England's tactics and my business

I am sure that I will not be the only one to post their comments on the England game last night…but I thought I would use this opportunity none-the-less.

What a difference a year makes! Last year, England suffered their heaviest defeat in 25 years, losing 4-1 against Denmark. It was a disaster. A nightmare. It should never have happened.

Then the world cup. Well, the less said the better. We should have done better – and everyone knew it. We had the talent but we lacked passion, courage and leadership.

Yet with pretty much the same team used last year and in the world cup, a year later the team was transformed. It worked like it should. We had passion, pace and a winning score line.

I know it was only a friendly – but hey, with England we need to enjoy this whilst we can!

Sometimes business can be a bit like England. It should work. It should be better, much better. So what can I learn from this?

Leadership!

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the first place we should all look is at the leadership. Teams are effective – but they do need a leader. Sometimes in this world of democracy and getting everyone’s opinion, we have forgotten to lead. Leadership is not about dictatorship, but it is inspiring. Everyone needs inspiration – including the best footballers in the world.

Steve Maclaren for me has shown good leadership. He made difficult (but obvious) decisions like dropping Beckham, Campbell and James. For a business to thrive, we have to be brave enough to drop those that aren’t performing. It doesn’t mean that they will never perform (I still think Beckham will be back) but for now – what is working and let’s use that.

He brought in other leaders that inspire. Signing Terry Venables as your number 2 for me was a stroke of genius, absolute genius. Having John Terry as captain was a great move (personally though I would have chosen Gerrard). He played like a captain should. He was inspirational on the pitch. Great!

Steve Maclaren finally let players like Gerrard and Lampard play where they are good at. So the question here is – am I making the most of my staff? Am I restricting them?

He took counsel. Such an important point here, and Terry Venables is a great guy to be your number 2 and get his ideas. Sometimes when things aren’t working out as they should – seek counsel from someone that looks at things slightly differently to you and who has some proven experience.

You know what I could go on all day about this, but I do have other work to do too! The main point here – in your business, look at your leadership. Does it inspire? That is the difference between England of old and what I hope will be England as they should be.