Leadership Styles in Football Management - Essay Example

Leadership Styles in Football Management Introduction When one takes a critical look at football management, both historically and in recent times, a vast number of managers and leaders, each with varying skills, traits and styles become apparent. Some of these styles greatly successful, others not so successful while others yet, were more or less counterproductive. Leadership, apparently, is therefore very crucial to success in football, as in any sport. In this regard, Heller (2005) argues that management or leadership in sports is not quite different from what is obtainable in business, as both are laid on the same basic principles, which he identified as i) the knowledge of the techniques, strategies and tactics necessary for leadership and ii) self mastery; realising ones strengths and weakness and making the best use of personal strengths. Heller believes that self mastery, through reflection and introspection is the key in sport management. Following this line of thought, Heathfield (2004) defined leadership as the ability to conduct the affairs of others, an organisation or a business, to have people work under your control and to provide direction, to guide others, to administer and organise work processes and systems and to handle problems. When seen from this perspective, a football manager would be seen as someone whose duty is to provide the atmosphere, guidance, inspiration and every other thing a team of players need to be successful. This is aptly conveyed in McCarra (2004) statement "Leadership, on and off the pitch, can make the difference between ignominy and victory" McCarra argued that leadership and management is a very crucial aspect of whatever business or organization, because in the long run, successful business or organizations are those that are well led. Unfortunately, in Heller's views, the link between management and football has always been undervalued. He explained that in the search for effective leadership knowledge, academicians and researchers have searched deep into the histories of warfare and the military, when more could be learn from football managements. This is obviously, because in football management, effective and successful football managers are easily discerned, in sharp contrast to what obtains in the business world where politics, perception, bureaucracy and all that, usually overshadows performance and effectiveness of successful leaders. Analysis of football team management is a useful and convenient method for isolating the general principles of successful management. Information about what goes on inside football clubs is readily accessible and because of its immense popularity, football attracts permanent media attention. This makes analysing the secrets of their success easier and more productive than a similar study of a blue-chip company, where the inner workings are often shrouded in mystery (Using football, 2003). Obviously, this is because there is no hiding or pretensions in football management, a successful manager is easily distinguished by consistently winning trophies and achieving respectable feats against odds, while an ineffective manager is also easily distinguished for poor performances and in the inability to maximise the available human resources. In the course of this paper, we shall be taking a look at some of the numerous leadership styles and traits that have been exhibited by several football managers, with a view to analyzing the efficiency of such styles as measured by the success attributed to such leaders, and the weakness, shortcomings and limitations of these leadership styles. This will be done through a review of the various literatures; articles, reports and journals, available on the topic. Literature Review Analysing management styles and football, Heller (2005) opined that in every sense what determines a great leader is the success recorded. He argued that success with leadership in football and sports generally, clearly demonstrates that leadership is based on what he called five inward strengths and five outward processes. According to him, the five inwards strengths or personal strengths include: vision, self-belief, results focus, courage; arguing that these are traits that people must cultivate in order to bridge the divide between potentials and achievements. However crucial these traits or personal strengths are, Heller believes that they cannot be of any great use without the five outward processes, which he listed as: teamwork, visibility, communicating, attention, commitment. These outward processes are crucial to any organisation, though badly executed in most. The need for these qualities and attributes cut across all levels and the more they are developed by any manager or leader, the better the success. However, different leaders possess varying degree or maturity of these traits and qualities, which largely gave rise to the multitudes of leadership styles found in football management. Due to the increasing interest in the role of effective leadership in the success of any organisation, team, business or endeavour, academicians and psychologist have, over the years, constantly try to isolate the major qualities that make up most great leaders. This attempt have given rise to different nomenclatures, when discussing leadership styles, though, several leadership types refer to different qualities that might be found in the same leader. For instance, taking about leadership, Williams and Terrence (2003) argue that looking at the profiles of notable leaders in sports, politics, entertainment etc., four natural types of leaders/managers can be distinguished. They classified these as the Rational Leader, who focuses on details, leaving nothing to chance and often seen as cold and impersonal; the Politicist, who is hell bent on achieving chosen goals; the Humanist, who champions the course of people, work towards liberating human potentials and facilitates meeting personal needs; and the culturist, who is a symbolic leader, communicating through stories, rituals and ceremonies. While according to Cho (2005), leadership styles in managing organisations, such as a football club involve six forms of emotional intelligence, which he listed as: coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and coaching. Again, specifically using football management as the yard stick, six broad types of leadership types where highlighted in the article titled "Using football to find out your management style" (2003), these were listed as: The Inspirational manager, The player-manager, The outsider, The infectious enthusiast, The laissez-faire manager and The long-term strategist. Putting all these division of leadership styles into perspectives, it will not be out of point to classify leadership in football management, for the purpose of this paper, into: the autocratic manager, democratic manager, inspirational manager, laissez-faire manager and the long term strategist. An autocratic manager makes all the decisions, setting objectives, allocating tasks and expecting the team to do exactly as required, the democratic manager allows the team members/players to partake in the decision making, the inspirational manager inspires the team members to make the best use of their potentials, laissez-faire manager allows the team to get on with whatever has to be done and has little input in the way of direction or control while the strategist, assemblies the required human resources, players in this regard, with a view towards future success, notwithstanding present conditions. These forms of leaderships will be looked into one after the other in the rest of this paper, analysing the strengths that can be attributed to their success and then their limitations and weakness. Heathfield believes that an inspirational leader or manager is made by the ability to "inspire people to reach great heights of performance and success." The inspirational leader feels passionately about the club's vision and goals, and is able to communicate that passion and purpose to others in a way that enables them to fell passionate too and want to reach for the goals. Such characteristics can be found in managers like Brian Clough who managed several clubs, including Hartlepool United, Derby County, Brighton and Hove Albion, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest. Clough's leadership style can be used to demonstrate the characteristics of an inspirational leader. His management style was not based on any tactical innovation or original strategy, but on a set of solid players, a settled system and an ability to inspire (Using Football, 2003) O'Connor (2005) report that Clough's unique ability to make great players and the resultant success came from a motivational force that was his greatest gift and strength. Clough was able to engender an unstoppable self belief and self confidence in his players through unusual methods. For example, one of his tactics, as reported by O'Connor was to place a ball on a table in the centre of the dressing room and ask his team to concentrate on it for fifteen minutes, before a match, hypnotically saying "look at the ball. This is your friend. Treat it that way." (O'Connor, 2005). Clough employed several means and methods to inspire and motivate his players, at some times he would berate his players, at other times, praise them or do both at the same time. In essence, Clough's leadership method and tactics was so simple. He was not concerned with the dossier of Don Revie, the science of Serie A preparation or the tactical sophistication of the Ajax school. An indication of his simplicity, as described by O'Connor, was his believe in 4-4-2 with clearly defined roles "Defenders would head away the ball to supply the midfielders who would feed the wingers who would cross to the strikers who put the ball in the net." Also part of the inspirational style of leadership exemplified by Clough was his ability to motivate with his 'presence' (Using football, 2003). Besides motivating, the inspirational leadership style requires a manager to be very perceptive and the ability to understand what treatment each member of the team required. Clough, as our example of inspirational leader exhibited this trait. He was not only extremely perceptive; he was also a manager that could understand the treatment each player required. This quality of Clough was buttressed by the statements of one of his players Larry Lloyd, "John (Robertson) needed that 'well done', that pat on the back. I couldn't give two monkeys whether he said 'well done' to me, and he knew that and used to go the other way and give me a rollicking. Clough knew I used to fall for it, and running through that tunnel, my attitude was 'I'll show that big so-and-so'."(Using football, 2003). Obviously, the success of the inspirational style of leadership is the ability of the manager to create a strong self of purpose, self believe and zeal to accomplish goals inside of the team members. However, the limitation of this style of leadership is that, in most cases, success with this form of management is not usually sustainable. Because, as is apparent from Brian Clough's management of Nottingham Forest, the huge amount of effort required to establish lasting foundations that would enable long term success is usually missing. This is seen as the major reason for Clough's inability to sustain the feat he achieved at Forest. The autocratic leadership style entails only one person making all decisions, while all other team members only have to obey. Although some people are of he opinion that this style of leadership tend to achieve more remarkable feats, since the arguments and frictions involved with decision making is often reduced. However, the believe in most quarters is that this leadership style has outlived its value. Amazingly, Brian Clough again comes forth as a football manager club manager that falls into this category. Clough's autocratic leadership style derives from his no-nonsense stance, his view that football is a simple game played on grass and his astute sense of discipline (Leadership and management, 2004). Clough's arrogant and bombastic personality, which is his trademark, are some of the main features of an autocratic leader. He had a 'presence' that pushes his players to action, though, despite the fact that his players were usually afraid of him, he was rarely thought of as a bully. The main weakness of the autocratic leadership style is that when a single person takes total charge and authority, power is easily abused (O'Connor, 2005; Heller 2005). This is evidenced in one of Clough's quoted statements, "we discuss the issue for 20 minutes and then we agree that I was right" (Leadership and management, 2004). The laissez-faire management style on the other hand, is characterised by the freedom of the players to carry on with whatever pattern they fit into, without much control or direction. Thus, a laissez-faire football manager does not force a specific playing system on the players. This style of leadership is usually very liberal with players, in the believe that by allowing players to move around the pitch and find their natural style of play, the players are more likely to do better than if a particular playing system was forced on them (Frank Rijkaard's Management Style, 2006). It is also argued that by allowing the players the freedom to play in any manner that naturally suits them, the team ultimately functions more cohesively as a team. Additional strength of this style of leadership is that there will be no risk of the system going wrong or breaking down, since it is natural, and no grumbling from players who feel they are not well fitted in the system of play adopted. Chelsea and Juventus are among the teams where this style of leadership has been shown to be effective (Frank Rijkaard's Management Style, 2006). Ron Atkinson, who managed clubs like West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Frank Rijkaard's management of Chelsea and Juventus are all examples of the application and success of the Laissez-faire management style. However, in most cases, the success of this leadership style is based on the strategy of recruiting "players of established pedigree" and then leaving them to continue with the playing system they choose. The leadership style, as exemplified by these two managers, relies on the trust of the players' professionalism and dedication, and the believe that the players are adults who do not require an overbearing manager to ensure success (Using football, 2005). The strength and success of this leadership style is based on the freedom of the players to play according to their natural styles, without having to follow systems imposed on them. Agreeably, this brings better cohesion within the team and tends to allow every player to play naturally. However, the weakness of this style of leadership is, more or less, premised on this same factor. Because the style requires the manager to trust the experience and professionalism of the players, laissez faire managers are often involved in a great deal of player transfer. This is almost characteristic of Ron Atkinson, for example, who was always looking for and re-signing players who had worked with him before and earned his trust. Atkinson's record in the player transfer market is a clear indication of this fact. This is why in the latter part of his managerial career; Atkinson became known as something more of a turnaround specialist (Frank Rijkaard's Management Style, 2006; Using football, 2005). With such a style of leadership, it is always difficult to sustain success, since the success of the system is laid on putting together a professional team, not training a team to be professional. Also, in extreme cases, the unwillingness of a laissez faire manager to interfere in the activities of the players may result in a breakdown of discipline. For example, Ron Atkinson's leadership style caused the growth of a drinking culture in the Manchester United camp, a problem his successor, Alex Ferguson, had to contend with. Such indiscipline can be counterproductive and is thus one of the dark sides of the laissez faire leadership style (Using football, 2005). The long term strategist is a leader that is more concerned about future goals or success rather than immediate accomplishments. In most cases, this type of leader is not necessarily concerned with instant inspiration or motivational approaches to achieve short term success, instead, slow but gradual foundation is laid down for long term success. Such a style of leadership is exemplified by Alex Ferguson in a couple of clubs that he has managed. With the long term strategist approach, Ferguson was able to achieve great success with two clubs; Aberdeen and Manchester United. At United, it took him seven years to capture the League Championship. As exemplified by Alex Ferguson in Manchester United, the long term approach to leadership can only be successful in the presence of two major conditions. The first is the confidence of the support network - which includes the employer and the stakeholder base. The second condition is that the manager must possess the intelligence, self confidence and commitment to think and plan for a long term goal. In the case of Manchester United where this leadership style has shown great success, these two conditions where present. The Manchester United board supported Ferguson in the periods before won the championship, having learned that changing managers does not necessarily bring success; Ferguson, on the other hand, had the soul and spirit to think and plan for long term success (Using football, 2005). Summary Leadership, apparently, is very crucial to success in football, as in any sport. Analysis of football team management is a useful and convenient method for isolating the general principles of successful management. Analysing management styles and football, Heller (2005) opined that in every sense what determines a great leader is the success recorded. He argued that success with leadership in football and sports generally, clearly demonstrates that leadership is based on what he called the five inward strengths and five outward processes. Using football management as the yard stick, several styles and forms of leadership can be described. But putting all the classifications of leadership styles into perspectives, leaders in football management can be grouped into: the autocratic manager, democratic manager, inspirational manager, laissez-faire manager and the long term strategist. Brian Clough's leadership style can be used to demonstrate the characteristics of an inspirational leader; part of the inspirational style of leadership exemplified by Clough was his ability to motivate with his 'presence'. The success of the inspirational style of leadership is based on the ability of the manager to create a strong self of purpose, self believe and zeal to accomplish goals inside of the team members. However, the limitation of this style of leadership is that, in most cases, success with this form of management is not usually sustainable. Amazingly, Brian Clough again comes forth as a football club manager that falls into the autocratic leadership style category. Clough's autocratic leadership style derives from his no-nonsense stance, his view that football is a simple game played on grass and his astute sense of discipline The laissez faire style of leadership is usually very liberal with players, in the believe that by allowing players to move around the pitch and find their natural style of play, the players are more likely to do better than if a particular playing system was forced on them. Chelsea and Juventus are among the teams where this style of leadership has been shown to be effective The strength and success of this leadership style is based on the freedom of the players to play according to their natural styles, without having to follow systems imposed on them. However, because the style requires the manager to trust the experience and professionalism of the players, laissez faire managers are often involved in a great deal of player transfer. The long term strategist is a leader that is more concerned about future goals or success rather than immediate accomplishments. In most cases, this type of leader is not necessarily concerned with instant inspiration or motivational approaches to achieve short term success, instead, slow but gradual foundation is laid down for long term success. References Heller, Robert (2004). Leadership Style: Success through the management of teamwork. Retrieved 23rd may 2006 from < http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/leadership-style.php > Leadership and management (2004). In the News. Last Updated 21st Sept. 2004, retrieved 23rd May 2006 from < http://www.bized.ac.uk/dataserv/chron/news/2190.htm > Cho, David (2005). Michigan Football and management leadership styles. The Monroe Street Journal. Last Updated 10th Dec. 2005, retrieved 23rd May 2006 from Frank Rijkaard's Management Style (2006). Last Updated 20th April 2006, retrieved 23rd May 2006 from Using football to find out your management style (2003). Online articles from Growing Business Magazine. Published 8th Sept. 2003, retrieved 23rd May 2006 from Williams, Roy G. and Terrence E. Deal (2003). When Opposites Dance: Balancing the Manager and Leader Within. The Sports Journal, vol. 6 No. 4. Retrieved online 23rd May 2006 from O'Connor, Sean (Online). Brian Clough 1935 - 2004: England's Greatest. Soccerphile. Retrieved online 23rd May 2006 from < http://www.soccerphile.com/soccerphile/managers/brian-clough.html> McCarra , Kevin (2004). Eriksson's voice still speaks loudest at the round table. The Guardian Saturday June 19, 2004. Retrieved online 23rd May 2006 from Heathfield, Susan M (Online). Secrets of Leadership Success. Retrieved online 23rd May 2006 from Management styles (Online). 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