What drove such a remarkable transformation?

And while outside it was a grey Fermanagh Saturday afternoon, the tension and expectation inside the Manor House hotel was at Fever pitch.

All eyes were anxiously glued to the television to witness a bit of proud history in the making.

And when the final whistle sounded, the iconic Cellar bar erupted in electric elation in a sea of blue jerseys that included fans from as far away as Portadown and Drogheda, who punched the air and shared in unbridled delight.

For an hour beforehand upwards of 80 fans, all decked out in the blue of the boys, which also included well-known figures from Enniskillen town, were there to savour the occasion. Looking on, you could have been forgiven for thinking this was some major local celebration when, in fact, the real celebration was happening 500 miles away.? Even more strangely, 4000 miles away, Ed Sheeran the singer, was doing his best to host a similar party.

What connected these events was a joint celebration of a remarkable transformation.? A transformation that showed how, in just three years, you can change the fortunes of an organisation and, indeed, a whole town. How you can move people from anger to happiness, from tears of frustration to tears of joy, and you can give people hope where for many years there had been none.

When Ipswich Town football club was taken over by Gamechanger 20, funded by the Arizona Public Safety Pension fund, the new owners set in train the beginning of a transformation program that wouldn’t only change the fortunes of a football club, but would contribute towards transforming the trajectory of a whole community.? Conservatively, promotion last weekend to the premiership will deliver at least ￡125 million into the Football Club and, if you use Brighton as an example, the estimates are that their promotion has contributed ￡600 million into the local community. Staggering figures that can transform communities and vastly improve people’s lives if invested wisely.

On the pitch, the results were phenomenal.? In the last two seasons, the manager has won more points than any other manager out of all 92 clubs including Pep Guardiola. His points tally in two seasons have been 98 and 96. Goals, 101 and 92. Losses this season, just 6. Double promotion in 2 years. A win percentage only beaten by a couple of Premier league clubs. An exciting, brave brand of football. We could go on..

There has been a lot written over the last two years about the transformation that the football club has been going through, and what have really been the key defining factors.? In county Fermanagh, everyone gathered was celebrating who many argue is the fundamental reason for success, and that is the manager.

The Manor House Hotel is where Kieran McKenna the manager of Ipswich Town hails from and remains a pub that is run by his mum and dad.? Even the most high-level research will bring comments from many a journalist and sports pundit that it is McKenna’s leadership expertise that has really transformed the fortunes of the club. ??? I’m sure many of us would not disagree because, in all transformation programs, the quality of the leader often determines the outcome of the program. A great leader will plan effectively, organise well, inspire, and motivate people, and use all his or her talents to make sure no stone is left unturned in the search for perfection.

People referred to McKenna’s intensive approach to learning, how he moved into coaching at an early age and progressed through the ranks, thirsty for knowledge, which ultimately led him to be on the coaching teams of three different managers at Manchester United. He was seen to be a star of the future because of his tactical ability, his work ethic, his attention to detail, his focus on coaching people to improve, and his maturity in dealing with people and their emotions.

When asked yesterday about the reasons for their success, every player cited McKenna as the main reason. The captain said “the manager has transformed the culture, transformed everything. I’m sure he’s going to get it, but he deserves a lot of credit. Without him, we wouldn’t have done this today.” Even an ex-manager has called him a genius!???????

But one person doesn’t make a team, and McKenna had a team around him, from the ownership group to the Chairman and the CEO, who together created a vision and a plan and executed it to perfection.? Some argue that this is as much the reason for the success as the manager himself, as it has allowed McKenna to really exploit his own abilities, knowing that everything else is in place to support him in achieving his goals.

Indeed, the CEO is being held aloft almost as much as the manager. He is the person who has led the delivery of the vision, hired the manager, shielded the manager from the business pressure, and who has put in the structure for success both on and off the pitch. He has driven the commercial vision, owned the community engagement vital for creating the growing fan base, and implemented a culture and a model that he believed was right for the business, for the staff and for the community. He has been bold, brave, and attacked everything with a steely determination.

Another argument that’s put across has been the managers’ recruitment policy.? How he has found people who would fit seamlessly into his system.? A lot has been made of the fact that he hasn’t spent much money compared to several of the clubs around him, maybe even only 10% of what others have spent.? Indeed, he brought in people who were misfits at other clubs but who, with the right coaching, he knew had the potential to be key members of his team.?

He bought some in permanently, and then he astutely used the loan ‘interim’ market and brought in specialists at just the right time to give his team an extra nudge.? For this, you could commend the scouting network, or do you again commend the leader for directing the scouting network effectively, making sure they knew precisely the types of players they needed to bring in to fill a gap.? Surely, it’s both, but you can’t deny the role of the leader.

The result has been a team that is a team and isn’t a set of individuals. It is a team without superstars, but it is a team, a group of people that each know their job and the role they play.? The players say they are coached harder than anyone else, they train harder than anyone else, and say they know their jobs better than anyone else.? Equally, they say it is the best team culture they have ever worked in. That it is a family. That they are trusted. That it is a high-performance environment in which they each know that every day, if they work hard, they are going to improve.

Great leaders hire well. From the outside, it looks like the investors have hired a great leader (CEO), who in turn has hired another great leader (Manager) who then has hired a great team. It almost sounds easy doesn’t it.

I guess the final point about transformation, which is as true for football clubs, as it is for other types of organisations, is will it be sustainable?? For all the joy and the benefits that people get through such visible and impactful change, these can so easily be undone if the foundations have been laid on sand. ?We all know that the true measure of a successful transformation must be whether it is enduring, so we’ll see. The CEO says they have tried to build a house of stone.? Let’s hope so!

You might not be a football fan but if you follow this link, you will hear an insightful interview with the CEO in which he picks apart how this transformation has come together.? It is a masterclass in Leadership. https://youtu.be/WcXxFRRB06o?feature=shared

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