Sumer of Soccer Thinking - Be Brave

The best soccer players, like the best managers and staff, are brave in the face of new opportunities.

In addition to a lot of soccer, and DC United, on TV this weekend, there was a lot of soccer played on local fields around Washington, DC. Three games in four days, in 85+ degree heat, while sick, might have been a bad idea. But probably not.

A regular player in a Saturday pickup game I'm in brought a youngster with him. The kid was may 13 or 14. Quiet, seemed nice, gave it his best shot. But he kept only sort of passing the ball. He ran hard, usually to right places, but when he had the ball at his feet he lost his nerve and energy. Passes were soft and misplaced.

This contrasts with the son of a player in a Sunday game I'm in. He was younger and smaller than the youngster on Saturday. Ran hard, mostly to the right places. He also defended fiercely, passed every ball like he got paid for it, and shot like it was the Euros. A lot of his touches were terrible, when you're half the size of guys around you it can be hard to move, but he never backed down. In the face of the chance to play with his dad and his dad's friends he dove in.

On Saturday I encouraged the young man to be brave. To pass hard, not to worry about mistakes and to step up. Guys encouraged him, passed to him, didn't shout at him when he made mistakes. But he was too timid. On Sunday guys on both teams also encouraged the young player, kept passing him the ball, made sure he knew he was included. After the game I told him the most important thing to be on the field is brave, and that he was brave. I hope both kids come out again. If I had to guess, one of them won't, while the other might.

This reminded me of junior staff who write with the assumption of being edited or corrected, rather than writing to be read. They try to guess what their supervisor, then their supervisor's supervisor, and on the food chain, will think. They write in anticipation of corrections and questions. As a result, the work usually aspires to mediocrity. Yes, try to avoid doing things you know the person for whom you're writing doesn't like (for example, avoid exclamation points if you're writing for me). Try to find their voice and the right tone. Then write. Don't edit against yourself, second guess someone else's second guessing. Dive in.

If you're asked to lead a team or project, lead. Make sure you know what success looks like (and who will determine if you've been successful) and dive in.

You will make mistakes. Hopefully you work with people who want to help you get better. They will make suggestions and offer ideas, and expect you to dive back in. Be brave.

In addition to this being a good way for me to think out loud and attempt to justify the absurd amount of time I'm spending watching soccer, it's a way to plug my 2018 book, Soccer Thinking for Management Success: Lessons for organizations from the worlds game . Some of the people I quote have moved on - Ben Olsen now coaches the Houston Dynamo and not DC United, Michael Williamson went from Inter Milan, to Miami FC, to Wrexham (seriously). But I think the lessons hold up.