BackWalk the talk
Companies and football teams find success when the Head leads by example, says Ashley Westwood
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Top business schools in the world today are getting increasingly interested in studying “leadership" from football club managements. To a lot of people, football in the business sense is about buying and selling players. But there is a lot more to football than that. Coaching a football team is much like leading an organization. From putting out ideas, delegating, supervising, raising the morale of the team and managing the interests of stakeholders, a football coach is no different from the CEO of a company. In both realities, a good leader can be easily identified—the team showcases consistent performance.
Lead to inspire
When I came from England to coach Bengaluru FC, it was about bringing everything that I learnt as a player, assistant manager and coach to the table. From drawing the structure and training methodology of the club to giving the players a platform, it was my prerogative to infuse energy and create an environment for optimum performance. I look at my relationship with the team as a partnership. They respect me as a coach, I respect them as players. Much like the CEO of a company, it is my responsibility to provide my team with as much knowledge, preparation and platform, tactical and technical support. If they get all the fundamentals to improve their performance, they understand that I expect their determination, time, effort and professionalism.
I usually am the first one to arrive and the last one to leave work. When my team comes in, they see me working at the computer, figuring out our games. When they leave, I am still working. When they see me working hard, it gets them thinking, if the man on the top is that committed, they should be too. During my younger days at Manchester United, I would see Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, at work even before I started the day’s training. When I left for the day, he’d still be around. He put his heart and soul into the game. I saw his discipline had a mirror effect—every single person in the team showed dedication to their work, day in and day out. And today, as the coach of Bengaluru FC, I put that learning to practice—lead by example.
Staying focused
Having been a player and a coach back in England, I had a clear vision in my mind about what needs to be done to be a successful club. But given that the English football scene and the Indian football scene are not similar environments, the application, execution and needs are different. I suppose, you could compare this to working in an MNC and a start-up that present different sets of challenges for an employee. It is the culture of a football team to stay focused, regardless of external factors. Whether it’s about me getting used to a new environment or my team striving to perform well outside of the home stadium, the idea is to never lose focus of the game. In the forthcoming season, the home games will be played at a different stadium, on a different surface—but we can’t let that deter our performance. I’d rather pick out the positives of this situation and focus on the fact that the new stadium will accommodate 20,000 fans (12,000 more fans than the previous stadium), creating a fantastic atmosphere.
Building winning environments
When I was approached to be a part of Bengaluru FC, it took some thinking. I’d say it was a gamble, but an educated one. The ambition of the owners to do something new in the Indian football scene was a motivating factor. The English football scene is an established one. Arguably, one can make only marginal improvements there. But coming to a place like India and making huge improvements in the standards and professionalism of football is very rewarding. In Europe, football teams spend a lot of time together. That is not the case in India—players would train for two or three hours on the field and then return to their respective homes. That to me is certainly not how you build a team. As a coach, my objective is to create a football club environment where people can grow together—an environment that breeds partnerships, mutual respect and appreciation for different personalities. Multicultural companies can similarly benefit when they strive to create spaces that celebrate diversity.
Drawing from my experiences in English football, we’ve implemented methods that are in line with most of the football-developed world. The Bengaluru FC boys live in the same apartment block, dine together and live as a community. The more time they spend together, the better they gel as a team. In the corporate scenario, HR managers route for off-sites and fun events to encourage and renew work relationships and team-building. The rather infamous cafeterias, indoor sports and entertainment areas, in larger companies, do more than just provide breaks—they foster work-friendships.
In football, the key to success is to train as you play. Perhaps, on-the-job training sessions in companies are designed to meet the same objective. I believe winning is a habit—if you keep winning, you are practising it every day, stimulating a competitive environment for everyone inside and outside the team. Our dressing rooms are designed to look like a top English club—if you look like one, you get motivated to perform like one.
The collective over an individual
In a team sport like football, it is essential to set the tone of a “unit". As they say, star players can win matches, but good teams can win championships. The players need to understand that they need each other to be successful. We can’t have a player walking around thinking he is the main man. In a club environment, everyone needs to be on the same wavelength. When I scouted for foreign players, I chose John Johnson, Curtis Osano and Sean Rooney because they are reliable; they integrate well with the Indian boys. Like the oft-used line—a chain is only as strong as its weakest link—in Bengaluru FC, we acknowledge that we need each and every one of them to perform well. It is not about 11 on the pitch, but the squad of 30. From the substitutes to the cook to the physiotherapist, we need the best effort, every day. Complacency is not an option.
A company may have a stroke of genius, but it still needs everyone for things to work well. From the guy who makes tea, support staff to admin and everyone else in top management, you will need every cog to turn in the same direction.
©All Rights Reserved, Tenvic 2014
Ashley Westwood is head coach of Bengaluru FC, winner of the I-League 2013-14.
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