In the past few years, I’ve been watching more English Premiere League [EPL] fútbol. It is one of the top leagues in the world and I find that most games are enjoyable. Definitely there are great players in this league and they are competitive as I can imagine.
As I watch more fútbol, I’ve stopped watching the top 4 traditional American sports: baseball, football, basketball and hockey. I’m annoyed by the constant commercial interruptions and despite my affinity for my TiVo, I just can’t take it anymore. Even going to watch games live is boring, only buoyed by the fact that the constant commercial ‘time outs’ allow me to be social.
The guy in the photo plays for Major League Soccer side and my hometown club, the Colorado Rapids - Nick LaBrocca. he’s a talented, young midfielder who has won a starting position in only his second year in the league. The Rapids suffer from a lack of leadership, but that’s another post.
The talent differential between the EPL and MLS is significant. The EPL can afford to pay 100x more per player [on average] than MLS. Comparing the two leagues, it is interesting to observe the players react to situations on the field.
I’ve noticed that most of the EPL players are consistently good at accepting the ball from a teammate’s pass. Most do not have to watch the ball when they dribble. Most importantly, they will guide their first touch of the ball to a place where they expect to be next. In short, the have a plan for the ball before it gets to them.
The average EPL player has developed enough ball control that they can focus on the strategic aspect of the game, rather than simply worrying about keeping the ball at their feet. The main advantage is that he keeps his opponent guessing as to his next move. Add this type of ball control with a cohesive offensive plan and your fútbol team stands a much better chance of success.
The average MLS player tends to trap the ball, look up and then decide what to do with it based on this observation. The result of this sequence is that the ball in the MLS game moves less fluidly during the match. Most agree that it is not an attractive style of fútbol.
It occurred to me that the simple concept of a first touch in fútbol is a great metaphor for leadership. When people in your organization don’t know where they are going, they will not be agile or fluid with their decisions or actions. In effect, they have to trap the ball, look up and then decide where to pass the ball. Multiply this by many times per day or week for each employee decision and it’s no wonder that organizations of more than 3 people cannot get anything done.
Utimately, effective leaders provide the necessary framework for the members of the organization to make decisions in full knowledge of the next step - the strategic next action - in a fluid way.
What I observe in the corporation that pays me is that strategic next actions are not happening inside a framework of leadership. I see heroic individuals who are adept at strategic planning [and not necessarily at the executive levels] pulling rabbits out of hats to keep the corporation viable.
Our first touch sucks and I think there are many reasons. Most importantly, long-term planning is not rewarded in any meaningful way. We have yearly goals that may have some weak ties to strategic plans. I have not made a strategic plan for my department of 18 people. I’m too busy wearing three hats.
Even if we were more effective at strategic planning, there is this misguided notion that business must be agile. This is a myth, brokered by Wall Street speculators and dot-com millionaires. The successful dot-com companies had a core competency and stuck to it.
Of course there is always the pressure of the financial performance of the company. Every public company gets pressure to meet the numbers. Billions of possible capital can vanish overnight when your company reports lower than expected earnings.
Finally, companies that do plan ship off the planners into an ivory tower - they are so detached from actual business operations that when they hatch their 500-page missives, no one bothers to read it because they know it is a work of fiction.
So what is one to do?
I have some ideas that I will post at a later date, after my third and final PMI Leadership Institute in June.
