The 3 top leadership tips to bring home the World Cup trophy

Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany and France ... The soccer world champions of this century all had one thing in common: effective leadership. The battle for the World Cup trophy is now entering its decisive phase, and the performances of individual players, teams and coaches will once again be scrutinized by fans and television pundits.

Unlike many other leaders, football coaches are in the public eye: they are expected to deliver victories if they want to keep their jobs. With this in mind, the experts at Hogan Assessments - a specialist personality testing and leadership development company - have identified three leadership tips on how remaining teams can continue to win.

Tip 1: Leadership is about creating a high-performing team - not individual results

In the sports world, the goal for leaders is not to get to the top of an organization. Rather, the goal is to ensure that the team performs optimally together in order to triumph over other teams. In football in particular, team success rests squarely on the shoulders of the coach. A team is defined by shared leadership, shared goals, and shared success or failure. Therefore, the actions of one person often influence the results for everyone else. Didier Deschamps, coach of the French national team, once expressed, "Beyond quality and talent, there are two important aspects: Group feeling and mental attitude."

A successful coach should be able to coordinate players' efforts and encourage them to trust and rely on each other for team success. "Coaches must actively encourage their teams and have an awareness of how to best address each player's skills and talents. This is the only way they can ensure success and be effective in their role as leaders," explains Ryne Sherman, PhD, Chief Science Officer at Hogan Assessments.

Tip 2: With an understanding of players' different personalities, coaches can make smarter strategic decisions

To develop an effective game strategy, coaches must consider the human aspect of the team and athletes. Top athletes are competitive, hard-working, organized, goal-oriented, and motivated individuals by personality. These traits play a big role in the decisions made by players on the field. Gareth Southgate, former England international and coach of the England national team since 2016, put it succinctly: "You have to realize that every player has different characteristics and a different personality, and therefore responds to different things."

Personality and team-oriented leadership are particularly important in soccer when coaches have to make changes in their teams. "These situations clearly illuminate the complexity of leadership in sports, where performance alone cannot be the only determining factor. Personality - especially in adverse circumstances - is also a determining factor in this decision-making process," Sherman said.

Tip 3: Awareness of how others perceive you can help trainers better grow and develop in their leadership roles

From Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola comes the following quote about what he thinks makes a good coach. Guardiola: "What characterizes a good coach? What the players will say about him when it's all over." The players on a team react to their coach's decisions. A relatively recent and drastic example of this was a decision made by Zlatko Dalic, the Croatian coach who led his national team to a World Cup final for the first time in its history in 2018. When Nikola Kalinic refused to start in the match against Nigeria, Dalic kicked him out of the team. This tough decision showed his leadership.

Coaches should become more aware of how they are perceived by players and other notable players in the sports world. This will help them identify aspects of themselves and their teaching and training style that can be improved. This self-knowledge then helps them grow both personally and professionally. Many managers can certainly take a leaf out of their book.

Source: Hogan Assessments