Yes, Sports Still Have Much To Teach Leaders Of All Organizations

Pictures now appearing in media around the world of the scenes that greeted the Argentina football team on their triumphant return from the World Cup in Qatar demonstrate what this victory means to the country’s people. No wonder national coaches feel under so much pressure.

The epic final that saw Argentina only beat reigning champions France on penalties after extra time will be remembered for the brilliance of Lionel Messi, who now has some claim to be the “greatest of all all time,” and of Kylian Mbappe, who has the potential to match his clubmate. But it also featured some tactical masterstrokes from both coaches that demonstrate how influential they can be even in a sport that is less directed from the sidelines than, say, basketball or the NFL version of football. That influence extends beyond team selection, tactics, substitutions and the rest. It is also about setting a tone, ensuring that key players feel supported and that fringe players feel committed to the group so that they are ready to perform if called upon. All these are reasons why — despite England leaving the contest sooner than would have been liked (beaten in the quarter final by losing finalists France) — there is general enthusiasm for Gareth Southgate staying on as the country’s manager. After years in which the under-performance of talented players was accompanied by tales of tensions and strains, the quiet professionalism and lack of drama of the Southgate era is to be welcomed.

By contrast, England’s rugby union set-up is in some disarray. Eddie Jones, a tough-talking Australian who was brought in in 2015 to steady the ship after a disastrous home World Cup, has just been sacked. The immediate reason was a disappointing run of results, particularly against the nations of the Southern Hemisphere, that did not augur well for next year’s World Cup.

But it is difficult to escape the idea that there was more to it than that. Jones is known for a hard-driving style and an obsession with detail. While these are clearly admirable qualities, they can create an intensity that is suffocating for some. So, there is a widely-held view that these attributes, allied to an alleged reluctance to delegate responsibility to subordinates or the players, contributed to his demise. There is some support for this in the fact that in his seven-year reign many assistant coaches and other support staff came and went. Players, too, were called up for training camps or even for match-day squads only to just as quickly disappear. It was almost as if — thanks to the resources of the Rugby Football Union and the strength of the game in England — he had too many players to choose from and found it difficult to choose who would combine well with others. This has echoes of the experience of England football managers prior to Southgate’s appointment in 2016. Through picking players who perform the roles he wants them to, regardless of what happens at their clubs (and some who struggle for first-team game time with their clubs remain in the fold), Southgate has created a group mentality that means that the players fight for each other and the team even if they are not directly involved.

This is what in business executives and consultants refer to as “engagement.” And, just as employees quickly become disengaged if they feel they are not valued or do not understand where they fit into the bigger picture, it must have been difficult for the many players who have played in the England rugby team but not been part of the core group to have the kind of commitment required.

Jones’s replacement is Steve Borthwick, who captained the team as recently as 2010 and went on to coach the England forwards under Jones until joining one of England’s leading clubs that was not performing as well as it had in the past. It is the acclaim that Borthwick has won in restoring the club’s fortunes that has propelled him to his current position. It will be interesting to see if he can repeat the trick with the national side in the few weeks until the Six Nations championship and the nine months until the World Cup.

If he wants inspiration he can look to what has happened in just a few months to English cricket (apologies for referencing another sport that will be unfamiliar to many.) Like the rugby team, the England Test match team (which plays the traditional five-day form of the game) was in complete disarray as recently as the spring. Joe Root, a hugely talented batter, was unable to galvanise the team to produce anything like consistent results and few expected a transformation when Ben Stokes, an exciting player able to change matches in moments with bat or ball, took on the captaincy and Brendon McCullum, a former New Zealand captain with no Test match coaching experience, became coach.

But there appears to have been a real meeting of the minds between Stokes and McCullum as the England team has notched up nine victories in 10 matches since June, compared with losing 10 and winning just one of their previous 14 matches. This week the team has capped a remarkable year with an unprecedented 3-0 series victory in Pakistan. And, no doubt much to the envy of England’s rugby fans, it is not just the wins, it is the manner of them. Hard as this may be to imagine for non-followers, much of the cricket has been thrilling and there have been strong performances throughout the team, which is not a lot changed from the one Stokes and McCullum took over.

What has changed, however, is the mindset. Stokes and McCullum both exude positivity. McCullum was an aggressive player, like Stokes, before becoming a coach and the two of them have managed to inculcate that in their squad. Professional athletes have more doubts and concerns than people realize and the two men have embraced that by assuring the players that they believe in them and encouraging them to do things that perhaps they themselves did not think they could — at least not in real matches rather in training exercises. Both Stokes and McCullum have talked frequently of removing the fear element and — in a demonstration of the consistency of thought and communication that is the mark of a good leader of any sort — Stokes was at it again in the wake of the latest victory. "You make better decisions when you are not tentative. No one is worried about getting out. You don't accept getting out but you accept getting out is part of batting. Releasing that fear of failure is why we are getting results,” he said.