World Cup management lessons: 5 areas to reflect on

With a great number of people following up the world cup today, it is important to reflect on key trends and management lessons that we all can benefit from sports rather than only enjoy watching or cheering for our favorite teams.

Here are top 5 areas to reflect on from the 2018 World Cup so far…

1. It’s always about “Teams” not “Super Stars”

This year, Argentina, despite having some of the world’s best players, including “The” best player in the world, failed to win any of the 2 matches played, and even lost with 3 goals Vs Croatia. When we look at who played Vs Argentina, they were Iceland and Croatia, and both teams are considered at lower levels of ranking when it comes to competencies and also in their history of world cup winnings.

Now reflect a bit on this … How many managers have you seen protecting certain high-performing “Stars” in the organization, even if they had bad attitudes, just because they are “Stars” in the business? Are there leaders who still believe that Stars will make them win? .. World Cup 2018 tells you that they won’t, and teams that are strongly bound will always beat stars, every time! If you are protecting one of those “stars” .. think twice! Teams create stars but stars don’t create teams..

2. Eliminate Distractions!

We have seen several teams who lost at the last minute of the match, and others who lost concentration for few minutes only, and those were enough for them to swallow 2-3 goals … When you are playing with pros, you can’t afford to lose focus .. At ALL!

In our professional and personal worlds, how far are we distracted by the weapons of “mass distraction”? It’s not only social media to blame by the way, but in many cases it can be:

1. Dragging into side discussions.
2. Losing direction in meetings.
3. Allowing hypocrisy to rule, draining energy in the wrong direction.
4. Pointless discussions.

I once heard from one of the chess champs that his worst enemy was never an opponent, but actually a fly / bee that distracts him and divert his attention! Eliminating flies around you is key for you to focus.

3. Purpose can’t be plural!

How did Mexico beat Germany? How did Switzerland pull a 1-1 draw with Brazil? How did Japan win over Colombia? It’s always when teams gather around a common “Purpose” they suddenly develop a super-power of “Belief”, and this can’t be broken at all.

In management, rarely when leaders speak about the common purpose, solidly install it, and remind people about it. James Zenger surveyed around 60,000 employees and found out that “results-focus” and “people-focus,” were the most important characteristics that consistently produced great leadership, both together. Focusing on results alone was seen great just 14% of the time, and focusing on people alone was seen great only 12% of the time. ٍ So what binds results and people together? It’s Purpose! The “Why” factor that makes people feel that what they are doing is important and believe in the results-achievement journey.

Is your team purpose clear? Remember that purpose for a team should always be one, and can’t be plural!

4. Your fans can be your worst enemy

A great deal of leaders today get obsessed by the number of fans / followers who believe in them and cheer for them, ignoring the fact that they can actually act against you in many cases .. Here are some of them:

1. Making you deluded! Thinking that you can do something that is totally out of your abilities and scope.
2. Distracting you! We all heard how a convoy of fans crowded a hotel of the Egyptian team, with some of them succeeding in going up to the players rooms, taking selfies and speaking to them just before the important match with Russia. What more distraction can your opponent hope than this?
3. Putting you under pressure. Some pressure is good and healthy for employees as it drives them to explore new capabilities, but over pressure burns employees out.

If you are a leader who loves having fans around them, be aware of the possible risks associated with this, try to be objective and work out a solid plan.

5. History and size mean nothing

Who is standing out in the world cup groups so far? Largest populated countries? Most world cup winning countries? Teams with most expensive players? .. Look at those 3 examples, as of today:

1. Group D is led by Croatia and Iceland, with Argentina and Nigeria tailing.
2. Group E is led by Serbia, Brazil coming next along with Switzerland.
3. Group F is led by Sweden and Mexico, with Germany (Previous world cup winner) and South Korea tailing.

Reflecting on this, your organization’s history, previous performance, amount of great employees you have doesn’t guarantee anything! Remember that Nokia, one day, was the top best selling mobile phone.. where are they now?

The ability of leaders to refresh their organization with new blood, energize them with purpose, bond the team like steel, and eliminate distractions is crucial for an organization to survive competition in such a fierceful market of today.

Watching the world cup has always been fun for the majority of people, but it is always those individuals who are able to learn from every possible chance, even if it was a game, and reflect on the deep message behind every situation, who are able to turn their life to a big school, learning something new everyday and making themselves and their team better day after day ..

Think deep, reflect and don’t forget to enjoy!

Written by:

Engagement Expert, International Speaker & Pragmatic researcher