In my mid-teens, 12/15 years old, football found me. No, I was not playing it but instead for 2 months, I was daily exposed to seeing Premier League top games on the TV. What had happened was me being stuck at home due to an ankle injury for the majority of the 2003/2006 summer vacation. And to pass the time, one of our Estonian local channels showed the recently ended Premier League games.

It started off as me not really knowing anything about football and ended up with me declaring myself to be a die-hard Man United fan. Looking back, it was not only the start of my football fandom but also my curiosity in people management.

How can a person on the sideline be considered a winning factor for team's success? A team, who at any given moment has 11 people on the same pitch is so impacted by the quality of leadership they receive from their coach!

It is just a game! What is so good about it?

The days of individualistic performance culture are so far gone. And the days of dictatorship-style fear-based leadership are even farther behind us. For the majority of businesses wishing a long-term success, they see the truth is rooted in the realization that no single individual, regardless of their brilliance or prowess, can singlehandedly lead a company to the peak of success. Therefore a company culture centered around top performance as an individualistic contributor is a dyeing example. The true power lies in making a group of people come together and identify themselves as a team working for the same goals. And that is football. A group of people who alone would not be able to succeed, therefore they knowingly show up for each other and work on achievements together as a collective.

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan.

Lessons from Frank Lampard

I was listening to a podcast episode from The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, where he hosted Frank Lampard, an ex-England player and now a football coach to the episode. As he is an ex-Chelsea player, I have never been a particular fan of his. But this episode, and especially him going into detail on leadership, teamwork and success spoke to me a lot. Here are some key takeaways that I think any leader can incorporate in a business environment.

• The modern-day player, just like a modern-day top professional, has a lot of understanding of their domain. They as experts have a high level of competence which also means they will question your tactics or plans. Therefore how a leader earns or enforces respect and authority for their decision-making is a crucial skill. You can as a leader lean on your people and on their professional opinions, but you can't be running behind their ideas completely having lost your own vision. Having strong professionals on your team does not excuse you from having to have your own long-term vision, future that you aspire towards, game plan and tactical execution ideas.

• There is no successful blueprint for being a good manager. You can't go in and ask for "tell me how to be a good manager". You must work out your leadership style that is designed for the team and for the environment that you are in.

• When being a manager, would it be a football team manager or a workplace manager, your technical expertise or domain knowledge does not count with the same weight. It might have got you there, but it will not get you any further. Now it all will be based on your people skills. Therefore you should be focusing on asking yourself how to inspire the people in your team and how to inspire the collective. If they do not understand your game plan or views, or they do not believe in them, they will not be executing that grand plan that you have in your mind.

• Every single person in your team has a different motivation. It is not about your own compass of what makes you tick. Being a managerial role, it is your role to tap into it where their motivation lies, so you would know how to bring the best out of them while keeping them engaged and part of the vision. Therefore you as a manager should not strive to have your 1 signature leadership style, but you should work on a tailored approach. Strive to know who needs you to push their expertise, who wants to have a sparring partner or which members of your team need to have space to execute their work in an individual manner.

• You have your staff there for a reason. Do not isolate yourself as a leader in a way that you take everything on you. Delegate.

• As a leader, you need to have authority. If your decisions are overruled by other leaders or the senior leadership group above you, then you in fact are not leading your domain.

“Companies are communities. There’s a spirit of working together. Communities are not a place where a few people allow themselves to be singled out as solely responsible for success.” – Henry Mintzberg