Are we striving for perfection?

Last night I watched our national football team play a friendly game on TV. There was nothing else on so I thought I’d see how they look prior to the European Championships starting in a few weeks’ time...

As a football fan all of my life I hate to admit that after 10 minutes I started to get a little bored. Everything was just a little too neat and accurate with lots of passing & movement off the ball… it felt too strategic! Now, to some, this style of play might be a joy to behold but for me, I couldn’t help to think where’s our character, personality, and creativity?

Yes, we passed the ball well enough and the players were all in the right place at the right time, but not once did I sense any danger or excitement? Where was the heart and soul of the team… the invention?

Oh I know I might sound prehistoric saying all this and it was only a friendly game with nothing at stake result-wise. Plus, in the tournament, we might see more passion being expressed on the field when there’s something to win. However, I do think the modern game’s in danger of breeding too many thoroughbred footballers afraid to break the rules and we’re lacking players willing to be rebellious, free, inventive, and happy to create something to go against the grain!

… where’s the new Messi, Ronaldo, Gazza, Zidane, Maradona, Cruyff, Van Basten, Pele, Molby, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Ginola, Laurdup, Cantona going to come from if this is how we’re developing footballers and, is the flair player, which we all love to see a thing of the past?

We’re placing more emphasis on the personality of the manager off the field & their tactics than we are on the players on it. We talk about the Klopps, Mourinho's, Tuchels and how they think, and rightly so to an extent. I’m not suggesting players should go out there rudderless.., however, surely this “tippy tappy” style of one or two-touch football then back to your position for the spectator has to be looked at?

And actually, it got me thinking about work-life and how we’re developing our people. Are we doing the same with this digital route we’re heading into?

Now, before everyone jumps on the bandwagon I’ll be honest, I’m the biggest fan and advocate for any technology that helps people. And, there’s some amazing kit available now and coming soon. However, we still ( no matter how cool or state of the art these game-changing products tell us they’re going to help us ) need to remember we’re human and part of our development is allowing ourselves to change lanes, make mistakes and learn from being daring.

I work in business development and can assure you there have been times where I perform amazingly well. I walk away from meetings at times or finish zoom calls knowing I’ve made a great 1st impression. I’ll have presented my product and me well enough for the customer to feel comfortable to talk and trust me in the future. And, who knows, perhaps they feel good about buying my product if I’ve done my job well enough.

However, I also know there have been times where I’ve come away thinking oh no, that didn’t go so well. I didn’t answer that question confidently, they didn’t like me, they didn’t get my personality ( I didn’t like them… wow how dare I think that!) they really didn’t understand me, should I have said this or that better, I didn’t prep as well as I should, I must learn this for next time…

And, for all these are areas I need to be mindful of they’re also things I need to own to help my learning development. My manager isn’t always going to be at the sideline coaching me neither do I want them to be. My performance stats give all the data we both need to formulate whether I’m doing well or not… and from that, as long as I’m honest and have the freedom to talk and tell the truth, good or bad there’s always a way to seek the right development. But I need insecurities and doubts at times to question where specific development gaps are… they’re the true motivators that spur me on!

I don’t want products telling me when I should or shouldn’t build rapport or when I should or shouldn’t make eye contact. I want my development to feel organic, appropriate, and personalized to me and yes, it's okay for AI to recommend but don’t TELL. I’m a human, not a machine.

So, like footballers of old let us try and give people an opportunity to be flamboyant, show flair, be creative and be themselves. Ask them how they like to learn, what their motivators are, and where they’d like to play on the pitch!

We, unfortunately, can’t all be born to play the beautiful game and most of us leave school not knowing what to do next and it’s okay to learn from knockdowns and mistakes but let’s give people the freedom to find their natural talents so they can at least reach their true potential.

Oh and ps... We won 1-0! ??