GET OUT of the way!

The FIFA world cup euphoria is behind us. We move on. For almost a month, “Goal” has been the magic word. “Goal”, Gooooal”, “gooooooaaal” could all be heard.

And then the same “Goal” is heard at work. The excitement of this goal is probably not the same. During a discussion on the goals for the team, a manager might have rarely seen all his team mates jump in the air and punch it.

From the time I have started working, I have always been a keen observer of various teams and their leaders. I have known many effective leaders across age groups handling diverse teams. I have heard them all talk about goals and the importance of strategies to achieve those goals.

So, how different is it from football? Isn’t the same applicable here?

If we draw a parallel of corporate teams with football, where does the team leader play? If we were to look at the larger picture, where does the CEO play, or where does the head of important functions play?

With this question in mind, I decided to gather details of captains who have lifted the football World cup till date.  The list is as below:

Year	Name	Position
1930	José Nasazzi	Defender
1934	Gianpiero Combi	Goalkeeper
1950	Obdulio Varela	Midfield/Defender
1958	Hilderaldo Bellini	Midfield/Defender
1962	Mauro Ramos	Midfield/Defender
1966	Bobby Moore	Defender
1970	Carlos Alberto Torres	Midfield/Defender
1974	Franz Beckenbauer	Midfield/Defender
1978	Daniel Passarella	Midfield/Defender
1982	Dino Zoff	Goalkeeper
1990	Lothar Matthäus	Midfield/Defender
1994	Dunga	Midfield/Defender
1998	Didier Deschamps	Midfield
2002	Cafu	Midfield/Defender
2006	Fabio Cannavaro	Midfield/Defender
2010	Iker Casillas	Goalkeeper
2014	Philipp Lahm	Midfield/Defender

A close look at this and the number of midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers among them contribute to 68% which means 68% of the captains who won the cup were the ones setting the game up.

I believe, therein lies a strong message. A leader/ captain makes the game. He is one who defends the fort and comes in to avoid a crisis situation. A good leader will create his center forwards and empower them to achieve the team’s goals.

This leads me to some more thoughts on football:

Would Argentina be better off with another captain instead of Messi? There is no debating that Messi is among the best if not the best, but the perspective from Midfield/ Defense will always elude him.

It is probably that perspective and the need to identify the goal scorers that creates great captains and leaders.

If we extend this to cricket, the success of MS Dhoni across all formats is evident. It may be due to the fact that he comes in to bat later in the innings and empowers the able team mates to finish the game before he steps in. And if they fail, he can always come in and save the day.

Two apparent lessons then, from the FIFA world cup events to corporate world’s captains and team leaders:

1.       Create the opportunities for the goal scorers and GET OUT of the way!
2.     If the goal scorers are not able to perform (and that is a rare case), step in.

Are you ready to GET OUT of the way? If yes, your team will soon tell you, “It’s a Goooooaaaal”.