Jan 22, 2016
I fell in love in 1985 when as an 8-year-old I watched Manchester United with ten men and as underdogs beat an excellent Everton side in the FA Cup Final. I then subsequently followed Manchester United and have enjoyed the pleasure of watching them win 38 trophies under arguably the greatest football manager and leadership guru to have ever lived: – Sir Alex Ferguson.
To say I was devastated when Sir Alex Ferguson retired in May 2013 is an understatement. An ever-present leader in my life for 27 years and a reliable and trusted source of consistent success and happiness.
However one of the positives of Ferguson stepping down has been the access we now enjoy to some of his insights, more revealing interviews and new books.
As a 12-year-old I watched my brother pass out as an Officer in the British Army and have been intrigued with leadership ever since, as I pondered why 30 soldiers would follow the young man I associated with singing Wham songs into a mirror while using his hairbrush as a microphone.
As a Director of Niche Technology and Data Staffing business Precision Sourcing, I regularly read and use mentors to grab potential ideas for our business. I recently decided to read Sir Alex Ferguson’s new book as it covers both my fascination with leadership and my obsession with his work.
Below are the seven aspects I picked up from the great man regarding LEADING.
Listen and Observe
It seems obvious, but if you are leading people it surely makes sense to know who they are, their family background, drivers, passions, insecurities, body language and what they are all about. Ferguson mentions in his book: “most people don’t use their eyes and ears. They aren’t very observant, and they fail to listen intently. Listen and watch twice as much as you talk, listening costs you nothing”.
He explains how he made the decision to step away from conducting training sessions and observe them letting his trusted coaches execute the sessions. “When I stepped back and watched from the sidelines my field of view was widened, and I could absorb the whole session, as well as pick up on players’ moods, energy, and habits. This was one of the most valuable lessons of my career.”
Reading
I read every day, even if it is a short story to my son before school/bed or a blog of some sort. Ideally, I try to read books, often that activate both my interest and need to feel like I can learn something to implement into my life and business (I am currently reading both Good to Great by James Collins and The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown).
Ferguson explains “I’ve always been interested in American history – both military and political – and I’ve read a fair amount about Abraham Lincoln and JFK, especially the value of taking your time before making decisions. Watching others, listening to their advice and reading about people are three of the best things I ever did”.
Work Rate
I have personally always put myself in the box of hard working. My Mum ingrained the need for hard work at a young age. I lived in London building a career as a technology recruiter for nine years and 60 hour weeks were the norm, but Ferguson’s work rate puts me to shame. He discusses how he has always believed that the only way he was going to improve his life was to work very hard.
He comments “I have always been irritated by people who frittered away natural talents because they were not prepared to put in the hours. There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re doing your best”. Ferguson played in games on his wedding day, and the day his first son was born.
Amazingly out of 1,500 games for Manchester United he only missed three games and mentioned that he would rather fill a team with 11 men who had as much determination as talent. “If I had to choose between someone who had great talent but was short on grit and desire and another player who was good but had great determination and drive, I would always prefer the latter”.
Drive
For 15 years I have tried to understand why some recruiters have more passion and drive towards their profession than others. Why would one recruiter be so committed to delivering a service over others? Even more annoyingly why would a recruiter show Drive for a period and then suddenly drop off? Ferguson describes drive as “a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat. You usually cannot instal an edge in a player if somehow or other he didn’t acquire it before he was a teenager”. He points to players such as David Beckham, Denis Irwin, Bryan Robson and Roy Keane who by application, sheer will-power and courage overcame shortcomings.
Ferguson mentions Bryan Robson (my favourite all time player) “I used to show players a photograph of Robson defending a corner. His eyes were almost glazed over; he had shut out the rest of the world, and the only thing he was concentrating on was how to make sure that the corner kick was defended properly”. How many of us have felt that level of concentration at our desks or functioning in our roles?
Preparation and Practice
I noticed in my twenties that after busy and over indulging weekends my sales calls would be rusty on Mondays: sometimes even Tuesdays. In my thirties, it became even more apparent that after holiday’s my reaction and thinking times were reduced significantly as I got up to speed again. This self-analysis led me to introduce practice and preparation work for the team at Precision Sourcing. For three mornings per week, we role play for twenty minutes. All scenarios: real life circumstances are all very challenging and uncomfortable in front of your colleagues. The benefit being that we are prepared, we may not always embrace like the role plays but the benefits far out-weigh the cringe factor. Sir Alex Ferguson explains in his book that it is the training ground where the real work is done, and he demanded intensity, commitment and concentration in every session. “The best players tended to be sticklers for preparation. That’s part of the reason why they were good or great. David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney would all stay after training to perfect their free kicks.” He once told the players who complained about the boredom of training,“ all the repetitive things we are working on will become second nature on Saturday when you have no time to think”.
Communication and Speaking
I am lucky enough to have been asked to be best man on three occasions and as a Teacher speaking to large groups was never a problem, although whether the message I aimed to get across did is questionable. Ferguson explains that as a manager he had to communicate to some different constituencies and they all required special handling and a tailored approach. Team talks are what Ferguson is renowned for and his reputation of the hair dryer treatment. He explains that he often kept messages and team talks very short such as “keep the ball” or ”do not let them score”. His feeling is that if communication was too long or over complicated, then the message did not get absorbed. He explains that he communicated regularly to his players that he was never intimidated by the opposition and that he always expected to win and so should they.
Decision-making and Leadership
As a leader of a recruitment business, decision making is crucial, who to hire, who to fire, who to select for which markets and why that candidate for that particular client. Ferguson discusses who should make decisions and when. Around the timings of decisions SAF, he makes the point that decision should not be made too early or too late, and he offers the example of when he first became manager of Manchester United and inherited a squad that was very fond of alcohol and lacked the dedication and drive required to be successful. Looking back, he admits that he should have made the decision to sell and move on players more quickly. The other example Ferguson frets about is that of Carlos Tevez admitting that his hesitancy to offer Tevez a permanent contract lead him into the hands of Manchester City.
Sir Alex Ferguson ends by explaining that JFK’s calmness in handling the decisions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis was inspirational as he refused to give in to pressure from multiple directions while working with imperfect information and enormous media pressure. “Making decisions that send 75,000 people home happy at the end of a Saturday afternoon is one thing. Saving hundreds of millions from a nuclear war is another”.
So I hope you enjoyed reading this if you didn’t you are probably a Manchester City fan or even worse Liverpool.
What are your thoughts on Sir Alex Ferguson’s leadership style and how it is relevant to your business?
