Business & Sport – Sport & Business: Lessons to be learned from each?

I often see, or get invited to, functions where leaders in Sport present to people in Business. These are fascinating discussions, more often than not with hugely successful sporting legends explaining how the characteristics of elite team sports can equally apply to the objective of creating an elite team in business. This is undoubtedly true. Teamworking, mentoring, support, coaching, and not settling for anything less than the best, are all elements that feature repeatedly. I recall two instances in particular. Ahead of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the then plain Mr Clive Woodward justified as Manager what had been termed an expanding support team by stating categorically that games were going to be won by infinitely fine margins, and not by scores of points. What happened in that tournament? England won, in extra time, in the last minute, with a drop goal routine that had been practised relentlessly on the training ground. Fine margins indeed. Similarly, the 1992 Olympic 100m Gold Medal Winner, Linford Christie, stated that it was not sufficient to go off from the start ‘on the bang’. He knew that you had to go off from the start ‘on the B of the bang’. Again, fine margins, but lessons that delivered success on a global scale in elite sport.

These functions got me thinking. Does it ever happen the other way around? I am sure it does, but perhaps we do not hear too much about successful businesses preaching to elite sports people, or major sporting organisations. And there is one area for me, where some sports could learn a lot from business. Recruitment! Yes, it can be trial and error. Yes, it can be pot luck. But the gambles can be calculated to reduce risk.

In my own organisation, I am involved in senior level recruitment, and have been in previous roles as well. My record of success is not without blemish at all, but I am sure my methods are similar to other organisations. For senior roles, headhunting can really work, followed by different styles of interviews, perhaps a presentation, and a range of colleagues involved to ensure the right ‘fit’. It is all about trying to get the best candidate for the role.

Compare these methods to those adopted for one particular crucial and high position in elite sport. I am of course talking about the position of Club Manager on ‘Planet Football’, this being the multi-billion pound industry where normal rules and practices of business seem inexplicably to be completely ignored, often at the direct expense of the people who Clubs rely on to keep them going – the fans.

One specific appointment springs immediately to mind. The appointment of Mr. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manager of Manchester United FC. Now, I can safely say I have no particular allegiance to any specific football club, so my comments are not club or manager specific per se, as I think they could easily be applied to many clubs on Planet Football. It is just that Manchester United FC announced their Annual Financial Results this week, so it is somewhat topical. What did those results state? That MUFC had annual Revenues of ￡627 million, and EBITDA of ￡185 million. As a Finance person, I will not prolong this narrative by commenting on what exactly these terms mean, suffice to say that it is a shed load of money and cash being generated, making it one of the largest Clubs in the world, and in industry terms in general, it’s a massive company!

On Tuesday 18 December 2018, MUFC dismissed Mr. Jose Mourinho as Manager. Miraculously, on Wednesday 19 December 2019, MUFC appointed Mr. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (OGS). OGS was subsequently appointed permanent manager in March 2019. So, let’s look at that again. A major commercial organisation, with massive financial capacity and delivery, took just 24 hours to appoint what could be regarded as the most important position within the Club (although a certain Executive Vice Chairman may disagree there). I distinctly recall an interview with OGS on appointment stating that “he took the call on the Tuesday”. In other words, there had been no headhunting in advance. That appointment, of football manager, took less than 24 hours, and clearly involved no due diligence.

So, as a result of the process, OGS is now in footballing charge of one of the most successful organisations in the world. He was not competitively tested during a process, his track record is patchy at best, he has minimal experience of managing a Club in Europe, and his most recent appointment in the English game resulted in a dismissal (which, it should be said, should not discount anyone from getting another job in whatever industry they work in).

But my point is this. OGS may well turn out to be a fantastic long-term appointment. But the powers that be at MUFC have not in any way discharged their duties effectively in making this appointment. They spoke to nobody else, they interviewed nobody else, they just picked the phone up to a ‘club legend’ (which is without doubt true), and invited him to accept a hugely well-paid job. Hardly the actions of a well-run executive team. Where was the succession planning, where was the risk mitigation, and what could possibly be the agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of the job that OGS has to deliver? Between the period of December 2018 to March 2019, it would seem that the only KPI required was to ‘put a smile back on people’s faces’! I am sure that owners of MUFC are delighted to have such valued executives setting out the criteria for sporting and financial success. NB. Mr. Mourinho was dismissed after actually delivering what presumably was a real KPI, being the achievement of winning competitions on the pitch.

My observation is that the events at MUFC over the last 9 months are hardly unique, and that you could easily transpose MUFC into a whole host of other football clubs. In fact, Chelsea FC have done pretty much exactly the same thing recently as well. For OGS, the problem is simple, even he does not know whether he is the best man for the job, as there was nobody to compare himself to in the process.

So, could Sport, and in particular Football, learn something from Business here? Perhaps, perhaps not. Could Football be more scientific, and less emotional, in making senior appointments. I am sure Mr. Ed Woodward (Executive Vice Chairman at MUFC) could point to numerous examples of Business getting it wrong as well, despite all the recruitment processes, and the terrible human consequences of the demise of Thomas Cook only this week would certainly evidence that. A business based near me in Yorkshire, Morrisons Supermarkets, also recruited a CEO some years ago following an extensive headhunting exercise. His tenure was a disaster, and only rectified when the Board eventually appointed a seasoned Retailer with an outstanding track record from a UK competitor.

What is absolutely certain, is that life on ‘Planet Football’ is certainly “life Jim, but not as we know it”. And perhaps Business should stick to Business, and Sport to Sport. Who knows?

And for the record, I actually hope both OGS, and Mr. Lampard at Chelsea, are both successful in the long run.

Have a great weekend!