Category Archives: Motivation

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Leadership lessons from football

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“Our brand is the experience beneficiaries [customers] have when they partner with us.” Fredrick Gori, Kenya Red Cross.

Football, or soccer, is a beautiful game. Yes it is. The world’s most popular sport provides a valuable ‘high’ for its most ardent supporters. One minute you will be drop-dead ecstatic and crest-fallen the very next. It is a roller-coaster experience.

Such was my experience last Sunday as I watched my favorite team spin dribbles past their opponents.  The pundits had it that the game was a clear win for the ‘Red Devils’, as Manchester United are fondly called. Some had written off Norwich City and goals were expected to flow, into the Norwich goal that is.

At 37, veteran Paul Scholes did just that on the  7th minute. The rout had began, the ecstasy… What followed was good football but no goals. Then the crest-fallen 83rd minute checked in. A touch, a squirm and a kick and Norwich equalized! The ensuing bedlam from the home fans was deafening. A giant had fallen.

The ‘Devils’ responded with wave after wave of attack, denied each time by a resolute Norwich City defense. All seemed lost until Ryan Giggs’ exquisitely side-footed the ball into the goal from brilliant lobe into the penalty area. Goal! At the 90th minute and on his 900th game for the ‘Devils’, aged 38 years.

In this game were four valuable lessons on leadership.

To be a leader, strive to remain an innovator-at-heart [TweetMe]. Scholes is renown for his thunderous shots from outside the 18-yard box. In this case, he deftly danced around the defenders, created some space for himself inside the penalty box and coolly slotted in a header from about 6 yards. A leader always finds a way to deliver the desired outcome even when obvious avenues are closed.

Get close to your opposition. Leadership is ensuring that you understand your competition [TweetMe]. Sometimes you will have to get uncomfortably close in order to move ahead, as Scholes adeptness displayed. In 1997, Microsoft invested US$150 million in Apple, including developing future versions of MS Office and other development tools for the Mac. It was understood that this was part of working out a long-standing dispute. The argument was that Microsoft’s operating system infringed some of Apple’s patents. The rest is history…

A foe, is a foe, and will remain a foe. As a leader, never underestimate your competition. No matter how weak a scrawny dog may look, it still has teeth, and can bite! Out of the blues, Norwich managed to outsmart the ‘Devils’ defense, score, and hold onto the draw until the very last minute of the game. Your competition will always strive to get a feather off your cap.

Finally, do not forget to win while you are at it. Great leadership is keeping at it regardless of the obstacles placed in your path [TweetMe]. The ‘Devils’ knew that a draw was not an option. If they were to remain leaders, they had to soldier on. And Giggs made sure of it, despite being the oldest man on the pitch, he got the winner. Leaders do not give up, they give hope.

“The actions of men are best interpreters of their thoughts.” John Locke

photo credit: Lordcolus via photopin cc

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Influence to be followed, pay at the door!

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest of souls, the most massive characters are seamed with scars…” E.H. Chaplin

What makes a movie a Hollywood blockbuster? Is it a multimillion budget? Do the celebrity actors count? The treasure chest and celebrity may help. But the real magic is in the work that goes on before that magical premier, before the record box office sales.

It is the scars; hard work, tears, despair and a strong will to succeed. It is the vision of the finished product and its effect on audiences. However, someone has to take that vision as his or her own. Someone has to sweat the details and navigate the mire that translates written script into eye-popping visuals and heart-pumping suspense.

You see, people follow those that add meaning to their existence, no matter how misconceived that may be. A leader is not necessarily the director of a great motion picture, but one who influences others to follow the big picture out of their own free will. The right people need to be “influenced” to bring a dream on paper to reality on the screen.

Leadership is about influence. For leadership to exist, then people perform an act because they want to, not because they have to. “You have achieved excellence as a leader when people follow you everywhere if only out of curiosity,” once noted Colin Powell.

But there is a price to pay! As John C. Maxwell points out in “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, true leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It must be earned. A title will not cut it here. Leadership is influence. “To be a leader, a person not only has to be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him, following his lead, and acting on his vision.” John C. Maxwell

Augustus, “the revered one”, the 1st Emperor of the Roman Empire clearly understood the power of influence. “In my sixth and seventh consulships [28-27 BC], after I had extinguished civil wars, and at a time when with universal consent I was in complete control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my power to the dominion of the senate and people of Rome… After this time I excelled all in influence [auctoritas], although I possessed no more official power [potestas] than others who were my colleagues in the several magistracies.” Res Gestae Divi Augusti 34.1-3

To be a great leader, you need to be able to extract loyalty from your followers of their own free will. On his deathbed, Augustus boasted “I found a Rome of bricks; I leave to you one of marble”.

The real leader is not the manager, entrepreneur, pioneer, knowledge geek, or “higher-up”. Position or leverage may help, but just. Influence will ensure you are in for the long haul.

Are you willing to pay the price? To become a better leader, become the influence that lights fire in people’s bellies, that they will to follow you “no matter what”. Because you are that difference…

“He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only talking a walk.”

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Leadership scratches a sore

“To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them,” Thomas Aquinas (medieval scholar).

My itch, Thomas does adeptly describe. The decision to take leadership is not one for the faint-hearted. Be forewarned, many pitfalls lie ahead. You will encounter cynics of magnanimous dimensions. Naysayers will line your rough path, baying for your blood.

But it is your choice to take action that drives you and those around you from mediocrity and are into excellence regurgitated. To lead is a verb; it is action brought to life. In fact, its definition is to “cause (a person or animal) to go with one by holding them by the hand, a halter, a rope, etc., while moving forward.”

A cancer that recurs across Africa is not leadership but the lack thereof. There are far too many people in high positions. The majority of these I would not refer to as “leaders”, as a leader takes “the initiative in an action; an example for others to follow.” Most cling to power that deceives them that they are leaders, while in real sense they lead their constituents astray.

However, solutions to Africa’s woes will only be resolved on the continent. “You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum!” is a soul grabber. We will have to pull ourselves out of the quagmire by our very own bootstraps. We have to own our problems, for us to appreciate the necessary solutions.

Like a shepherd, leadership requires you to be at the forefront, at the helm. Your followers expect you to scout for opportunities, while at the same time being on the lookout for danger and obstacles. Your followers expect your guidance to capitalize on the opportunities, and provide solutions to the danger and obstacles.

Are you just talking or getting things done? Are you part of the solution, or the arm that perpetuates problems? What are you doing to bring about a positive change?

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest of souls, the most massive characters are seamed with scars…” E.H. Chaplin

Be the change that matters…