Leadership in sport

Lessons in leadership from sport

Dr Sue Bridgewater

1Warwick Business School

What are the key challenges?What are the key challenges?

It is turbulentIt is turbulentResults-orientedShort-termShort termDeciding what constitutes successManaging highly involved stakeholdersManaging highly involved stakeholders Talent Management


More than half the managers in football change g gjobs every season


Not a job for the faint hearted (Brian Laws)Not a job for the faint-hearted (Brian Laws)


And it isn’t just in footballAnd it isn t just in football


What can we learn about the reasons why this yhappens…

What are the particular challenges of sport?What are the particular challenges of sport?How do we measure success?What influences success?What influences success?How do these lessons apply to business more broadly?broadly?


The Challenges of Leadership in SportThe Challenges of Leadership in Sport

The ultimate results businessThe ultimate results business


Points mean Prizes!Points mean Prizes!

Every place in the Premiership league tables means y p p gan extra £0.5million.Average revenue for Champions League Q lifi i £30 illiQualification £30million. Promotion from Championship to Premiership is worth over £30millionworth over £30million. The play-off final from English Championship to premiership (levels 2 to 1) is the most financially p p ( ) ysignificant football match in the world.


ChallengesChallenges

The ultimate results-based business.High pressure. High profile.Short timescales for delivery.Short timescales for delivery.Disparate and demanding stakeholders.Performance depends on getting best from a team of talented individualstalented individuals.Team has different specialisms (goalkeeping, defence, midfield, strikers; bowlers, batsmen, wicketkeepers and so on)on).Specialists must work well together to deliver results.


From hero to zero in next to no time …

New Era for England New Era for England McClaren’s first press

conference 11th August 2006

The “Wally with the brolly” sacked

22 d N b 2007

“I’ll fight on” vows McClaren after draw against Macedonia and loss to

22nd November 2007


gCroatia threatens Euro 2008 qualification October 2006

and back again… and back again

McClaren leads Dutch FC Twente to first league title since 1926 in May 2010.

McClaren moves to Bundesliga 2009 gchampions Wolfsburg May 2010 on £2.5 million per annum deal.


So is he a good or bad manager?So is he a good or bad manager?

This depends on a number of issues to do with ourThis depends on a number of issues to do with our measurement of success. TimescaleWhat measure is usedWhether we mitigate this by availability/quality ofWhether we mitigate this by availability/quality of resources Whether this is distorted by the perception of y p pdifferent stakeholders (eg: fans, media)

12Warwick Business School Dr Duncan Angwin 2009

What is success?What is success?

27 managers have achieved a win percentage of27 managers have achieved a win percentage of over 50 % since 1992


Top Win percentages over total tenure (1/10/2009)Top Win percentages over total tenure (1/10/2009)

Manager Club Games Wins % WinsJose Mourinho Chelsea 185 124 67.03Steve Bruce Sunderland 9 6 66Kevin Keegan Fulham 61 38 62.3

Steve Bruce Crystal Palace 18 11 61Eddie Howe Bournemouth 35 21 60

Paul Ince MK Dons 33 55 60Alex Ferguson Manchester United 1286 754 58.63

Rafael Benitez Liverpool 304 175 57.57Arsene Wenger Arsenal 745 428 57.45g

Steve Thompson Southend United 14 8 57.14Luis Felipe Scolari Chelsea 36 20 56

Peter Taylor Brighton 38 21 55.26Kevin Keegan Newcastle United 251 138 54.98g

Peter Taylor Gillingham 62 34 54.84Ossie Ardiles WBA 55 30 54.55

Martin Allen MK Dons 55 28 54.35

Cl di R i i Ch l 199 107 53 77


Claudio Ranieri Chelsea 199 107 53.77

Top Win percentages over total tenureTop Win percentages over total tenure

Manager Club Games Wins % WinsJose Mourinho Chelsea 185 124 67.03Steve Bruce Sunderland 9 6 66Kevin Keegan Fulham 61 38 62.3

Steve Bruce Crystal Palace 18 11 61Eddie Howe Bournemouth 35 21 60

Paul Ince MK Dons 33 55 60Alex Ferguson Manchester United 1286 754 58.63

Rafael Benitez Liverpool 304 175 57.57Arsene Wenger Arsenal 745 428 57.45g

Steve Thompson Southend United 14 8 57.14Luis Felipe Scolari Chelsea 36 20 56

Peter Taylor Brighton 38 21 55.26Kevin Keegan Newcastle United 251 138 54.98g

Peter Taylor Gillingham 62 34 54.84Ossie Ardiles WBA 55 30 54.55


Cl di R i i Ch l 199 107 53 77


Claudio Ranieri Chelsea 199 107 53.77

Rising Stars: Managed under 100 gamesRising Stars: Managed under 100 gamesManager Club Number of Games Number of wins Win %Mark Robins Barnsley 6 3 50

Eddie Howe Bournemouth 35 21 60Eddie Howe Bournemouth 35 21 60

Steve Coppell Brentford (01/02) 54 27 50

Peter Taylor Brighton 38 21 55.26

Mervyn Day Carlisle 62 32 51.6

Luis Felipe Scolari Chelsea 36 20 56

Steve Bruce Crystal Palace 18 11 61

Kevin Keegan Fulham 61 38 62.3

Peter Taylor Gillingham 62 34 54.84

Martin Allen Leicester City 4 2 50


Paul Ince MK Dons 33 55 60

Barry Fry Southend United 30 15 50

Steve Thompson Southend United 14 8 57.14

Steve Bruce Sunderland 9 6 66.00


Ossie Ardiles WBA 55 30 54.55

Ray Matthias Wigan 62 32 51.61

Top Win Percentage in one seasonTop Win Percentage in one season

2004-05 Chelsea Jose Mourinho 76.32

2005-06 Chelsea Jose Mourinho 76.32

1999-00 Manchester Utd Alex Ferguson 73.68



2001-02 Arsenal Arsene Wenger 68.42

2003-04 Arsenal Arsene Wenger 68.42

1998-99 Fulham Kevin Keegan 67 391998 99 Fulham Kevin Keegan 67.39

2001-02 Manchester C Kevin Keegan 67.39

2001-02 Plymouth Paul Sturrock 67.39

1998-99 Sunderland Peter Reid 67.39

2005-06 Reading Steve Coppell 67.39




Top Win % per season excluding Top Four Clubsp p g p

Season Club Name % Wins1998-99 Fulham Kevin Keegan 67.392001-02 Manchester City Kevin Keegan 67 392001 02 Manchester City Kevin Keegan 67.392001-02 Plymouth Paul Sturrock 67.39

1998-99 Sunderland Peter Reid 67.392005-06 Reading Steve Coppell 67.39

2000 01 Fulham Jean Tigana 65 222000-01 Fulham Jean Tigana 65.222001-02 Luton Joe Kinnear 65.22

2007-08 Leeds Dennis Wise 64.291994-95 Blackburn Kenny Dalglish 64.29

1994 95 Carlisle Mick Wadsworth 64 291994-95 Carlisle Mick Wadsworth 64.291995-96 Newcastle Kevin Keegan 63.16

2002-03 Portsmouth Harry Redknapp 63.041992-93 Newcastle Kevin Keegan 63.04

2004 05 S d l d Mi k M C th 63 042004-05 Sunderland Mick McCarthy 63.042004-05 Luton Mike Newell 63.04

2002-03 Wigan Paul Jewell 63.041996-97 Bolton Colin Todd 60.87

2008 09 P t b h D F 60 87


2008-09 Peterborough Darren Ferguson 60.871997-98 Nottingham Fst Dave Bassett 60.87

1999-00 Preston David Moyes 60.87

Unsung heroes who have outperformed wage rankUnsung heroes who have outperformed wage rank

Number of League places (1-92) above wage rank (1-92)

Rank Manager 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 Average 1 Tony Pulis 5 6 6 7 10 6.62 Steve McClaren 7 5 - - - 63 Sam Allardyce 10 10 6 9 -7 5.64 Brian Laws - - - 8 3 5.55 Billy Davies - 11 10 1 -1 5.36 Paul Jewell 7 8 7 -1 - 5.37 Bobby Williamson - 5 5 - - 58 Ian Holloway 6 6 -5 0 13 49 Neil Warnock 3 4 3 1 8 3.8


10 Paul Sturrock 4.5 - -1 0 10 3.4

Disparate and Demanding StakeholdersDisparate and Demanding Stakeholders


Highly involved stakeholdersHighly involved stakeholders

Very politicisedVery politicisedMay be judged on short-term measuresMay be measure on “perceived” not actual successMay be measure on perceived not actual successMay become scapegoat for others

21Warwick Business School Dr Duncan Angwin 2009

Scapegoating or “The Blame Game”Scapegoating or The Blame Game

Bibeault (1982) says that sometimes change ofBibeault (1982) says that sometimes change of leader in necessary because:“to succeed, a turnaround must begin by destroying , g y y g[the] atmosphere of hopelessness and discarding the world view that led to it. Since both are embodied in the organization’s people, especially its top management, the top management as a group must be replaced ”be replaced.”


The Blame GameThe Blame Game

Involves ritual sacrificing of someone, usually theInvolves ritual sacrificing of someone, usually the coach, for poor performanceBUTIs this a downturn or blipIs “cycling” likely to help performance?Is cycling likely to help performance?Would changing the coach change the “atmosphere of hopelessness”pWill it make a difference?


Impact of Changing LeadersImpact of Changing Leaders

“Conventional wisdom holds that changing leaders will g gimprove organizational performance. In contrast, it has either been argued that, because of its disruptiveness, succession will have a negative impact on organizational effectivenesswill have a negative impact on organizational effectiveness, or that succession has no causal impact and is better viewed as ritual scapegoating.” Brown 1980

“laying of blame on an individual level, can be interpreted as a mechanism designed to hide the flaws in the sociala mechanism designed to hide the flaws in the social structure and to distract public opinion.” Bonazzi 1983



Actual Performance over timeActual Performance over time

George Graham Average Points per game = 1.75George Graham Average Points per game 1.75Bruce Rioch Average Points per game = 1.79Arsène Wenger Average points per game = 1 97Arsène Wenger Average points per game = 1.97



LeadershipLeadership

There are two main schools of leadership theory:There are two main schools of leadership theory:IndividualisticContextual

Individualistic schools (trait, contingency, transformational) believe in the power of the leader to change an organisationContextual schools argue that other factors such as availability of resources, structure etc. determine success.


Attributes which contribute to successAttributes which contribute to success


areare…

PassionPassionResilienceWill to winWill to winAbility to manager up, down and sidewardsAbility to spot and develop talentAbility to spot and develop talentAbility to manage talented and “mercurial” characterscharactersCharisma


Talent ManagementTalent Management

Knitting together specialistsKnitting together specialistsAttracting, motivating and retaining talentDeciding when to let them goDeciding when to let them goManaging “mercurial” charactersGetting them to perform consistently on “matchGetting them to perform consistently on match-day”


Managing the Performance of Talented IndividualsManaging the Performance of Talented Individuals


More details of the football analysis available inMore details of the football analysis available in…


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Leadership in sport

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