The First 60 Days

The First 60 Days

The League Managers Association, St. George’s Park, National Football Centre, Newborough Road, Needwood, Burton upon Trent, DE13 9PD www.leaguemanagers.com The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of the League Managers Association, its members, officers or employees.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

4

Editor Alice Hoey | alicehoey1@gmail.com Editorial contributors for LMA Sue McKellar Mark Farthing Publisher Jim Souter | jim.souter@leaguemanagers.com Art Direction Luna Studio | www.lunastudio.co.uk Images © Shutterstock Icons – Luna Studio

CONTENTS 06

WELCOME

08

WHAT I KNOW NOW

12

THE TASK AHEAD

14 16 20 26

HARSH REALITIES SURVIVAL CHECKLIST RESEARCH & PREPARATION SELF-ASSESSMENT

32

FUNDAMENTALS

36 42 50 56 62 68 76 82

LISTEN AND EVALUATE FIRST COMMUNICATIONS DIGGING DEEPER STRENGTHENING TIES YOUR SUPPORT TEAM TIME MANAGEMENT STRESS AND PRESSURE A HEALTHY BALANCE

88

TIME TO ACT

92 98 104 112 118

TARGETS AND PLANS IMPLEMENTING CHANGE CONFLICT AND RESISTANCE RE-MOTIVATE AND ENGAGE TEAM DYNAMICS

124

THE CONTRIBUTORS

5

The First 60 Days

WELCOME

RICHARD BEVAN

Chief Executive, LMA

W

elcome to the LMA’s fifth leadership and personal development guide, produced by the LMA Institute of Leadership and High Performance.

The Institute’s aim is to develop the leadership and performance capacity of the managers, coaches and professional practitioners in the game, supporting them throughout their careers. Our unique offering is based on our working knowledge of the specific requirements of our members and the challenges they face in the modern game. We aim to help managers and coaches build the skills and resilience required to survive these challenges, to maximise their talent and be the best they can be.

The Institute provides tailored, relevant and effective, high-quality learning experiences, support services and resources, drawing on the insights and experiences of a world-class team of experts and facilitators from football, elite sport and other leadership disciplines. It also draws directly on the significant body of knowledge and experience of the LMA’s members.

This guide is focused on the most important part of your time at any club – the first 60 days. How you approach those vital first weeks in a new role, whether it’s your first job or your eighth, will set the foundations for your future success. The statistics on average tenures of managers across the leagues clearly demonstrate that time is a rare commodity in this profession, so making a positive impact quickly is essential.

6

Welcome

This guide has been developed through a programme of extensive research from across the LMA’s membership and is tailored specifically to the unique challenges of starting a new managerial role in football. In the guide you will find fascinating contributions from a number of our members and I would like to thank Sir Alex Ferguson CBE, Alex McLeish, Roy Hodgson, Walter Smith OBE, Chris Hughton, Peter Taylor, Jamie Fullarton, Steve Coppell, Danny Wilson and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for their time and insight. I would also like to thank our editor, Alice Hoey, for her continued dedication to the LMA’s publications and our trusted contributors, Prof Sue Bridgewater, Jeremy Snape, Dr Dorian Dugmore and Mark Procter, for sharing their expertise. A final thank you, also, to our Institute partners, whose contributions and support allow us to keep pushing the boundaries in what we offer to our members.

At the LMA we are continually guided by our values of being unified, respected and forward thinking. We have a passion for the game and are proud to work hard every day, aiming for excellence in everything we do.

We are committed to building the profession of football management and to investing in and retaining the talent that we have in the game.

7

The First 60 Days

WHAT I KNOW NOW

HOWARD WILKINSON

LMA Chairman

I

started managing in the 1970s and managed at seven clubs during a career spanning nearly 30 years. At Sheffield Wednesday I’ve been not only a manager but a fan, a player, a director and eventually chairman.

Looking back over that career, I can see that I made numerous mistakes and Iearned many lessons and I also witnessed enormous change in the profession of football management. Yet, despite the changes, certain things have always been critical for a manager to enjoy a long and rewarding career. The most important of these, and becoming more so, is to make a successful start.

How you perform in your first job as manager can make or break your career; you have to survive to succeed.

I started well in six of the clubs of which I was manager, achieving dramatic improvements in results and exceeding expectations, but in one I was less successful. There, my performance and mistakes were driven largely by frustrations about the job itself; I disregarded all I’d learned before and failed.

The lesson was an important one – don’t take a job at any price.

The first meetings you have with your new employer are very important here and, as far as is possible, you must try to dictate the agenda. These meetings are opportunities to start gaining respect and to introduce the ground rules that will be so important in establishing and cementing your position in the weeks and months ahead. Understanding and accepting the importance of your control over the areas that you have identified as crucial to performance will be key. ‘Control’ as opposed to ‘being controlling’ is one of the cornerstones of management success.

8

What I know now

Top managers come in all shapes and sizes, but there are common attributes that they share; traits that make them attractive to employers and improve their chances of career longevity. These managers find ways to win and understand how to mould players to successfully meet the demands of the competition. They win enough games to survive the early period and then build a reputation for reliability and leadership, earning respect and status along the way.

To succeed, and therefore enjoy a long tenure and career, you have to be a great leader with the ability, tenacity and resilience to make your vision a shared reality for all. You must go to work every day believing that you will be at that club until you decide to leave, yet understanding that the next day could be your last.

A clear picture of agreed achievable goals and your strong clear values is imperative to developing the players’ trust, respect and belief in you. Detail is important, but getting bogged down in it can be fatal. Ultimately, you will need to keep your head when all around you are losing theirs to ensure that problems and solutions are identified and crises eliminated.

9

The First 60 Days

LMA MEMBER INSIGHTS This guide, like much of the learning provided through the LMA Institute of Leadership and High Performance, would be nothing without the unique insight of the LMA’s members.

We would like to sincerely thank each of the managers here for their time and honesty in sharing their experiences.

10

STEVE COPPELL

SIR ALEX FERGUSON CBE

JAMIE FULLARTON

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

ROY HODGSON

CHRIS HUGHTON

ALEX MCLEISH

WALTER SMITH OBE

PETER TAYLOR

DANNY WILSON

11

THREE MEALS A DAY BECAME TWO, THEN ONE, UNTIL I WAS LIVING OFF SUGAR AND CAFFEINE. EXERCISE WENT TO THE BOTTOM OF MY LIST, BECAUSE SUDDENLY EVERYONE WANTED FIVE MINUTES OF MY TIME. JAMIE FULLARTON

THE TASK AHEAD 14 16 20 26

HARSH REALITIES SURVIVAL CHECKLIST RESEARCH & PREPARATION SELF-ASSESSMENT

The First 60 Days

HARSH REALITIES (SPRING 2017)

CURRENTLY

65

first-time managers have been appointed since the start of the 2012/13 season

20 58

1.29 YRS

managers were dismissed in the 2015/16 season

first-time managers in the 92 clubs

average tenure of dismissed managers

DISMISSALS

37

37

the average tenure of which was

first-time managers have been dismissed since the start of the 2012/13 season

0.94

YRS

average number of games managed by a dismissed first-time manager

AGE

41

YRS

average age of a first-time manager on appointment

+50

YRS

Only 5 first-time managers were appointed over the age of 50

RE-APPOINTMENT

32

%

of first-time managers dismissed since 2012/13 have found another job in professional football management

4 14

9

of the 29 managers dismissed more than a year ago have been appointed again

of the 63 first-time manager appointments since the start of the 2012/13 season have been BAME

The Task Ahead

37

FIRST-TIME APPOINTMENTS

BY LEAGUE SINCE NOV 12

4 10 21 30

first-time managers have achieved promotions since the start of the 2012/13 season

PREMIER LEAGUE

2/63

CHAMPIONSHIP

LEAGUE ONE

LEAGUE TWO

Only 2 out of 63 first-time managers have been transferred from one club to another

FIRST-TIME MANAGERS WERE IN THE TOP 10 LONGEST SERVING (as at 23rd July 2016)

2016-2017

managers dismissed within the first 6 months (Average League position of those dismissed was 20TH) managers dismissed within the first 2 months PREMIER LEAGUE managers dismissed within 6 months CHAMPIONSHIP managers dismissed within 6 months LEAGUE ONE managers dismissed within 6 months LEAGUE TWO managers dismissed within 6 months

2015-2016

managers dismissed within the first 6 months

15 (Average League position of those dismissed was 17TH) 0 managers dismissed within the first 2 months PREMIER LEAGUE managers dismissed within 6 months

5 CHAMPIONSHIP managers dismissed within 6 months 5 LEAGUE ONE managers dismissed within 6 months LEAGUE TWO managers dismissed within 6 months

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The First 60 Days

SURVIVAL CHECKLIST BEFORE YOU START

QUESTIONS & NEXT STEPS

Research the structure, strategy and stakeholders of the club (do a SWOT analysis)

Identify the key decision makers and influencers at the club – build a stakeholder map Does the club’s strategy fit with your football philosophy?

What advance planning can you do towards meeting those goals?

Are the expectations of those stakeholders realistic and mutually acceptable?

Make an initial assessment of the state of the club and its potential problems

What further facts will you need to ascertain when in the role? What questions will you need to ask and to who?

Consider your support team

Are you able to bring staff with you and, if so, what are the pros and cons of doing that?

If not, is there research you can do on your future staff or can you meet with them in advance of starting in the role?

Consider your core strengths and the reasons you got the job

Draw confidence from those strengths Think about which of your core strengths might help you to score some quick wins

Crystallise your philosophy and ethos

What behaviours and principles will form the bedrock of your leadership?

How will you communicate and demonstrate these values early on?

16

The Task Ahead

WITHIN TWO OR THREE DAYS QUESTIONS & NEXT STEPS Continue to build your stakeholder map

Use this to prioritise meetings with the key decision makers and influencers What are the expectations internally and externally?

Meet with your support team, one-to-one and as a group

Establish roles and responsibilities Ask questions, observe and listen – paint a picture of why the club is in its current situation, the mood and core issues Think and talk positively; look forwards rather than backwards Articulate your vision and expectations in terms of behaviours and values

Meet with your players

Ask questions, observe and listen – who will engage easily with your plans and who might show resistance?

Who are the dissenters and how might you deal with them?

Who might be your ambassadors for change and be most helpful in achieving it?

Articulate your vision and expectations in terms of behaviours and values

Manage your time and workload

Minimise distractions and focus on one thing at a time Which tasks can you delegate or ask for help with?

Who can you entrust and with which tasks and how can you get the best from them?

Minimise feelings of stress and remain in control of your performance and decision making

Focus on the things within your control and influence Keep some perspective

17

The First 60 Days

WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK

QUESTIONS & NEXT STEPS

Finalise your assessment of the state of the club, its strengths, weaknesses and potential

What can you build on and what will you need to change?

Who within the club can help you to achieve this?

What skills gaps exist in your support and playing teams and how might you fill them?

Make a list of priorities

What will help you get positive results in the short term?

Communicate your plans and objectives clearly and simply

Back up your evaluation and plans with evidence where possible What will be the next steps, how will you measure progress and what might be the rewards for getting there?

Set realistic short-term goals for the team and for individuals Paint a picture or tell a story that the whole team can get behind

Identify the strengths and weaknesses in your playing team

Who can help you most to achieve results quickly and who might hold the team back in the short term?

Who fits within your model, who can you work with and who may need to go in the short or medium term?

Keep training sessions fresh and enjoyable

What can you do to show your players they have turned over a new leaf?

Can you try something new to reinvigorate the team?

Deal with conflict and resistance

Show empathy and understanding, but also authority and decisiveness Let people know their individual roles in the team’s plans Make tough decisions if need be

Aim to instil a winning mindset

Seek to change the view from a fear of failure to an excitement around the future

Establish a healthy work routine that you and your staff can stick to

Build regular breaks and lunch into the day to refresh mental and physical energy

18

The Task Ahead

WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH

QUESTIONS & NEXT STEPS

Review the team’s progress and your processes with your support staff

Amend your plans or processes if need be Convey evidence of progress to your team members and reward them

Focus on togetherness and confidence

Reward team effort rather than results Organise exercises or activities that require team members to work together Identify commonalities and build on that

Develop a plan and priorities for the medium term

Map out the change process, with realistic goals and stepping stones Who do you need to communicate this to at this stage and in how much detail?

Communicate with your stakeholders

What progress have you made and what evidence can you provide to back that up?

What would help you to move forward more quickly?

19

The Task Ahead

RESEARCH AND PREPARATION Some of the most valuable work you can do to succeed happens before you even set foot in the club as its manager. Thorough research and external assessment of the job and the club is essential.

Words: Prof Sue Bridgewater

W

hether it happens before or after your appointment, it pays to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. You need to know that you are the right man or woman for the job, that you understand what will be expected of you in the role and that your plans for the club match those of the chief executive, the board and the fans.

Do you know why the club is in its current situation and how it is set up?

Do you really understand what you’re entering into and the scale of the challenge ahead and are you as certain as you can be that you are the right fit?

Piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of the strategy, structure and stakeholders of the club will be key to your success.

21

The First 60 Days

Some managers, of course, are appointed so quickly that they discover too late things that might have changed their view of the task in hand or even led them to turn down the role. Others take the view that with only 92 league manager jobs up for grabs, any role is worth the experience and the risk.

But even here, thorough research before starting the job is invaluable, as it enables you to hit the ground running once you’re in place as the manager. You can speak with authority, confidence and decision right from the start, rather than appearing to be lacking in preparation and direction.

As a new manager, it won’t only be the results on the pitch that matter; you will also need to manage upwards and have a sound understanding of the people who employ you and the interests of the various stakeholders. You will need to build successful relationships with those who have the power to hire and fire you and the insights that you gain through your analysis may help you to reflect on how to do that.

THINK IN INK Rather than holding your analysis of the strategic challenges facing the club in your head, it’s a good idea to put it down in writing. You may then choose to keep those findings and thoughts to yourself, but it can help to work through elements of your analysis with those you trust in your support team.

There is a range of tools and frameworks, tried and tested across all fields of management and leadership, that can provide greater objectivity here, these being some of the most popular: SWOT ANALYSIS Looking at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) is a useful way to build a quick checklist of areas that need to be addressed.

It encourages broader thinking on the situation of the club and reminds you of what is good and can be developed, and what is bad.

22

The Task Ahead

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS Here, stakeholders are plotted on a grid according to their power and their stake in the club (i.e. what they are interested in and how much they are interested in it). For example, an owner might have invested a lot of money, which gives them an economic stake and a lot of influence, but they may or may not have an interest in football or much understanding of the game. An individual fan, meanwhile, might want you to win games, get promoted and avoid relegation and, while on their own they don’t have much influence, collectively they may do.

STRATEGIC OPTION ANALYSIS nce you have considered who the various stakeholders are and what interests O them, map the extent to which each of them is supportive or resistant to you compared with how influential they are. A powerful and resistant stakeholder is definitely something you need to be aware of. For example, the fans, media or one of the directors may seem not fully onside with you. Someone supportive, such as a director you already know, might be used as a bridge or ally to help influence others who you know less well.

Do as much homework as you can in advance so that you can quickly be on familiar terms with everyone you’re working with. The process of putting together a presentation for interview – in particular, your research into the players – can be invaluable.

CHRIS HUGHTON

Gain as much information about the club as possible before you start, whether that’s from the media, your contacts at the club or through others who know it well. Don’t however go in with preconceptions, because they may not be entirely accurate and there will still be surprises. Don’t jump to conclusions too early.

WALTER SMITH OBE

23

The First 60 Days

RELATIONSHIP FRAMEWORKS There are a number of frameworks that can help you to analyse particular relationships and think about how best to improve and develop them. One of the best of these is SMART outcomes, which encourages you to consider five areas:

S

pecific – What is it you are trying to improve? You might, for example, like to get to know the owner better or find a way of getting the director of football to share your vision.

M

easurable – How will you know if you are making progress towards your aim? A measure of how well you are getting to know the owner, for example, might be that you now have a weekly conversation by phone.

A

ligned – How closely does this person or group of people think along similar lines; do they also want the relationship to improve? If not, or just a little, it will be a harder challenge.

R

ealistic – Your time is limited, so be honest with yourself about whether your goal is possible. Perhaps, for example, the person you are trying to build a relationship with is too strongly opposed to you and your vision. You might be better off spending your time on relationships that are easier to improve.

T

imebound – Over what timescale will you judge and review your goal?

It’s usually best to aim for shorter-term improvements, but you could try to review the situation by the end of the first 60-day period.

Ultimately, the model or method you choose will be down to personal preference, but the key message is that you should always keep in mind the big picture.

Use any opportunity to reflect and make use of the strategic toolkit at your disposal so that you aren’t blindsided by something that could, at a later time, put you at a disadvantage – something that may have been staring you in the face right from the start.

24

The Task Ahead

STEVE COPPELL It’s now possible to do plenty of research in advance of a new position, including watching lots of recent games. Then, when you get to the club you can begin to form a picture of the dressing room – who has influence and whether that’s positive or negative – and you may have to make some difficult decisions.

The priority in the first days should be getting to know as many people as possible as well as possible, and gaining as much knowledge as you can. While it’s nice to have some input and feedback from other people, you have to interpret the information you’ve gathered yourself and come to your own conclusions. Be hungry for knowledge, including about people up and down the chain, because it will help you to understand the club better and give you the insight you need to make the best decisions for the future.

Try to remember that you’re getting paid to get good results, so don’t get distracted by what’s going on with the U12s, for example, if you have a match on Saturday. You only have a limited amount of time, so focus on what you’ll be judged on.

Managing upwards is incredibly important. You have to understand what the expectations of the key decision makers are, what their interpretation of success is, and what their understanding of the club’s past problems is. You will have to come to a mutual understanding on expectations from the start. I’ve had really good relationships with chairmen and owners in the past and believe these relationships to be the most important in the club.

25

The Task Ahead

SELF-ASSESSMENT Once you’ve done your external audit it’s time to look inside and examine what core strengths and knowledge you can bring to the job. Crystallising your leadership style, vision and philosophy will be a priority.

Words: Alice Hoey

T

he process of considering and applying for a new role should always include a period of self-assessment, because you will need to ascertain that you are the right fit for the job and the club. However, even after you have accepted the position such reflection is essential.

The first reason for this is that in order to succeed in the first 60 days you’ll need to pick the low-hanging fruit and score some early wins. That means knowing what your strengths are and, having performed your assessment of the situation and needs of the club, where you can apply them to maximum effect.

Perhaps, for example, you’ve identified that one of the pressing issues is a lack of clear direction among the players. If you already know that you’re an engaging speaker and can communicate complex information with clarity then play that card early on.

27

The First 60 Days

It may help to make a written list and then compare what’s on it with the issues that need to be addressed in the club. Where does the supply and demand match up?

SELF-ASSESSMENT How, though, do you know what your core strengths are? Seeking the opinions of an inner circle of trusted advisers, people who know you well and whose opinions you value, can be helpful here to separate fact from conjecture.

Coaches and mentors are ideal for this, particularly those who are not dependent on you in any way and who you trust to be open, honest and not conflicted in their opinions.

There are also formal tools for understanding yourself, your preferences, strengths and weaknesses, one of the most popular being psychometric testing. Many players, coaches and managers in sports and business are already finding these tests helpful when used in conjunction with their own experience and intuition. Types of psychometric testing that you may come across include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Strength Deployment Inventory, Insights and the 16PF test.

The second reason for self-assessment is that you must be aware of and be able to manage any weaknesses before they manage you. Once you have identified those areas where you lack confidence or experience, try to prioritise them in terms of your immediate survival and seek to develop them while you have the chance. You may have little time to do so when you’re in the thick of it.

Best practice and the competitive landscape are always changing, so the worst thing a leader can do is assume that what has worked before will always be enough. Re-assess your skills and approaches and consider whether they need a revamp in the context of your new situation. If so, what information and support might help you to do that?

28

The Task Ahead

You have to focus on what you do best – how you want to play, the type of training sessions you want to hold and so on – and then be confident in that. These strengths are the reasons you got the job in the first place, so don’t forget or veer away from them.

CHRIS HUGHTON

VISION AND BELIEFS The third reason why self-assessment is essential to success early on is that, while there are many different paths to success, what links all great managers is the clarity of their values and beliefs. Research over the past 30 years has shown that the most important characteristics that followers want from their leaders are honesty and authenticity. Ultimately, they want to know what their leader stands for and to see that their actions and words match up.

A period of reflection and self-assessment will help you to crystallise what kind of leader you are and what values and beliefs you hold dear. Those values will be the bedrock of your behaviour, and so in turn that of your team.

Your passion and vision and your ability to turn that vision into reality are critical when trying to successfully implement any necessary changes. This demands that you have a very clear view of the future you want to see; you must know exactly what you want to put in place, why and how. Great managers recognise that without this ability to constantly keep one eye on the horizon they will always be getting bogged down, and limited by, what is happening day to day.

29

The First 60 Days

It’s the manager’s responsibility to provide a framework that gives the players the best chance to improve, perform and succeed, individually and collectively. That requires you to have a very clear picture of the team and players you want to develop, while always being prepared to adapt this ideal to what is possible and to the needs of each game.

How well you can make such adjustments will also depend on how firmly you stand by your own ideas and approach, how passionate you are about your chosen direction and how well you have communicated this to your team.

YOUR STYLE There are multiple styles of leadership and no right or wrong way. Indeed, some research suggests that it’s best to adapt your leadership style to the situation. Ultimately, though, your style must be a natural part of you, so while it is valuable to take inspiration from others, don’t waste time figuring out how to lead like someone else. Spend time thinking about what you’re like at your engaging best and practise being that way. Often, style matters less than whether your leadership has substance and depth, and whether it is grounded firmly in beliefs and values.

30

The Task Ahead

8 LEADERSHIP STYLES Leader-member exchange – Involves a tendency to exchange favours with individuals in the team, to build trust and gain influence.

Laissez faire – A somewhat hands-off style, with minimum direction, this relies on the competence and motivation of the team.

Situational leadership – Leaders tend to have a dominant style, but research has found we would be more effective if we adjusted our styles to the situation and people we’re dealing with.

Strategic leadership – Practised by some military forces and large corporations, this style focuses on the need to out-fox the competition.

Facilitative leadership – Uses indirect means of communicating instructions and directions to help the group reach a consensus, rather than being directive.

Servant leadership – Focuses on putting the needs of the followers first, with emphasis on positive values such as trust, honesty and fairness.

Coaching – A leadership style for those who are natural teachers.

The focus is on improving the knowledge and skills of others.

Autocratic – The emphasis here is on control and how much control should be given to members of the team.

31

AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE GET TO KNOW EACH PLAYER ONE-TO-ONE AND EXPLAIN WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE AND HOW THEY FIT INTO THEM. CHRIS HUGHTON

FUNDAMENTALS 34 36 42 50 56 62 68 76 82

INTRODUCTION LISTEN AND EVALUATE FIRST COMMUNICATIONS DIGGING DEEPER STRENGTHENING TIES YOUR SUPPORT TEAM TIME MANAGEMENT STRESS AND PRESSURE A HEALTHY BALANCE

The First 60 Days

Culture matters

LIKELIHOOD OF JOB TURNOVER IN AN ORGANISATION

15

%

believe their firm’s corporate culture is where it needs to be

>50%

Strong

Weak

company culture

company culture

13.9%

48.4%

of people think corporate culture influences productivity, creativity, profitability and growth rates

Source: Columbia University

How we communicate

70-80

%

of your day is engaged in communication

55

Studies suggest we remember

%

17-25

of your day is spent listening

%

of what we listen to

The power of happiness HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY

+31%

x

3

93

%

of communication occurs via facial expressions and tone

7

%

of what we communicate is said to be done through words

INCREASE IN CREATIVITY

+37%

HIGHER SALES

Source: Happiness at Work survey, new economics foundation

34

Fundamentals

PACE YOURSELF Words: Alice Hoey

T

o a large extent, how successful you are early on rests on your ability to prioritise what really matters. It will determine how well you manage your time, how focused you are on your decision-making and how quickly you can get the basics right and so move on to longer-term plans.

Steve Coppell neatly sums this up when he says, “There are so many demands on you minute by minute that you can’t be thinking about what might happen weeks from now. You have to compartmentalise and prioritise on a daily basis.”

Given that it’s you as the manager that will bear the brunt of any poor results during your first 60 days, it’s only natural that you’ll want to do and solve everything yourself, probably all at once. But, admirable though this is, it’s likely also to prove counter-productive. Even if you manage to avoid physical burnout, everything from your decision-making and relationship-building to mental performance may suffer. Now more than ever, your team needs to see you calm, confident and in control, so if you need to do some artful delegation then do it, and if you need to say ‘no’ occasionally then say it.

“I was 32 when I first got the opportunity to manage and I started off wanting to do everything at once; I wanted to rule the world,” recalls Sir Alex Ferguson CBE. “You learn quickly, though, to be more patient and not to stretch yourself too far; think about what’s within your reach.”

In this section, we cover some of the tasks and considerations that can’t be put on the back-burner and the skills, such as time management, listening and strengthening ties, that will help you to achieve them more effectively.

35

Fundamentals

LISTEN AND EVALUATE As soon as you have joined a club you’ll need to learn the ropes quickly and form a plan of action. That can only happen through an intense period of observation, asking the right questions and, perhaps most importantly, listening.

Words: Alice Hoey

A

s the new manager it’s likely you’ll have been tasked with some pretty big objectives – perhaps reversing a downward slide or realising the potential in a team that is failing to live up to expectations. To have a hope of achieving these goals you’ll need to find answers to some fundamental questions. What are the key problems seen as internally and externally? What is proving effective and what isn’t?

Who is driving the team forward and who is holding it back? How well do the existing processes and behaviours fit with your own values and ideals?

The quicker you can get clarity on these and other key areas the quicker you can formulate a plan and the quicker you can start seeing results. In short, a swift and effective initial assessment of the situation will greatly enhance your chances of success.

37

The First 60 Days

BE PROACTIVE The first thing to keep in mind is that every organisation is unique, with a distinct character and culture, modus operandi and its own people. Even if you have worked in a number of clubs before or have held a variety of roles, you should never make assumptions about the organisation you are going to. Instead, try to bring whatever experience you have to your new situation while keeping an open mind.

As we’ve already seen, thorough research and preparation before you start a role is essential, but that shouldn’t mean that you go into the job with preconceptions or rigid ideas about how things are and what needs to happen.

You can only make decisions based on the information you have, so from the moment you walk through the door you will need to watch, listen and digest to ensure you have what you need to move forward.

Asking lots of the right questions in the early days is vital here, because while people will want to help you they won’t necessarily know what is useful or new information. Rather than expecting people to seek you out, be proactive and use the early days to really dig down and get to grips with how the club and its people work. It’s far easier to ask questions at the beginning of a tenure than further down the line when people will assume you know the lay of the land.

The early meetings you have with people will give you some valuable information about everything from the club’s culture and current situation to the mood. Think carefully about what you want to ask each person and avoid asking leading questions in an attempt to verify your suspicions or preconceptions. Try also to get a variety of perspectives on each issue, so avoid seeking the opinions of lots of people with very similar roles or challenges.

38

Fundamentals

TAKING IT IN Listening might seem an intuitive thing, but actually many of us could get much more from our interactions by improving our listening skills. For example, good listening requires keen focus on what the other person is saying, and so other distractions should be minimised. Phones and computers should be out of sight or asleep and conversations should ideally take place in quiet spaces where they won’t be interrupted.

Really hone in on what the other person is saying, rather than allowing your mind to pre-empt them or to think about your possible reply. Making eye contact during a conversation shows the other person that they have your undivided attention, while nodding indicates that you’re digesting what they are saying.

There’s also a skill in taking in the other person’s non-verbal communication, as silences and body language can give us valuable clues about how they are feeling and what they are not putting into words. If you sense, for example, that the other person is uncomfortable sharing their worries with you or talking about a particular issue, you can try to reassure them and put their concerns to rest. Empathy is important here, so put yourself in the other person’s shoes and do your best to see things from their point of view. Try to find some common ground.

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The First 60 Days

Every job is totally different and will need a different approach at the start, so you have to make sure you are flexible.

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

Senior players always have an opinion. It’s not always positive, but it’s always worth listening to.

DANNY WIL SON

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Fundamentals

MAKING YOUR ASSESSMENT From this process of listening and evaluating you will start to build a picture of the mood at the club and the reasons behind it. Is it purely the team’s recent results that are impacting on morale or are there deeper issues at play? How might you use that information to re-motivate and re-engage the team?

You will also have a better understanding of the mix of personalities around you, perhaps identifying which of your staff or players are most forceful in their opinions, who wields most influence and who could be useful ambassadors for your ideas.

You will get a better sense of which issues need to be prioritised and how your strengths could be used to score some early wins. And you will discover what and who jars against your personal ethos and your football philosophy.

Can these mismatches be managed or will you need to build changes into your short-term plans?

While time will be a precious commodity in your first days in the job, making assumptions or rushing into snap decisions based only on advance research or superficial information can be counter-productive. Take time to thoroughly evaluate the situation by talking, listening and digesting all of the information available and you will be in the best possible position to make a plan that everyone can get behind.

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FIRST COMMUNICATIONS How well you are able to communicate your plans, hopes and expectations to your players, support staff, board and the media will impact both on their perception of you and their willingness to follow your lead.

Words: Alice Hoey

D

uring your first days in the job you will have the opportunity to address many of the people on whom, ultimately, your chance of success will rest.

You will give your first press interview or conference, speak with your playing and support teams and meet with the board, and the words you use in each of these situations will set the scene on your leadership. For those on the receiving end it is a window into who their new manager is, what you want and how you’ll go about achieving it.

Clearly then, these situations are worthy of some serious consideration.

In fact, effective communication always takes careful planning and preparation.

Even those people you might consider to be natural communicators will take time to think about what they’re going to say, where and how they are going to say it and even what they are going to wear when they do so.

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The First 60 Days

WHERE TO START? For each situation think first about who your audience is, what they are expecting from you and what they want to get out of it. Are they desperate for some clarity of vision and a solid plan, for example? Are they hoping to get to know you better as a person and a manager? Are they testing the water on your passion and commitment? Perhaps they don’t want to hear you at all, they simply want you to listen to their feelings and ideas. Everything from your key messages to where and how you speak needs to be tailored to these considerations.

Deciding on a time and place is a good starting point, because in most cases you will be in control of where and when you address your audiences. Whether it’s a quick first catch up with your head coach or a more formal media briefing, make sure the stage and time suit you.

Consider the content of your messaging and who you want to be party to that; is there the potential for conflict or resistance and, if so, would a private meeting be preferable? A formal setting may be effective in conveying professionalism and show that you’re down to business, while a more relaxed environment can help to make those present feel at ease and open to sharing their thoughts with you.

What you say will, of course, depend on the situation, but there are some important fundamentals to remember, whoever you’re addressing. For example, with everyone’s hopes and expectations on you, it might be tempting to promise great things, but it’s important to keep your messaging grounded in reality.

Maintain a positive tone, and be ambitious and confident, but avoid making promises you may not be able to keep.

If there are important messages to get across or you have a lot to remember, practise on your own or with trusted colleagues beforehand. Do this enough times that what you want to say becomes natural, but not robotic.

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Always be gracious about the club’s former manager or staff, however difficult the situation is that you’ve been left with. While it’s fine to acknowledge any barriers or challenges that the team is facing, the focus should be on the future. Don’t make excuses for the past or for your future chances of success and try not to get drawn into discussions of the club’s wider issues; focus instead on what you’re there to achieve with the team.

Early on in the role, much of your communication will be around your vision and plans for the club, so do this with passion and clarity. You should already have agreed expectations and goals with the board, so now is the time to drill down to the hows and whens, outlining the first steps on the journey and the potential rewards for reaching them.

Remember to listen as well as talk, especially when meeting your players and staff individually for the first time. These opportunities should be about getting to know one another, answering any concerns and questions and conveying to them how much you value and are depending on them to achieve the team’s goals.

When you meet with the team as a group, choose your words carefully, especially if you have not long made the switch from player to manager. It’s important that lines are drawn early on and that they see and respect you as their leader, rather than one of the lads. You may also be eager to share everything with them, but it’s important to pace yourself. It is far better that their first real experience of you is short, motivational and inspirational than long and tedious.

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The First 60 Days

CONFIDENT COMMUNICATIONS The content of your communications is important, but often the words don’t matter as much as the emotion and humility that comes with them. In other words, it’s not so much about the words themselves but how they make people feel. It’s important, therefore, that you approach each situation with authenticity, confidence and authority. Authenticity essentially means being yourself and staying true to the values and beliefs that you focused on during your self-assessment. Great leaders are able to flex their styles to suit each situation, but they remain themselves at all times.

Authenticity comes more easily, though, when you feel confident in yourself, which in turn enables you to speak with authority. You can bolster your selfconfidence by reflecting on how far you’ve come and on all your personal and professional achievements along the way, however small. Remind yourself, too, of the strengths and weaknesses that you identified during your selfassessment process and the reasons that you were given this opportunity to manage in the first place.

Facing people and making eye contact with them also helps to give an air of confidence, authority and authenticity to your words, as does ensuring your body language is right. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy found that when people deliberately open up their bodies, with shoulders back and chin up, they not only appear more confident but feel it too.

5 WAYS TO SHOW CONFIDENCE Stand with your chest and arms open rather, than closed across the body Smile and make eye contact Use the space around you, rather than standing rigidly on the spot Use your hands to support your messages, perhaps by counting out key messages or pointing to screens Make natural positive gestures, such as nodding and making open hand gestures to engage people in your story

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Introduce yourself to everyone, give them your outlook and vision for the club and, if there’s an immediate problem to be overcome, broach it. I’ve never been one to lay everything out right at the start.

It’s important to take a little time to settle in, rather than rushing in and trying to do too much too soon.

WALTER SMITH OBE

It’s likely the side you’re now leading isn’t doing terribly well, so the players will have a lot going on. I therefore try to keep things simple at the start, giving clear instructions and achievable targets, and make sure they understand what’s expected of them.

DANNY WIL SON

LOOK THE PART How you dress can also impact on how confident and authoritative you appear.

Your attire may vary according to the situation, but you should be consistently tidy. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to think about what those around you will be wearing, while always aiming for a look that is in keeping with who you are as a person. No one feels or looks confident when they don’t feel at home in their own clothes.

Finally, pay attention to how you speak, as confidence tends to be exuded by an even, steady tone. Avoid trailing off or drifting upwards at the end of each sentence, as it can appear that you are questioning or doubting your words and make sure you finish each sentence. Don’t rush what you want to say, as it may make you appear nervous or defensive, and don’t be afraid of silence; it can actually convey quiet confidence and ease.

The first opportunities you have as a new manager to communicate with the various stakeholders in the club are hugely important, so take them seriously.

By preparing and practising until you feel that you can speak with confidence it will ensure that you convey all the right messages and enable you to do so in the most natural way possible.

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The First 60 Days

Whatever you say to the press and other stakeholders it needs to come from your personality. I try to set out targets that are realistic and achievable, based on my initial assessment of the players.

ALEX MCLEISH

6 TIPS ON MEETING THE MEDIA Ask your press officer to brief you on all recent issues concerning the team and club so you’re better able to respond confidently and knowledgeably.

Ask them for an overview of the key journalists present – their names and who they work for.

Focus on the team and matters of football. Try to avoid getting drawn into club issues.

Be prepared to answer questions about your track record – good and bad – approach these diplomatically, especially when talking about your former employers.

This is your chance to get a message to the fans, so think carefully about what you want them to take away from it. Be passionate and show you care.

Remember that your players and the board will be watching, so use the opportunity to land some key points.

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ROY HODGSON It helps to bring someone with you who knows you and who can act as a sounding board, but I’ve never gone into a club demanding all my own staff. I’ve always worked alongside who is already there. Your staff are so important that the more information you can get from them and the better you can get to know them in the early days the better.

It can be a mistake to surround yourself with friends or people who think and work just like you. Ideally, you want people who will complement you, and your skills and abilities. They may not necessarily be the same kind of character as you.

Delegation is very important and to do it effectively you need people around you who you trust and who you know are good at their jobs. What’s important, though, is that everyone at the club feels their work is being appreciated.

There needs to be a strong team ethos, so they know they are working under a manager who cares about what they’re doing and who appreciates them.

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DIGGING DEEPER However much research you do before starting a job, it’s only when you begin to tread the corridors of your new club that you will really get under its skin. Understanding the club’s culture early on will be essential for your success as a manager.

Words: Prof Sue Bridgewater

W

e often hear of the importance of respecting an organisation’s culture, but what does that mean? Among the many definitions and ways of understanding organisational culture, perhaps the most commonly cited is McKinsey and Company’s ‘the way we do things around here’.

By digging deeper into what makes your new club unique, you may find positive elements – powerful stories of past success, links with the community and a focus on nurturing, for example – that will help you to motivate and refocus the team. And you will become aware of the long-held traditions that you will need to be sensitive to when making changes or introductions.

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The First 60 Days

Other parts of the culture, meanwhile, may not be so positive, and in your early weeks and months in the job you will need to look at how and to what extent it is possible to make subtle shifts for the better.

Over the years, a number of frameworks have been developed to help us understand organisational culture, one of the most frequently used being the Johnson and Scholes Cultural Web. It identifies six different dimensions of organisational culture: organisational structure, power structures, control systems, rituals and routines, stories and symbols. Assessing each of these areas during your first weeks and months in the job will give you an overall picture of the club’s culture.

1. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES This is what you might see on an organogram or organisational chart. It shows the different departments and functions, who reports to whom, and what the responsibilities are of different individuals within the club. These can vary quite widely from one club to the next.

2. POWER STRUCTURES The lines of responsibility and accountability will also often reveal how a club works. Some may be quite ‘flat’ in structure, with fewer reporting lines and levels within the hierarchy. This structure is often associated with innovative organisations, because with greater equality everyone has a voice.

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It’s great for the manager and the players – who will be from all around the country, if not the world – to go out into the community to understand the club’s culture and fans better. I’ve taken them everywhere from down mines to a baker’s shop to an army barracks.

DANNY WIL SON

It’s a tough thing to win a football match and you can’t do it unless everyone is behind the team. Unless everyone – even those in the offices – cares about the club it won’t work.

PETER TAYLOR

3. CONTROL SYSTEMS These are the measures and incentives that promote certain types of behaviour. In a sales environment, for example, bonuses might be offered for reaching targets. This might be a great way of boosting sales, but there can be negative impacts, such as a focus on gaining new customers above offering great service, and on short-term targets rather than long-term strategic issues. What are the incentives and measures of success in your club and how productive are they?

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The First 60 Days

4. RITUALS AND ROUTINES Your club may have developed habits, perhaps because techniques have been passed on over time or as a result of the power structures and control systems above. Many of these rituals and routines will be positive, but they can also be so rigid that they are a barrier to change and innovation. When introducing your own rituals and routines or other changes, you will need to tread carefully around these customs.

5. STORIES Every club has its stories, whether they’re funny social experiences or great stories about past successes and struggles. These stories, told to successive generations of team members, become part of the club’s lore and culture.

6. SYMBOLS The symbolic value of people and things may also be important in some clubs’ cultures, for example, pictures of past managers and players, framed certificates, trophies and photos of memorable events. These symbols stand for something beyond the actual picture or item; they often have an emotional significance for the club and are part of its culture.

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These six dimensions of organisational culture are not exhaustive; some clubs will have little that is unique here, while having other dimensions of their own.

However, it can help to open up the debate about what organisational culture is, what it means for a particular club, what is good, what is unique and what must be preserved even during change. This is important because, as a new manager, making changes and introducing new things too quickly and without due understanding of ‘how we do things around here’ can be disastrous.

Tools and frameworks of this kind can also help to explore whether areas of a club’s culture might be inhibiting innovation or excellence. It is important that, as the manager, you don’t underestimate the power of culture in striving for excellence, but also understand that it shouldn’t carry on regardless, never queried or challenged. Have you identified routines or structures that you believe to be negatively impacting on performance and, if so, how might you look to create a shift in that culture?

By digging deeper and getting to grips with each area of your new club’s unique culture, you may find ways to help engage, motivate and develop your new team.

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STRENGTHENING TIES Building relationships with those working in and with the club must be a priority when you join as manager, starting with those who have most influence and experience. Who can help you to succeed, what are the reporting lines in the club and how will you communicate with those up and down the chain of command?

Words: Mark Procter

W

ith so many people to speak to and so little time, it may be difficult to know where to start when looking to develop relationships and strengthen ties in your new club. Preparation and planning is, therefore, essential in order to identify who your key stakeholders are and how you might gain support for your plans.

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The First 60 Days

A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in your plans, so they include decision makers, people making recommendations, those whose support you need to implement your plans and those who are impacted by them.

A stakeholder map, which plots each person according to their relative influence and support, can be particularly helpful here (see Fig 1 opposite), as it allows you to visualise this wide range of people and see which relationships you’ll need to strengthen as a priority.

INFLUENCE AND SUPPORT When we think about influence in an organisation we tend to think about ‘positional influence’, reflecting seniority in the reporting line. There are other forms of influence, though, and in complex organisations such as football clubs it can be much more subtle. For example, some people may have ‘expert influence’, which comes from being a respected professional with experience; ‘gatekeeper influence’, from holding the key to a scarce resource such as money, facilities or people; ‘personal influence’, when people have a powerful energy or enthusiasm; or network influence, which comes from having great connections.

The other element you will want to assess early on is the relative support that you have from each stakeholder on a scale from resistant to neutral to supportive. How supportive someone is may be influenced by history – for example, if they were vying for your job or if they were closely aligned with the previous manager – or they may simply disagree with your ideas. While it may be tough to completely win the support of someone who is actively resistant to your plans, you should be able to strengthen your relationships with most stakeholders to at least a position of neutral.

Looking, then, at the stakeholder map opposite, you might not want to expend much effort on the person in the bottom-left corner (resistant, but low influence – the quiet dissenter), whereas it would be important to build your relationship with the person in the top-left corner (resistant, but powerful – someone who could undermine your plans). Perhaps you could use the two people in the top-right corner (powerful and supportive) to help strengthen your ties with the person in the top left.

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As there are a number of people in the bottom-right corner (supportive, but low influence), perhaps you could meet them as a group and try to get them to speak with one voice on your behalf to increase their influence.

Plan your strategy for building relationships carefully, because you’ll need to reach a critical mass of people in the club who are at least neutral before you can make progress with your plans.

INFLUENCE Often the most difficult, but important, relationships to build are upwards to the managing director or chairman and here your influencing skills will come into play. There are some simple rules of engagement to remember, which are useful across relationship-building situations.

When you are trying to influence someone, you are aiming to get commitment, not compliance, from them because, as the saying goes, ‘a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still’. Commitment is where the other person wants to do something for their own reasons, so you’ll need to approach influencing situations with a ‘win-win’ mindset, thinking about what’s in it for them. That means, before you try to get your view across you need to engage with the other person and understand their reasoning.

Figure 1 Each cross on the map represents a person in the club. In reality you would put the initials of each person on the map instead of a cross.

STRONG

INFLUENCE

x

xx xxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

x WE AK HIGHLY RESISTANT

NEUTRAL SUPPORT

HIGHLY SUPPORTIV E

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PLAN YOUR APPROACH Building strong relationships with key influencers and decision makers won’t happen on a whim; it takes careful planning. First you will need to know what your ideal outcome is. You may not be able to get everything you want from an initial meeting, so that outcome may simply be to get to know the other person better or to develop an agenda for a future meeting.

You will then need to understand the other person’s reasoning; try to see the situation through their eyes and consider what’s important to them?

What problems do they have and what’s on their priority list? What might their opinion of you be and why? Think also about their personal style – whether they make snap decisions and are to the point or slow and pondering – and their preferences for communication. Where and when are they most likely to be receptive to your ideas?

Next consider how you might both be able to come away from the meeting with what you want. Think about any issues and problems they may have and how your ideas might help to alleviate them and lead to mutual success.

Finally you will need to engage them and then handle whatever comes up as flexibly as you can. It is essential that you try to build rapport with them from the start, so look for any common ground you have personally or professionally.

It can help also to match their personal style, while still being true to yourself and avoiding mimicry. For example, if they talk fast and like to get to the point quickly, adapt to that style. Even the simplest attempts to demonstrate that you are with them and understand them will start to build the right climate for strengthening ties.

When you meet someone in person anything can happen, so the ability to think on your feet, be flexible and stay true to your own personality is key. By planning ahead, though, you are more likely to come out of such situations having achieved your desired outcomes.

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Build trust with the players as soon as possible, because they’re then more likely to buy into your philosophy. Trust and understanding between the manager and the owner and chief executive is also essential.

DANNY WIL SON

Managing up is very important because you have to keep people in the loop. Owners today tend to have a keen interest in what’s going on in their clubs, so it’s important to keep them well informed.

ROY HODGSON

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YOUR SUPPORT TEAM How closely and effectively you are able to work with the coaches, physios, communications staff and others around you will have a considerable bearing on your ability to make changes and informed decisions.

Words: Mark Procter

I

n your first 60 days in the job you’ll need to build a highly effective team, off the pitch as well as on it. A team is a group of people who have commonality of purpose and interdependency of working. In the absence of leadership, each member of a group will work in his or her own way, so it’s your job to create a shared ‘mental map’ for the team, a framework within which each member can perform.

The GRIP model (Goals, Roles, Interactions and Processes) is useful here in helping to define the key elements of this framework and ensure you’re covering them. Regular meetings with your support staff – where you’ll discuss all elements of the GRIP framework – will be essential during your first 60 days to keep things on track.

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GOALS AND ROLES For a team to function at its best there must be a clear goal that everyone can work towards together. Start with a short-term goal and then think about how that will create the foundation for achieving your medium and long-term objectives. Each individual in your team should also have their own goals and understand how these contribute to the objectives of the team as a whole.

The team’s purpose must also be clear. Why does it exist and what value is leveraged in the club from working well as a team? This discussion, which is often neglected, will help to bring the team together to deliver its goals.

The next thing to consider are the roles within the team, not only individuals’ functional roles and responsibilities, but also informal roles such as trusted adviser (see the GRIP model opposite). Other important informal roles can be particularly helpful in meetings, where individuals’ natural strengths should be employed.

Perhaps someone is best at chairing, for example, someone else is better at timekeeping and another is good at capturing meeting actions. These roles can be rotated, but all are essential to the effective management of a team meeting.

A mentor might give you their interpretation of a situation, but it’s the manager’s decision. It should never be a relationship where either side says, ‘I told you so’.

STE VE COPPELL

Often you’ll find that at least some of the existing coaches will stay on, so you have to find ways to get the best out of them and help them to feel part of the team.

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

If you’re going to ask for advice don’t ignore it. That doesn’t mean you have to follow it, but you should heed it. I didn’t initially want the job at St Mirren and I phoned Jock Stein for some advice, because I trusted his experience. He told me to go and sit in the stands and I’d know what to do.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON CBE

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INTERACTIONS AND PROCESSES The interactions element of the model refers to the dynamics of how the team works together. Successful working relationships take time to evolve and the early stages can be quite stormy as individuals in the team test out their ideas, work out how they fit into the team and assess one another’s strengths, weaknesses and level of commitment. This is quite normal and indeed essential if the benefits of team working are eventually to be realised. Trust needs to be developed and open and honest feedback will help this.

Finally, there is the importance of agreed processes within the team, because as quickly as possible team members need to be moving towards a set of norms for how it will operate. These processes include things like ground rules, decision making and problem solving, and monitoring. Setting some basic ground rules, such as use of mobile phones, punctuality and dress, can go a long way. Think about how team members will share progress and how often, and what the frequency, formality and function of monitoring will be.

The GRIP model Goals

Roles

• Purpose – why are we a team?

• Individual goals • Collective goals • Alignment

• Formal and informal • In meetings • On the job • Playing to strengths/development

Process

Interactions

• Meetings • Decision making and problem solving • Monitoring (frequency, formality and function) • Ground rules

• Is there trust?

• How do we relate to each other?

• How do we manage disagreement?

• Do we feedback to each other – positively and developmentally?

I never worry about whether staff members are better than me at something – they will be and that’s what you want.

You need to be able to trust them to get on with it.

DANNY WIL SON

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YOUR INNER CIRCLE For many managers, having the support of a second-in-command or trusted mentor in the early days of the job is invaluable. If you are keen that an assistant or other member of your staff remains with you in your new role, it’s essential that you are clear about this during your interview and make your case for bringing them to the club.

It may, however, not be possible and there are negatives as well as positives on both sides. For example, while your old team knows you and how you work, the staff already at the club understand its culture and modus operadi and so may be able to help you settle in more quickly. The existing team have the benefit of fresh eyes and a different perspective, but they may also have a lingering loyalty to the outgoing manager.

If you don’t bring staff with you, mentors or trusted advisers who are external to the club can provide some valuable support. Ideally this would be an experienced manager who has been through the first 60 days on more than one occasion and it would likely be a private arrangement you would make yourself.

There’s truth in the sayings, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ and ‘two heads are better than one’, because it is incredibly helpful to have a sounding board to bounce ideas off, support when you are feeling the pressure and even someone to act as devil’s advocate. Importantly, their role should never be to tell you what to do, but instead to guide and support you through the decisionmaking process.

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PETER TAYLOR When I start at a new club I always take into account why I’ve got the job and what’s happened there previously, but I look at the positives as well as the negatives. You really have to think about and respect the job of your predecessor – what they did, what success they had and why. You may find you have big shoes to fill.

Whatever the situation, these days you have to go into a club and win matches.

Even if you’re taking over a club that hasn’t won in ages and you know that change will take time, you’ll still need to win games in the short term.

I’ve never gone to a club demanding that I have certain staff. However, when you do have the opportunity to take people with you it’s very helpful because you know them and how they work and vice versa. You’ll trust each other from the start.

What’s more, it can be a lonely job at times and while you’re trying to be there for the players it helps to have someone there for you. In the past I’ve valued having an assistant manager who was older than me, because he’d been there, done that and so could help me get through it.

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TIME MANAGEMENT Faced with an avalanche of information, numerous pressing responsibilities and demands from all sides, you may feel like you’re fire-fighting the minute you step foot in the club. Solid organisation and time management skills will help you to remain in control amidst the chaos.

Words: Alice Hoey

H

owever much you’ve prepared for the job of manager, especially if it’s your first, the barrage of demands on your time may take you by surprise.

Aside from the many things you will want and need to think about and address, there will be people to meet, plans to make and problems to resolve. With so many balls in the air, it’s easy to let one drop and the results can be catastrophic.

The solution is not to work longer or try to shoehorn more and more work into your already packed day, but to work smarter. Building patterns, albeit flexible ones, into your day is a major part of this because it encourages you to be organised, focused and disciplined.

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You will need to create some structure, taking into account how you and your team work best, because mental energy needs to be managed as carefully as physical energy. Instead of ticking off the easiest, least demanding jobs first thing in the morning, it may be better to tackle the cognitive stuff early on when your brain is fresh and you’re energetic and motivated. Easier, more mundane jobs can then be saved for when you know your concentration starts to wane, which for many of us is mid-afternoon.

PRIORITISE Determining what is important right now, rather than trying to tackle everything at once, is also essential. You may want to please everyone and address every issue, but it’s likely you will simply spread yourself too thin to do justice to the key tasks at hand. Precious few of us are able to multitask effectively, so we end up doing lots of things below par or even dropping the ball entirely.

It can help to unscramble the thoughts in your head by writing them down and ordering them according to how urgent they are. Ask what needs to happen now to help the team win and what will help you get the outcome you need to survive. Ultimately, you may never get a chance to tackle the things that lie towards the bottom of your to-do list unless you first address those at the top.

Once you have your priority list, break any large tasks down into smaller pieces and allocate time slots to each to enable you to get the essentials done.

With everyone wanting a piece of your time it can be difficult to concentrate on one thing long enough to come to a calm and rational conclusion. Again, while the desire to please and to be accommodating will be strong, saying ‘yes’ to everyone and everything may be a mistake. Instead, prioritise meeting with those people you have identified as having influence and who can help you to meet your short-term objectives. Acknowledge everyone else graciously and plan to meet further down the line.

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STAY FOCUSED Meanwhile, minimise any other sources of distraction. For example, if you often find yourself slavishly checking emails and text messages, try actively disconnecting for periods each day when you most need to concentrate.

While there will be times when you need to be reachable, there will be others when you can justifiably switch off, enabling you to focus entirely on the key issues of the day.

Technology can help save time on many tasks, but be careful how and when you use it. For example, email is brilliant for many things, but if you need a quick resolution then nothing beats picking up the phone. Speaking in person will also help to strengthen relationships in a way that can’t be achieved in writing.

Incidentally, when you do send an email, studies suggest that those sent in the morning get a better response than those sent in the afternoon, evening or at the weekend. Leaving email communications until late in the day is likely to result in more rushed and less considered responses, both from you and the people responding to you.

When you move from being the assistant manager to being the manager, as I did, you suddenly have to give time and thought to things you didn’t have to before. You have to rely more on your staff and become comfortable with juggling the many aspects of the job.

WALTER SMITH OBE

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SHARE THE LOAD One of the most important time management skills for a new manager is delegation. You may feel especially proprietary over your work and responsibilities in the early days because you want to take ownership of them and prove yourself, but it’s important to loosen your grip.

Delegating some tasks to the team around you not only frees you up to think and act on the really important stuff, it is also the perfect opportunity to get to know those around you and to demonstrate your faith in their abilities. How they respond to the tasks you have given them and go about actioning them will be useful information as you move forward.

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5 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL DELEGATION Instead of trying to multi-task and so do nothing with total focus, try spreading the load.

Don’t be too proud – Asking for help is not an admission of defeat, nor does it mean you are shirking responsibility or have somehow mismanaged your time. Knowing your limits in terms of time and expertise is a key leadership trait. Pride, as they say, comes before a fall.

Be proactive – People are not mind-readers and they may not realise just how much pressure you are under and how, if at all, they can help.

Don’t delay and be direct about what you need.

Don’t be a dictator – There are often multiple ways to achieve a single objective and it is important not to enforce your own processes and methods unnecessarily. If you are going to trust someone to take responsibility for a task, let them get on with it in their own way.

You may even find their methods are better.

Be gracious – Some of the tasks that you delegate may be monotonous, time-consuming or even unpleasant. Don’t feel guilty about it, but also don’t take people’s help for granted. Be polite, gracious and considerate in your request, emphasising why you need their help and how valuable it is to you and the organisation.

Choose carefully – When you are overwhelmed with work and stress any help is welcome, but be careful who you turn to. Delegating to someone with the right skills or experience can be of huge value, but getting it wrong can backfire. You may find that you waste time repeating your instructions, correcting errors or redoing work that you’re unsatisfied with. It is also important to check what they would have been working on, as that will need to be put on the back-burner while they assist you.

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SIR ALEX FERGUSON CBE I was 32 when I first got the opportunity to manage and I wanted to do everything at once; I wanted to rule the world. You learn quickly, though, to be more patient and not to stretch yourself too far; think about what’s within your reach. Learning how to delegate was probably the most valuable thing I ever did.

The players need to see you at your best, so you have to control your energy.

This became even more important as I got older, so I really looked at my private life – my eating, sleeping, time away from work and how I delegated. You can only delegate if you trust the other person completely and it has to be done in such a way that it’s a challenge for them, because you want to help them improve.

Then I always let them get on with it, because I know I’m not as good as the physio or the groundsman.

When I joined Manchester United we had a lot of older, very experienced players, so I knew my main focus from the start should be on developing the youth and scouting programmes. But at the same time, I had to try to understand who my best players were in the existing squad and what my options were; who in the team could I rely on the most?

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I remember my first meeting with the team after getting the job. I told them they all had to change, which was a mistake. I realised it was too soon and I was effectively finding them all guilty of something without any evidence to back it up. If I’d have waited and picked my moments it would have had more impact. It didn’t go down well and quite rightly; if I’d been one of the players I’d have been angry too, so I had some bridges to rebuild in the early days.

Another mistake I learned from was spending too much time looking backwards at why the club hadn’t been successful. I should have been looking forwards.

I learned that the next season is always the most important thing, so I’d say what I needed to after each game and then any result or defeat was forgotten

by Monday; we never dwelt on it. Jock Stein used to say, ‘wait ‘til Monday’ and I’d reply, ‘I can’t wait ‘til Monday, I’ve got a game next week.’ I did that throughout my career and it meant that I could handle adversity very well and that the players developed a winning mentality.

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STRESS AND PRESSURE If you can’t keep your head amidst the madness, your ability to make decisions will be compromised and your physical and mental wellbeing will suffer. We look at how to stay calm under pressure.

Words: Jeremy Snape

W

hen you join a club as its new manager it’s likely that you’ll face some of the most difficult situations of your tenure, perhaps even your career. You may be tasked with sailing the club out of stormy waters or have to make changes that you know won’t be popular, and there’ll be pressure on you from all sides to make your mark and get results. What’s more, you’ll be experiencing many of these situations for the first time, in an environment, and with people, you’re not used to.

Staying calm and in control in this incredibly stressful period will greatly improve your performance and therefore also your chances of success in the job. You will need to develop good resilience skills so that you can think clearly, know what to focus on and keep your response in proportion to what’s going on around you. And, importantly, these are skills that once developed will benefit you greatly throughout your career.

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THINK ABOUT THINKING When you face a particularly challenging situation – perhaps a conflict with a team member or a problem that is suddenly pressing and seems insurmountable – remember that it is not the situation itself that is driving your stress or anxiety, but rather your thoughts and perceptions around it. Indeed, stress is defined as the imbalance between the perceived threat or challenge and our perceived ability to cope with that challenge. The symptoms are those of the primitive fight or flight response, so the brain gears the body up for survival – the heart beats faster, the breathing quickens and we are ready to run from danger. In this state you’re not in the best condition for thinking and reacting calmly and rationally.

One way to turn down the threat response and bring yourself back to the present is to focus on the breathing – for example, taking shallow chest-based breaths for 20 seconds and then 20 seconds of slow rhythmic belly breathing.

The stress response can also be improved by thinking about your thinking, including recognising and trying to override any negative associations that you may have developed over time. According to leading neuroscientist Professor Vin Walsh, when you have a pattern of negative thought the brain creates a shortcut between that thought and failure. So if, for example, you have a fear of public speaking, each time that situation arises your brain will loop quickly to thoughts of failure and instigate the stress response.

Practical solutions to help us to avoid this include staying in the moment.

The only time you can change the game is now, so ask, ‘what’s important now?’

The All Blacks, for example, have cues such as looking at the stadium roof, wiping their brows or kicking the ground to jolt them back into the present.

Challenging your perceptions of a situation is also a helpful exercise.

Ask yourself these questions: what are the best and worst-case scenarios and the probable outcome? Can I look at it another way? How would I hope or advise a friend or colleague to react in this situation? Talking to trusted advisers is another way to find perspective, objectivity and energy.

Thinking about your thinking can also help you to avoid common mind traps, such as ‘all or nothing’ thinking, where you focus on total success or total failure and forget all the little victories and improvements along the

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way. Personalisation is another mind trap, where you take all the blame when something goes wrong, while catastrophising is where you allow your thoughts to spring straight to the worst-case scenarios.

What is key is that you recognise your ability to choose your response to a stressful situation, rather than simply letting it happen to you. That means choosing to think differently about the pressures you face in life and looking at which behaviours you should change in order to reduce stress and perform well consistently.

BOUNCING BACK Disappointment and failure are inevitable in this job, but when these emotions come early on in your role it can easily lead to feelings of frustration and even panic. While this is natural, especially when you are ambitious, hard-working and eager to prove yourself, it is counter-productive. With so much to do and think about in the early phase of the job, you need to be able to bounce back from disappointment quickly.

This is easier than it sounds, as our bodies are designed to remember the bad stuff in order to improve our chances of survival in the wild. The key is to stay rational in defeat and connected to the positives rather than dwelling on the past. Look at what went wrong in terms of what, if anything, was within your control and what you might do better or differently next time, then move on.

Realise that, as everyone has different criteria for success, it’s inevitable that someone, somewhere will be disappointed with your performance. In the face of this, the most important measure has to be your own, which means you need your own set of criteria for success in your first 60 days. These goals must be both obtainable and within your control. Also, have the courage of your convictions, because regrets often stem from the knowledge that we didn’t stick to our guns and do things our way.

Pressure is often positioned as harmful, but you need some pressure to perform at your best. What’s key is finding effective tools for dealing with difficult situations so that you can control your stress response and continue to perform at your best when it’s needed most.

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CIRCLE OF CONTROL Because stress can result from feeling a loss of control it can help to visualise the situation or problem. Try drawing three circles and populating them with things according to how much control and influence you have over them. This will help you to see what you should focus on (i.e. the things you have control and influence over) rather than wasting time getting stressed about the things you can do nothing about.

NO CONTROL , NO INFLUENCE NO CONTROL , CAN INFLUENCE CAN CONTROL , CAN INFLUENCE

There are so many demands on you minute by minute that you can’t be thinking about what might happen weeks from now. You have to compartmentalise and prioritise on a daily basis. If you think, ‘what will happen if we don’t win?’ you’re doomed from the start, and it’ll impact on everyone around you.

STE VE COPPELL

Don’t neglect your life outside of football, because you lose perspective and balance, which you’ll need in order to handle situations well. Sometimes you have to ask yourself if watching matches five evenings a week is really the best use of your time or whether you could just go to one or two and spend the other evenings keeping fit, spending time with your family or preparing for the next day’s training session.

ROY HODGSON

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BETTER RESILIENCE LEADS TO: Improved mindset for dealing with periods of uncertainty Improved physical and psychological wellbeing Improved mental fitness and resilience Better task focus Problem-solving focus and ability to think clearly under pressure Improved performance Increased ability to sustain performance during periods of high demand Reduced likelihood of suffering from anxiety and depression More effective immune system Better sleep Lower risk of heart attack

SIGNS OF STRESS Excessive sarcasm Loss of mental clarity More prone to distractions and mistakes Being edgy and irritable Not able to relax and sleep Feeling tired all the time Struggling to motivate yourself and others

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A HEALTHY BALANCE Faced with a heavy workload and intense pressure, your physical and mental wellbeing can suffer. However, looking after yourself is also essential for success.

Words: Dr Dorian Dugmore

I

n your first days and weeks in a new role it can be hard to find the time to look after yourself. When everyone wants a piece of you and each day is busier and more fraught than the next even the basics of wellbeing – eating healthily, staying hydrated and getting enough sleep – can go out of the window.

However, we know from a plethora of international research that taking insufficient time to recuperate mentally and physically can have a negative effect on the memory, on concentration, judgements and decision making.

It can also impact on your sleep, mood and relationships and even have long-term effects. In short, neglecting to take care of yourself can lead to poor performance as well as ill health.

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Thankfully, there are some simple things you can do to keep yourself in shape, mentally and physically, and these should be built into your routine right from the start.

BODY BASICS However busy your schedule, it’s important to stay energised and hydrated, as these are fundamental to mental and physical performance. Keep a bottle of water close at hand and keep an eye on your caffeine intake, as although caffeinated drinks can help to give you a temporary boost, too much may leave you dehydrated and jittery. If you’re drinking many more cups than usual, try swapping some of them for decaf or, better still, glasses of still water.

Watch what you are eating too, as when people feel stressed and, in particular, tired they tend to reach for high-fat, high-sugar foods. Keep snacks such as crisps, biscuits and chocolate out of reach and instead opt for nuts, fresh fruit or cereal bars, which will keep you energised for longer without the post-sugar slump.

Sleep can be another thing that suffers early on in a new role, because when the brain is on high alert throughout the day it is more difficult to switch off.

Practices such as deep breathing, yoga, meditation and mindfulness, even if only practised for 10 minutes before bedtime, can help to counter the body’s stress response, release tension and take your mind off the problems of the day.

Meanwhile, if you find that you are lying in bed mulling over the next day’s challenges, it can help to keep a notepad and pen by your bedside. Clearing your thoughts out of your head and putting them onto paper may help you to nod off feeling unburdened. If you must have your phone in the bedroom, turn it off or onto silent mode and disable all notifications; they can wait until morning.

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To settle into the club you also have to be settled at home, so don’t be shy in accepting help from your club.

CHRIS HUGHTON

My family life is very important and I spend the majority of my free time with them. They keep me grounded and help me to focus on the job even more when I’m working.

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

You have to purposely cordon off time for non-football things that you enjoy, because you need some kind of respite. Even then, you may find you’ll be in the theatre or spending time with the family and you’ll have a thousand mile stare, because you’re actually thinking about team selection for Saturday’s match.

STE VE COPPELL

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MIND MATTERS With so much information to take in and such high demands on your time and performance, the job can feel all-consuming in the early days. If you are to stay in control and make calm, rational decisions you’ll need to maintain some perspective and balance, prioritising what is urgent and what can wait, what you need to handle directly and what can be delegated. Try also to set working habits and expectations from the start that both you and your staff can stick to in the long run. For example, build in time to exercise, get a healthy meal and take regular mind breaks. A break every 60-90 minutes away from the task in hand can really help to keep the brain energised and maintain some balance throughout the day.

Take some time also to engage in interests outside of your sphere of work, whether that be meeting with friends, playing with your kids or watching a film, and encourage your staff to do the same. What is important is that it is something you enjoy and that you can totally lose yourself in, as this gives the brain a much-needed break from the day’s activities.

Moderate regular exercise, ideally out in the open air, is a great way to dissipate the negative effects of stress and lift the mood. Try walking or cycling to or from work, at least part of the way, spending half an hour in the gym or just walking the dog; anything that gets the adrenalin flowing and provides a change of scene can help to distract the brain, enabling you to return more refreshed the next day.

Reconnecting with friends, family and peers is also important, because precious few people ever succeed without the help of those around them.

There is no weakness in sharing what you are going through and indeed it can be a useful way to get reassurance and support when you need it most.

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RESILIENT LEADERS: LISTEN TO THEIR BODIES We all show signs or symptoms when we’re feeling the pressure, whether it be a rapid or irregular pulse, a rise in temperature or symptoms of an irritable bowel. Recognise these symptoms in yourself so you can act on them before they lead to something more serious.

LET IT GO Stanford University’s Dr Fred Luskin found that people who hold onto small upsets and disagreements also very often hold onto the stress hormones that go with them. Being able to let go of a grievance or upset has the effect of releasing the tension that goes with it, benefiting your wellbeing and particularly your heart health.

REFUEL IN A SMARTER WAY Avoid trans-fats found in margarines, fast foods, baked snacks, biscuits, pies and frozen pizzas, as research suggests they are linked to poor memory and cognitive function, which could enhance feelings of isolation.

DRINK STILL WATER A small drop in hydration levels leads to a 20 per cent drop in mental function.

EXERCISE 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise boosts the release of neurotransmitters, which protect the brain and open up the potential for new ways of doing things.

SLEEP FOR 7-8 HOURS Miss out on this and you’re much more likely to suffer from cognitive fatigue. If you are constantly tired, go to bed 20 minutes earlier each night until you wake up refreshed and recovered from your sleep debt.

TAKE BRAIN BREAKS The cycle for productive thinking and feeling less isolated is 90 minutes, so use this as your marker for taking breaks.

SHARE Protect your circle of close friends and share problems with others you trust; this is a cognitive release technique vital to reducing feelings of isolation.

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YOU HAVE TO TRY TO GET EVERYONE TO BUY INTO HOW YOU SEE THE CLUB MOVING FORWARD. IF YOU CAN GET A POSITIVE REACTION AND LIFT THE DESPONDENCY OF THE SIDE A LITTLE THEN YOU’RE OFF TO A GOOD START. WALTER SMITH OBE 88

TIME TO ACT 90 92 98 104 112 118

INTRODUCTION TARGETS AND PLANS IMPLEMENTING CHANGES CONFLICT AND RESISTANCE RE-MOTIVATE AND ENGAGE TEAM DYNAMICS

The First 60 Days

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GO ABOVE AND BEYOND? WON'T BOTHER

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Time to act

DECISION TIME Words: Alice Hoey

A

fter countless meetings and conversations, and having digested a huge volume of information, you’ll have a deeper understanding of the hows and whys of your new club and its situation. Now is the time to come to some conclusions about what needs to change to effect a turnaround and how you might do that with the minimum of pain and the biggest impact.

Success, after all, will depend on how well you can unite everyone towards some clear plans and targets.

But however you decide to move forward, it’s unlikely to be plain sailing, as Jamie Fullarton can confirm. “By the afternoon of my first day as manager I was aware there was a negativity around my appointment; I was not the fans’ choice,” he says. “On day two, the fans’ favourite player knocked on my door and said, ‘I don’t want to play for you’.”

Change, as Fullarton discovered, is often met with feelings of fear, uncertainty and suspicion. Like him, you may find yourself dealing with resistance and challenging behaviour or having to bolster people’s confidence and motivation.

Your communication and conflict management skills will come to the fore as you attempt to unify the team and win their buy in to your plans. And along the way you’ll identify who will be invaluable ambassadors for your ideas and who will stand in your way.

As Chris Hughton says, “As quickly as possible get to know each player one to one and explain what your plans are and how they fit into them. Be assertive about what you want to do and how you want them to play.”

In this section, we guide you through some of the key skills you’ll need as you endeavour to make plans, set goals and implement them.

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TARGETS AND PLANS Your ability to deliver success quickly will hinge on getting the best performance out of your team in the coming weeks and months, but sustainable performance may require something different. How will you set and balance your short, medium and long-term goals?

Words: Alice Hoey

P

itch your goals right and they’ll help to drive your people forward in the short term while giving them direction and purpose. They’ll give focus to your training and learning, and help you to make optimal use of your time and resources. What’s more, you’ll have markers against which you can track your progress and reward effort and achievements, thereby boosting self-confidence and motivation. But given that goals can concern what’s happening today, next month or next year, and can apply to each individual or the whole group, it can be tough to know where to start.

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When you are embarking on a new managerial role you may well find yourself torn between focusing on the short-term goals that you know you must achieve to stay in your job, the medium-term targets, which will keep the team on track in a sustainable and progressive way, and the longer-term objectives.

These long-term plans will be based around your and the board’s ultimate vision for the club, whether that be to develop a business model around the academy or to take the club from the lower reaches of the leagues back to where it was in its former glory. These ‘dreams’ cannot happen overnight, nor without first having achieved the short and medium-term goals, but they do nevertheless require consideration and strategy.

FINDING A BALANCE Certainly, as a new manager your short-term goals, i.e. winning the next two or three games, will need to be the priority, because it is on these results that your success is being judged. Achieving these immediate goals will hopefully afford you enough time to bring your medium- and long-term plans to fruition.

That doesn’t, however, mean that all other thoughts of the future should be put on hold. Do that and your long-term goals will never happen, because there will always be important games around the corner and there will always be pressure on you to bring home the points.

What’s key, though, is that your vision for the medium and long term are strong and clear enough that they are, at least in part, supported by everything you do at the club. Your vision is the current pulling you along, so even though your decisions and changes might be aimed at achieving short-term success they should still be moving you forward in the right direction.

This must be true not just for you, but for everyone in your playing and support teams, so while their immediate focus will be on winning the next game, the vision you have shared with them will run as an undercurrent and will influence their behaviours and decisions.

What’s important too is that your long-term dream isn’t pie in the sky; it needs to be the end point of a journey that takes in all the short- and medium-term goals that you have set, all linked by a series of stepping stones or landmarks.

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You must have a long-term plan, otherwise how can you assess how well you’re developing? But for that plan to work you first have to have a short-term plan and it has to work.

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

SETTING GOALS Those stepping stones are important because they show that the bigger goal is reachable and they map out the processes and time frames for achieving it. All objectives have to be realistic, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure, and they must be positive statements of intent, rather than focusing on avoiding negative outcomes. For example, say, ‘we will finish in the top half of the table’ instead of ‘we won’t finish in the bottom half’.

Goals must also be specific rather than vague statements of desire or preference and you must be able to measure your progress towards them, ideally including a time frame for achieving each step. The low-level goals that you’re working towards daily should be small and have short time frames so that everyone can see the progress you’re making. Being able to hit those targets also gives you more opportunities for reward and recognition, helping to sustain motivation and self-confidence within the team.

Think about how to personalise your goals for each individual so that each team member can commit to them while understanding the importance of their part in the puzzle. Importantly, these should be performance-based goals rather than outcome goals, because you have far less control over the latter and failing to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control can be demotivating.

Finally, it can help to put your goals down in writing so that they’re sealed in ink, perhaps pinning group targets to the wall somewhere they can be seen every morning. Asking each member to sign their name against their personal targets can add even more weight to their commitment.

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PLANNING – 5 KEY QUESTIONS Richard Nugent, managing director, TwentyOne Leadership WHERE ARE YOU NOW? Before you can plan anything, you need to form an accurate and honest understanding of your team’s current status, core strengths and weaknesses, as well as the culture of the organisation and how it stacks up against the competition.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT? What is your vision for the organisation and over what time frame do you envisage achieving this? Do you, for example, want to make sweeping changes or are you satisfied that the fundamentals are sound and you simply need to grow and mature? How healthy is the culture of the organisation? Is there a rich heritage you would like to bring to the fore and are there new processes and approaches that could revitalise the club?

HOW WILL YOU GET THERE? Once you have a strong vision, you will need to figure out what it will take to achieve it. What will your team as a whole need to pull out of the bag to address the key issues? What problems need to be ironed out and how? What strengths will you need to build on and how will you help your team cope with the changes?

WHO, WHAT, WHEN? Now it’s time to fill in the details. How will you allocate your resources – time, people’s talents and money – to address the priority issues and achieve the set objectives? Who on your staff will help you to champion the changes and communicate your vision? What new technologies and expertise can you afford to implement, and how else might you implement your plans on your budget?

REFLECT AND REVIEW Once the ball is rolling towards achieving your vision, it will not and should not stop. Regularly review your strategy and the processes towards reaching it, assess your progress and refine things where necessary.

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PERFORMANCE PLANNING Jeremy Snape takes us from strategic to tactical Our ability to control a particular outcome (as shown at the top of the pyramid) is limited and focusing on it creates fear of failure and stress. As we start to move down the pyramid, however, we provide the detail on how we deliver the level above. As this scales down, we end up with key processes or winning behaviours. For coaches and leaders, this is where our performers bring the plans to life.

Required performance goal 75 points Key drivers Get 20 more goals from new strikers and 10 clean sheets Quarterly goal Break the season into blocks of 7 games. Show how goals/clean sheets deliver on targets Monthly goal Set realistic goals with the team for the 7 games Weekly behaviours Define the strategy for winning each game Daily ‘wins’ Daily training and lifestyle choices align to goals

THINK SMART A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use this mnemonic: S – Specific (or Significant) M – Measurable (or Meaningful) A – Attainable (or Aligned) R – Relevant (or Realistic) T – Time-bound (or Trackable) 97

Time to act

IMPLEMENTING CHANGES Few people enjoy change and many fear and resist it, so getting everyone onside to your ideas early on will be crucial. We look at how to engage people with change in a positive way.

Words: Jeremy Snape

A

ll great leaders demand continuous improvements in the performance of their teams and this is often best achieved by making gradual or small changes that help them to develop faster, smarter and better.

Change of this kind allows for the people involved to adapt and grow accustomed to the new way of doing things.

Like many new managers you’ll be under pressure to turn around the fortunes of your club within the first three-to-five games and that may well mean doing things differently. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely you’ll have the luxury of seeing in any changes incrementally or easing your players into a new approach.

Indeed, you may have been given the job based on making changes fast to effect a turnaround.

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EVERYBODY ON BOARD? The problem, of course, is that few people relish change, however vital it might be. We fear it and may need some coaxing to move into the unknown and unfamiliar, to go out of our comfort zones, put in more effort and take on new responsibilities.

Coming in as the new manager – a major change in itself – you’ll need to tread carefully, because being able to implement changes quickly can’t be achieved through brute strength or by forcing people into compliance. Engaging early on with individuals, both in your support staff and playing team, and communicating your plans openly, clearly and collaboratively will be critical if you want your plans to get off the ground. You will need to win their buy in, not only on what you want to do, but also why and how you want to do it.

To convince people that the sometimes painful process of change will be worth it you’ll need to use push motivators – the ‘sticks’, such as the desire to avoid an impending setback, loss or humiliation – and pull motivators or ‘carrots’.

Both can help people want to jump forward into change, but the pull factors may require more effort on your part. What inspirational stories can you give to your team to show what life might be like on higher ground? What results could the team achieve in one month, three months, six months once it has mastered whatever new skill or process you’re asking of it? You will need to be passionate and inspiring and the picture you paint should be aspirational without being unrealistic.

Once people start to embrace your new ideas and you notice small improvements in their behaviour or performance you can bring this to their attention, making sure you praise any progress rather than just the results.

This will help everyone in the team see where your changes and their hard work are taking them and enable them to take more responsibility for the change process going forward. At this point you can also challenge and push people even further.

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Take a look at the staff and players you have. A change of formation might be necessary and you’ll have to impose that on the players, but they should accept it because they too will be looking for ways to improve results.

WALTER SMITH OBE

If you join a club mid-season you shouldn’t change too much.

What’s more important is to inject some confidence, positivity, camaraderie and team ethics back into the team.

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

CHANGING MINDSETS When implementing change, it’s important to remember that it’s not just practices and systems that need to transform, it’s also people’s thinking.

Some individuals, when faced with something new or unfamiliar, will cast themselves as victims, while others gain energy from the process. The latter have what we call a ‘winning mindset’, an intrinsic desire to be better or do better next time, which drives them to look for ways to change daily. They take ownership of that change and overcome the fear of failure by knowing what they will achieve once they have taken it on board.

These people have a robust bank account of confidence and self-esteem to draw from in times of uncertainty and change and this gives them the courage to step forward into change. They don’t expect perfection when they take this first step, they expect to fight, to fail and to form new ways of working, which eventually strengthens and reinforces their ability to recover.

It is your job as a leader to help your team members adopt a winning mindset and embrace change rather than fearing it.

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The process for change must be transparent and clearly set out, so that people can see what is up ahead and why. They also need to see that it is being done fairly if they are to stick with it to the end. That’s essential, because when people start jumping ship it can seriously destabilise the process and the organisation.

Communication and engagement are key here and people respect leaders who are prepared to take feedback face-to-face, to listen and adjust. While you don’t have to chop and change your plans at everyone’s request, by uniting the people who are most affected by the changes it can provide useful insight into how things could be done better.

Pushing through change is unlikely to make you popular, but try to stay true to your goals and tough enough so as not to yield at the first sign of resistance.

Think about whether you want to be remembered as an agent of change or as someone who merely continued the status quo.

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5 STEPS TO QUICK CHANGE Be open and clear when communicating your plans – there should be no ambiguity or doubt in your messaging. Be confident and authoritative.

Messages should be simple and easy to communicate through to every level.

Ensure that everyone understands their part in the change process, and why it is important and necessary. Help people to own the changes. Be clear about your vision and the behaviours and values expected of everyone.

The rewards for going through the change process must be clear – paint a picture of what the outcome could be and why it is worth the effort.

Articulate a clear and unambiguous case for change. Make clear the consequences of not changing (the push motivators) so they know it isn’t change for change’s sake. Demonstrate by example, showing that you too are experiencing the disruption and unfamiliar process that you’re asking of others.

Map out the change process so that everyone can see the steps they will take and the outcomes they can expect. There should be as few unknowns as possible. Engage with the whole team, rather than just telling people what is going to happen.

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CONFLICT AND RESISTANCE It’s likely that once in your new job you’ll want to waste no time getting everyone on board with your plans and changes. So what happens when people in your team won’t cooperate in the way you would like?

Words: Alice Hoey & Jeremy Snape

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lthough you as the manager will bear the brunt of people’s expectations, it’s worth remembering that the pressure to perform and turn things around will be felt by everybody in your wider team. Being in a tough, pressure-cooker environment tends to accentuate individual personalities, so you may find that some players step up to the plate eagerly while others moan, protest or disengage entirely.

Knowing how to manage each of these character types and help them to feel comfortable and confident in performing under your leadership is essential.

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The last thing you need when you’re trying to lead a new group of people is to be told by one or more of your players or someone in your wider team that they simply won’t follow you. Although it might be tempting to make a show of force early on, remember that what you say and how you act in the first few days will speak volumes about who you are as a manager. First impressions stick, so tread carefully, showing empathy and understanding as well as strength and decisiveness. Demonstrate that while you won’t be walked over, you are also fair and act on consideration rather than impulse.

Whether you can try to work with someone who is resisting your leadership or let them go will depend on the individual involved and the situation – but the decision will need to be made quickly. First, determine why they are acting in this way. Ask: Do they fear change and, if so, why?

Do they not want to work under you personally or have they shown a similar disregard for coaches and managers in the past?

Did they have an affinity to the outgoing manager and, if so, can you get past that?

Are they feeling insecure about their own performance or the future of the team that they’re projecting onto you?

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Look then at the individual’s place in the team, their past and recent form and their potential. Ask: Are they one of the central pillars of the group, either technically or in terms of their team leadership skills, or would they better be described as ‘dead wood’?

Might it be worth the effort in the long run to work on your relationship with them or is now an opportunity to cut them loose and focus on players who are more motivated and driven?

What do your fellow coaches and staff think of this player? Is there a back story you should know about?

DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS While some of the answers will come from talking to your staff, you will also need to speak directly and openly with the individual in question. Be frank and open about what you are expecting from them, being firm but positive.

Start with something positive, then give specific feedback or your core message, finishing with positive forward-thinking comment about their impact on the team. This enables you to be firm and to lay your cards on the table without appearing overly negative. For example: “If there’s one player I need on my side and playing his best it’s you.”

“You say you won’t play under me, but it’s not just me you’re playing for.

You owe it to yourself, your team-mates, the club and the fans to give your best performance. I’m here to stay, so you’re going to have to trust me.”

“I believe you can be a central part of the team’s success in the future.

You can help me to turn things around.”

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Everyone wants to be liked and appreciated, but there will always be players and other people who don’t like you. You just have to be thick-skinned enough to take it.

STE VE COPPELL

It’s important to behave correctly, even when those around you are behaving incorrectly. That’s not always an easy thing to do.

ROY HODGSON

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COMMON CHARACTER TYPES THE MOANER When someone is overly and openly pessimistic and critical it can create a negative atmosphere that drains the life out of the dressing room. Usually the moaner is after two things, attention and company, so their negative statements are intended to provoke debate with them at the centre. However, their ill feeling and negativity also has a habit of spreading, so it’s important to identify and deal with moaners quickly.

Moaners need to know that someone is listening and that they are being understood, but hold back from agreeing with or apologising to them as this is the oxygen to their fire. If you fight back in an overly defensive way it will strengthen their case and they will restate their criticism more passionately.

Think twice before taking them on in public as they may say something that is difficult to forget.

Moaners also love to exaggerate, so try to bring out the facts, perhaps by asking them to write specific points down to distil their argument to key evidence. Once you have received their written issues, make time to find solutions cooperatively and be realistic about what, if anything, you want to change.

THE INTROVERTED TECHNICIAN Other players may seem unenthused by your ideas and proposed changes and unexcited by your dreams and vision. They may have witnessed failure before and so crave evidence, structure and process.

These individuals, more than any, will need to be shown a detailed roadmap of where you are taking them. They probably want to see things improve, but need the granular detail of how that’s going to happen. For that reason they may ask many questions, so try not to get defensive; it’s all part of them seeking security in the detail. Help them to feel involved and like they are making a contribution by giving them problems to solve.

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THE MAVERICK Every team has at least one maverick – they are often our match winners, but they tend to know it and can cause as many catastrophes as celebrations.

The maverick can seem like your biggest challenge, because it’s a constant balance between what they give and what they take. With confident performers who often have a warped view of their own importance, conversations can become animated and volatile as they attempt to mark their territories.

As a busy leader you have a choice here; do you courageously nip these minor indiscretions in the bud or choose the safe path and see how things go?

Your instinct may be to keep mavericks at arm’s length, but as major social architects, you need to bring them close.

Ego often gets bad press, but we need these characters in our teams because when the pressure is on we look to them to guide us to safety.

Mavericks may be more vulnerable than you think and their noise may be there to keep you away from their insecurities, so get to know them and support them as much as you can. Giving them responsibility is a good strategy; give them the heads up on new ideas so that they can road-test them with the group.

When it gets a bit tense, hit the issues early and in private; mavericks have an image to uphold. Focus your feedback on their impact on the team, on the future and how good they could be, rather than opening old wounds.

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JAMIE FULLARTON By the afternoon of my first day as manager I was aware that there was a negativity around my appointment; I was not the fans’ choice. On day two, the fans’ favourite player knocked on my door and said, ‘I don’t want to play for you’.

He had been brought in by the previous manager, who he had a good relationship with. My instinct was to get him out, but I decided to go against my instinct; I was already unpopular, so getting rid of the fans’ favourite would only bring me more pressure.

I decided instead to give him a chance to respond positively. On day three I found myself in another confrontational position when one of the most senior players came to my door to ask whether he would be part of my plans. I said that, yes, if he decided to stay I’d be very happy, and he took this to mean he’d be playing in the next game. When I announced the side on Friday and he was left on the bench the reaction was inevitable. He shouted, called me names and left under a cloud.

As I approached my first game as a manager I thought I’d be overwhelmed with excitement, but I wasn’t, I was searching for relief. That relief came briefly when we won the game 1-0, but it quickly turned into anxiety and stress when my thoughts turned to the next game.

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RE-MOTIVATING THE TEAM Rarely does a manager join a club that is flying high or on a winning streak.

More likely it’s on a downward spiral and expectations will be on you to turn things around. Relighting the fire in everyone’s belly will be your first challenge.

Words: Jeremy Snape

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team’s mental state has such an impact on its performance that when the chips are down it’s very difficult to return to business as usual.

One of the first jobs for a new manager, therefore, is to find a way to reverse this spiral of negativity and inject some much-needed mojo back into the team. While the motivation of your players needs to come from within, there are things you can do to help them relight the spark.

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EARLY CLUES This process should begin before you even start in the job, as you look for clues about the team’s state of motivation and how you might use that to bring about success. By reconnecting with a trusted former player, a physio that you met in a previous role or others who have the inside track on the players, you’ll start to build a picture of the individuals, leaders and team culture at the club.

Most importantly, you’ll have some insight into what might be blocking it from delivering its potential.

There can be many reasons why team motivation is waning, some more obvious than others, and some, such as fear, may only be detectable once you’re inside the club. When Baroness Sue Campbell took over as chair of UK Sport she asked her staff three questions: what do you do, what could you do, and what stops you doing it? These questions gave her all the information she needed about the roles people had been briefed with, what their ambition was and whether they were making excuses or finding ways to be their best.

It’s a useful framework for finding the clues you need to create your blueprint for motivation.

The things that motivate us can be either push factors, things we are driven to avoid, or pull factors, the rewards for our effort. Making an impact early on is all about balancing the push and pull. The push in this case will be what may happen if things continue as they are, while the pull motivators will be the potential outcomes if everyone gets behind your ideas.

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I HAVE A PLAN These outcomes must be tangible, realistic and clearly communicated, but remember that we are all motivated by different levels of detail, so while some of your team members will relish having detailed plans, others may prefer just an outline of the objectives coupled with clear instruction. It is important, though, to break your objectives down into smaller steps, setting short-term goals for each training session or week so that players can see their progress and gain confidence.

For example, breaking the season’s points tally down into tactical, technical, mental and physical components gives everyone more clarity on what is expected from them. It will also help them to see how you are addressing some of the problem areas of recent performance, giving them encouragement that what they’re doing is not just more of the same. If you map out the process, define exactly what you need from each person and everyone commits to that, you will be doing everything in your power to reach your desired outcome.

Getting everyone motivated by the pull factors is also helped considerably if you are able to pull off some early wins, as it enables everyone to see that the rewards were indeed within reach. It’s important also that you paint a vivid picture of what success looks like and how it will feel to get there. That might mean recalling the club’s past successes or heritage, contrasting the colourful stories from its history with the current state of affairs. Create a hunger to change and a desire to look forward rather than mulling over the past.

Whatever has happened up until now, the team needs to be able to put it all behind them and see your arrival as a fresh start. You can even help to enhance this idea by making physical changes to their working environment, perhaps rejigging the changing rooms or adding fresh touches that will make things feel different and new in a subtle way. Find ways to turn the page on a new chapter.

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One of the most important lessons I learned during my first days at Manchester United was that to succeed I’d need to develop a winning mentality in the team. The tactical and technical elements are important, of course, but having the right attitude is essential. The best way to do that is by example, through your work ethic and desire to succeed. I wanted to see myself in them.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON CBE

Honesty is very important, as is including the players and staff from the start. Ask them how they might be able to put your ideas into practice and instil self-belief in them on the training ground.

DANNY WIL SON

TOGETHERNESS Another way to drive team motivation is to raise the intensity levels and urgency of what you’re asking of them so that they’re working hard as a group.

When people make sacrifices together for a common goal the impact tends to be immediate.

Hopefully, after a short period of time your team members’ confidence and belief in each other will have grown, helped by being judged and rewarded on their work rate and effort rather than solely on the results. At this point it’s important that you notice the change and praise them for starting the turnaround. Ultimately, the players’ motivation must come from within, but you can help them by balancing challenge and support, removing fear and creating an environment where they can once again feel excited about performing.

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ALEX MCLEISH It’s important that when you go into a club you have an idea of the infrastructure and resources that will be available to you, especially in terms of recruitment and scouting. In my first job as a manager I inherited a good team and I thought the job was easy. Then, when I lost some of my best players and had to replace them, reality struck. I learned early on the importance of good recruitment and of the club having the right tools and skills.

I learned that one of my strengths is to galvanise the players and give them confidence. I like to get to the heart and mind of each individual in the team.

It isn’t always an easy thing to do. I can remember periods when I was a player and lost confidence in myself; at the time you just don’t know how to get it back.

As a manager, I find it helps to show the players evidence that they can still perform; that they still have what it takes.

I aim to create an atmosphere that is bright and lively, not slow and ponderous, so I’ll include activities in training that the players love, such as crossing and finishing, where everyone gets involved. And you can find ways to help the players bond and give a renewed spirit to the dressing room. When I was at Genk, for example, I took the players to visit one of the famous mines nearby and then for a meal.

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TEAM DYNAMICS When it’s going through tough times, the team’s resolve may be put to the test. Are the players supporting and challenging one another in a constructive way or are more negative behaviours at play? If you’re to succeed in turning things around, strengthening team cohesion must be a priority.

Words: Jeremy Snape

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rom your assessment of the club and the team during your first weeks in the job you should have a sense of how well your players are bonded as a unit and how effectively they are functioning as a team. It is when a team is going through difficult times that the cracks begin to show, as people may turn inwards or point the finger at others to avoid accountability. You will need to spot and address any issues quickly before things spiral out of control and find ways to build both task cohesion and social cohesion within the team.

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TASK COHESION Task cohesion is the way that people interact to get the job done and it is enhanced by role clarity, efficiency, effectiveness and knowing what needs to be done, by whom and when. As the manager you will need to ensure that these messages are communicated clearly and simply to each player with no ambiguity or room for misinterpretation. How well you have succeeded in getting your message across can be gauged by asking individual players or small groups what they have understood after a meeting, but it is really put to the test when they start to execute dynamic game plans under pressure.

If we imagine a scale from surface-level knowledge at the top to deep understanding at the bottom, you need to move your team down the line. This can be done on three levels.

The first part is to explain to each person the specifics of their role, but while this is a great starting point it has limitations. When children learn their seven times tables by rote they are able to recall the answers in that particular rhyme or rhythm, but find it difficult when tested in a more random sequence.

This shows that they know the answer when everything goes to plan A. The next level, then, is to work in small groups, explaining what’s needed in different situations. This creates a shared understanding and takes away the excuse that they didn’t know what was expected of them. When a working unit shares these discussions with transparency, it builds on its knowledge and allows team mates to nudge each other back into position if anyone starts to forget their role. If it was clearly outlined, discussed and accepted together then that gives people the courage to challenge when they see a gap, mistake or duplication somewhere.

The deepest level of task cohesion is to test out the game plan against random scenarios. The attempt to solve the problem uncovers mistakes, which when reviewed give the team the chance to understand ‘why’ those roles were designed in that way. This is implicit learning with more connections being made by the athlete to both solve problems as an individual and work out how they will solve problems as a team.

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Moving the team beyond the mechanical delivery of tasks in this way means they start to interact in an authentic and open way, which leads to more robust learning and agility. When team members have an exciting shared purpose and mission they start to question and challenge each other on their individual roles and tasks in a productive way. This isn’t about personal attacks, but about constructive conflict.

I don’t like to go in with preconceptions about which players might stay or go. I try to work with what I have and get as much out of them as I can, while always looking at how I might enhance the squad with new players in the future.

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK

SOCIAL COHESION The second vital component of cohesion, the social bond, is developed when teams make sacrifices together, suppress self-interest, and let their shields down so that mutual respect and trust can grow. During your first weeks as manager you should have built a sense of how well connected and bonded your players are, whether they lean on each other, and are prepared to show vulnerability and ask for help in front of one another. If not, you will need to find ways to engender this openness as quickly as possible, whether that means building exercises into training or taking the team away for the day.

When individuals start to see each other outside of their working roles, as people with challenges, preferences and sensitivities, they want to get the job done not just for themselves but for each other. They will challenge each other to break out of their comfort zones, and it galvanises the team and keeps everyone energised and connected.

While task cohesion and social cohesion on their own may be enough to get the job done, it is when the two forces collide that special things happen.

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WHICH TEAM IS YOURS? COSY TEAM

HIGH-PERFORMING TEAM

DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM

COLD, EFFICIENT TEAM

SOCIAL

Too comfortable

Engagement Long-term power

Very short-term power

Compliance

TASK

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM Benefiting neither from strong social ties nor a willingness to get the job done well, the players’ personal agendas mean there’s no trust or even any interest in what each other does outside the workplace. They may see more differences than similarities. Equally, they are not proud of their roles in delivering a performance and are not sacrificing or helping each other to hit deadlines or to maintain standards. They just do what they feel like and hope it’s good enough.

ADVICE – Revisit your team vision and targets and explain how each person’s role is critical to their unit and the team as a whole. Re-engage the team around the club’s story and heritage and help them to visualise the future they could create together.

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THE COLD, EFFICIENT TEAM This group delivers results, cares deeply about technical expertise, does what’s needed and does it well. They come into work with a to-do list and focus on clinical execution. The office or team room is quiet, because the team-members have lost the joy and fun in collaboration. They have their own friends, as they don’t really know their colleagues, and think work and pleasure should never overlap.

ADVICE – Slowly get people talking about their preferences and differences, perhaps holding a Q&A so that members of the team can share stories and hopefully also some humour. Consider taking them out for a day or night somewhere different. This should help them to relax and bring them out of their shells. Getting the players to choose the activity or venue is a good start.

THE COSY TEAM This group have been together for years, they know each other’s families and are connected beyond the workplace. They’ve been through a lot, but they value their friendships over their business results, so when it comes to challenging each other’s work, they’d rather not. This is a comfortable place to spend your days, but don’t expect to reach your potential.

ADVICE – Revisit the stretch goals and individual accountabilities that you’ve set together and give feedback to each person on how playing safe is holding the team back. It’s time to sharpen things up.

THE HIGH-PERFORMING TEAM This team is excited about what they can achieve together and know they’ll need a social bond in order to trust, respect and rely on each other, and clinical accountability for their individual tasks. They take pride in their work and will look back at their time together with no regrets.

ADVICE – Even though it feels great to have success, you should still challenge the team to bigger things. Success can make people complacent, so get the team to reset an ambitious target and share the sacrifices they’ll make to achieve it.

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GUIDE CONTRIBUTORS PROF SUE BRIDGEWATER Head of Sport Research at Liverpool University, Prof Sue Bridgewater has a BA (Hons) in German with French from Durham University and an MBA and PhD from Warwick University. Since 2001, while working for Warwick Business School, Bridgewater has helped the LMA and PFA to design and deliver football management education. She now directs the Diploma in Football Management on behalf of the LMA and provides the organisation with football manager statistics and research.

Bridgewater has also conducted research into sport and football for the PFA, FA, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Sport England and several football clubs. A regular media contributor, Bridgewater has written academic and practitioner journal articles in the areas of leadership, international business, marketing and sports marketing. In 2010 she published the books ‘Football Management’ and ‘Football Brands’, both Palgrave, and previously co-authored ‘International Marketing Relationships’ and ‘Innovation in Marketing’.

Bridgewater is a member of the LMA Leadership Board and is on UEFA’s Research Grants and Awards panel. Away from football, Bridgewater has delivered training for blue chip clients, including Philips, Nestlé, KPMG, IBM, Ford, HSBC, Deloitte and Diageo, and her early career was spent in marketing and new product development with Unilever.

CONTACT sue.bridgewater@liverpool.ac.uk www.liv.ac.uk/management

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ALICE HOEY Passionate about the power of great leadership inside and outside of sport, Alice Hoey was part of the team that came up with the concept of The Manager, the LMA’s quarterly member magazine. She has been its editor for most of the nine years since its inception and has commissioned, edited and helped to write all four LMA Leadership and Personal Development guides.

Hoey’s expertise in the fields of leadership, elite performance and wellbeing is built on over 17 years of experience in the publishing industry, producing bespoke content for clients such as Lloyds Bank, Barclays, HSBC, IBM, Atkins Global, the IIA and Vodafone.

Working for media agencies in the City and now as a freelance editor she has interviewed countless key figures in the fields of business, the arts, politics and sport and written on everything from insomnia, travel and London 2012 to adversity strategies, telecoms trends and business auditing.

CONTACT alicehoey1@gmail.com

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DR DORIAN DUGMORE Dr Dorian Dugmore has worked in cardiovascular medicine and corporate wellness for 30 years. A former football player and international coach, Dr Dugmore has held four consecutive appointments with the World Student Games team, gaining a PhD in cardiovascular medicine along the way.

He led the world’s leading cardiac rehabilitation centre in Toronto, Canada, before returning to the UK to develop a corporate wellness programme at adidas, which won international and European best practice awards. A member of the LMA Leadership Board, Dr Dugmore pioneered the Fit To Manage scheme for football league managers and is currently a consultant to the nucleus board for sport cardiology, belonging to the European EACPR. He is also a sought-after speaker the world over.

THE ORGANISATION Wellness Academy is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of individuals, sporting groups and business organisations all over the world. Its focus is on ‘upstream medicine’ – preventing rather than treating disease – an ethos epitomised by the phrase ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of treatment’.

Its services range from delivering health and lifestyle clinics to profiling the approaches of companies, large and small, to corporate wellness. Wellness Academy specialises in the lifestyle assessment of organisations, delivering workshops that include everything from optimising performance, building resilience and improving workplace happiness and culture, to providing guidance on health, fitness and nutrition.

Its approach centres on measuring and tracking health indicators through serial assessments and then educating individuals and organisations on how to set realistic wellness goals.

CONTACTS Wellness Academy Limited Sycamore House Medical Centre, Birmingham Road, Walsall, WSI 2NL 07770 736110 dorian.wellnessacademy@gmail.com

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JEREMY SNAPE Jeremy Snape MSc, founder of Sporting Edge, is a former international cricketer with a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology and is a non-executive director at the LMA. His analytical thinking and ability to simplify complex performance challenges into practical solutions has fuelled his reputation as a thought leader for high performance.

THE ORGANISATION Sporting Edge is a high-performance coaching company that fast-tracks success by sharing the secrets of the winning mindset. Its fresh approach to coaching is powered by a digital library of exclusive video interviews with the world’s top coaches and athletes. These insights are blended with practical tools from performance psychology to drive results.

Talent is not enough. Following decades of investment in fitness and analysis, the mental game is undoubtedly the next frontier. Without the mental attributes of confidence, motivation and resilience, those at elite level have little chance of achieving and sustaining success. Sporting Edge has the solution and can deliver: confidential 1:1 coach and athlete support; inspiring team talks; coach education programmes; and cultural identity projects.

CONTACT +44 (0) 1858 414214 info@sportingedge.com sportingedge.com Twitter: @thesportingedge Facebook: thesportingedge

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MARK PROCTER Mark Procter joined Learning Curve following a successful career in the IT and telecommunications sectors and an MBA. For the last 15 years he has worked and consulted with managers from a wide range of organisations in the private, public and international sectors, improving their effectiveness and developing the leadership skills of their people.

Procter’s favourite questions are “Where are you going?” and “Why should anyone be led by you?” In finding the answer to these questions he helps organisations and their leaders to develop their business strategies and explore how they engage, empower and influence.

Procter is an educator for Duke Corporate Education and an associate at Warwick Business School, where he has taught widely on Open (MBA & Diploma) and Executive Education programmes in the UK and internationally.

Procter has taught sessions on influencing skills, negotiation and leadership for football managers on the LMA and PFA Diploma in Football Management, which he has been involved with since 2002.

THE ORGANISATION Learning Curve helps organisations address their business issues and achieve their goals by growing the capability of their people. Its client focused approach, along with many years’ experience in the design and delivery of training and development solutions, will ensure you receive a high-quality solution specifically tailored to your needs. Learning Curve is a team of five managing partners, of which Procter is one, supported by a network of well-established associate consultants.

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