Managing well: play the team, not the ball

‘I’m an intelligent person. I knew I was not going to go any higher. The second division was my level.‘

Although the interpretation would be mistaken, these don’t sound like the words of either a successful or an ambitious individual. Yet they came from the mouth of Jose Mourinho, one of football’s most iconic managers, describing his brief playing career in the Portuguese second division. Not a man renowned for modesty, his self-awareness is not lacking: his greater abilities lay elsewhere. And whether we are fans of the game or not, football offers insights into an issue with which the sport is far from the only profession to struggle: the transition from expert practitioner to leader.

As in so many areas of life, there is a tendency – despite ample prior evidence to the contrary – to believe that highly specific skills are a guarantee of leadership success: accordingly, great players are frequently offered high profile management jobs. Yet while a deep love of the game can probably be taken for granted amongst these appointees – why else accept a senior role in a profession with such a high turnover at senior levels? – it is not with the football that a successful manager must demonstrate a winning way. His – or, very rarely, her – skill is with the team.