By Dr Wilfred Isak April
THIS week I am writing to you from Sao Paulo (Brazil) and I specifically chose today’s theme based on the reality that this is the place where people like football, and this is evident in the number of world cup titles won by Brazil.
Although Namibia has not managed to capture any world cup title we are also passionate about soccer. Now, what are some of the inspirations we could draw from soccer heroes? How can you transform the same passion into your business? Now success and staying in power like Sir Alex Ferguson demands thinking out of the box – and this is not just done by football fans. How did he do it? Today I want to share some entrepreneurial leadership lessons, which made him such an outstanding coach for Manchester United.
I will try not to push the angle too hard, but I am certain these lessons can be applied to business and to life. The first lesson from Ferguson is: Always start with the foundation. When he arrived at Manchester in 1986, his vision was about creating a structure for the long term by modernizing United’s youth programme. He established a “centre of excellence” for promising players and resolved to recruit top talent for the club. The best known of his signings was David Beckham. Another rising star was probably Ryan Giggs, whom Ferguson noticed as a 13-year-old skinny boy back in 1986 and who went on to become the most decorated British footballer of all time.
You can learn from each person in your business regardless of the job title. When when we believe in people and reassure them they can make a valuable contribution and they automatically rise to the occasion. There is a misconception in Namibia that with young people you can’t win anything, but from Ferguson’s approach we are proven otherwise. From the moment you set up your business, you have only one thing to be concerned about and that is building your organization right from the bottom. This will ensure that there is fluency and consistency, and people in your business will create a bond, and in turn create a team spirit. Secondly, dare to rebuild your team/organization, even in times of success, Ferguson always focused on rebuilding his team. He was obsessed with how much value players were bringing to the team at any point in time. In your enterprise you should always look into the future and know what needs strengthening and what needs to be improved.
The next lesson is to set high standards and hold everyone to them. It was very important for Ferguson to install values in his players. He did not only want to give them technical skills, he always wanted to ensure that they are inspired and to never give up – to make them winners. Now the big question is what you are doing with co-workers who are not giving their all. In case you are the sole owner of the business, what are you doing to ensure that you give the best every day? As an owner or a supervisor in charge always lift the expectations of each person in the organization and ensure that they never give in. Ferguson said it all the time: “If you give in once, you will give in twice.” As you build your entrepreneurial dream, create a sense that if you can do it as the owner, that your subordinates can do it too. Finally never, ever cede control. You can’t ever lose control, not when you are dealing with top professionals as in the case of Ferguson. When players tried to take on Ferguson, challenging his authority and control, he dealt with them immediately and decisively. Now, if you really want to maintain high standards in your organization, you have to respond forcefully when people violate standards. Probably the next time someone is late for work; including yourself as the owner a fine should be imposed. What do you think? From Ferguson we can learn that it does not matter if the person is the best player in the world, if they are affecting the dressing room atmosphere or team performance they have to be called to order. There is absolutely no other way. The long-term view of your organization should be more important than any individual, and as the manager or CEO you will always be held accountable. By now a lot of readers will say: Oh, I wonder if the people will like me? If you do your job right and well, they will respect you, and that’s all you need.
• Dr. Wilfred Isak April is a University of Namibia (Unam) graduate and holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship (New Zealand). He lectures in leadership, organizational behaviour and entrepreneurship at Unam.