Lessons from Soccer

 I  am a soccer fan.  I watch it (mainly on TV) regularly and have my favourite teams.  I also take an interest in football management - especially in the ‘management merry-go-round’ where managers are sacked by one club and then employed by another.  

Over the last 20 or 30 years in the UK soccer world, there has been a steady but consistent move from soccer management to soccer coaching.  British managers, especially in the  Premier League (the top tier of English soccer) have been replaced by European caches.

It is obvious that good soccer coaches or mangers earn the respect of their players and create a ‘playing system’ and an environment (or culture) in which players want to perform for their colleagues, club and coach.

Poor managers do exactly the opposite.  They lack the respect of players (known as ‘losing the dressing room’) and fail to create that supportive culture.

Players in an unsupportive culture have more (and longer-lasting) injuries and (intentionally or not) tend to lose form and fail to  be competitive.

So, take an interest.  Watch how managers/coaches react to wins or defeats, how they respond to questions or comments by TV pundits, how they handle out-of-form players and so on.  Then note the upturn or downturn in performance or results - and try to work out what works with a soccer team.  

Think about how a shift to less management and more coaching might help you crest a supportive environment and culture in your organisation.

You should then be able to work out what might work with your work team, leading to higher performance snd productivity.