I always feel that the business world can learn from big sports. Nowadays, many football clubs are run like big business and this means that they require an organisational structure similar to many corporate set-ups. In both instances, organisational alignment (as defined below) is key.
For those who know me, they are very much aware that I am a big fan of Juventus but I also have a soft spot for Newcastle United (NUFC). The reason dates back to the 1990s, when I read my undergraduate degree at Newcastle University and NUFC had King Kev (Kevin Keegan) as their manager.
The relevance to business is that NUFC has recently been taken over by a rich consortium led by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, literally catapulting the club overnight from one of the poorest to literally the richest in the football world. With this turn of fortunes, the Georgie fans understandably started to dream big. Money literally is not an issue but money alone isn’t enough! I am here referring to the club verbally agreeing to appoint Unai Emery as their new coach and first he said ‘yes’ but then ‘no’. Everybody was shocked! How could Emery refuse to become the coach of the richest football club in the world!?
All too often in business, boards of directors or senior management assume that just because they have the money, the best talent will gravitate towards their orbit or that customers will buy their products. If only business was that simple!
If you are a start-up or a small family business, there is no point going for a big named CEO from one of the big corporates just because you have the money
Unai Emery wisely looked at NUFC and came to the conclusion that the club, as rich as it may be, still lacks a professional management structure, it lacks a compelling vision and is in a desperate relegation battle.
It was almost irrelevant to Emery that NUFC is now the richest club in the world. Emery wanted to know what is the vision of the club, what is the strategy and who will be in the key positions (director of football, CEO, head of recruitment, etc). The new owners couldn’t answer these questions (at least to Emery’s satisfaction) and this is why he declined to join the Newcastle project.
In such instances, you must first have a compelling vision (where do you want to be). Once that is clear and well defined, you craft and articulate your strategy (the how). Finally, you recruit the best talent to fill key positions according to this statement.
What you do not do is go out to recruit for a key position without having any of the aforementioned. You also do not go for a leader who doesn’t fit your position in the organisational life cycle.
With some luck, and at the time of writing this article, NUFC seemed to be close to appointing Eddie Howe as their new manager. Howe is not exactly one of Europe’s top managers but the truth is that he is the right appointment for NUFC given their current position in the league and football stock.
The Howe appointment is an exercise of realism. The football club right now needs a manager who knows what it is like to be in a relegation battle, a manager who can get the best of the current crop of players, since in truth NUFC will only be able to radically overhaul its player set-up next summer and a manager who knows the Premier League (namely, competing clubs trying to avoid relegation).
I think NUFC learnt a massive lesson with Emery and it is a lesson which businesses can learn a lot from too. In blunt words, don’t try to run before you can walk! If your company’s size, development and set-up require a Howe, don’t go for an Emery irrespective of how much money you have.
In my line of work, there is a framework known as the McKinsey 7S Framework which basically subscribes to the fact that a company must be internally aligned for it to be successful.
The framework is composed of what is known as the hard ‘Ss’ (strategy + structure + systems) and the soft ‘Ss’ (shared Values + skills + style + staff). In today’s business jargon a more suitable word for ‘style’ would be culture and for ‘staff’ is people.
My point is that NUFC first needs to get its strategy + structure + systems sorted out and aligned and this based on its new vision. Only then can it try to recruit a football manager of the calibre of Emery.
The same applies to any business. If you are a start-up or a small family business, there is no point going for a big named CEO from one of the big corporates just because you have the money, since the reality is that he/she is used to a strategy + structure + systems of a scale and complexity your business has no idea about. You, therefore, need to go for a Howe type of leader and scale-up in stages accordingly.
Howe’s lesson for business, therefore, is to be honest with yourself about where your company is in the present and to have in place the right vision, strategy and organisational set-up based on today’s reality.
Howe today but Emery in the future!