt there are people who question my theory just like the way I question McGregors. However to be a successful manager you have to have a successful team just like in football, as I’ve said a many business meetings, there’s no use being the top goal scorer in the league if your team gets relegated.

We must always remember what team stands for

 

Together

Everyone

Achieves

More

 

Thank you