Thinking clearly under pressure – Deloitte Academy
Thinking clearly under pressure – 4th March, 2015 – Deloitte Academy
26 fortunate attendees heard Mike Carson and Chris Recchia discuss different perspectives on “Thinking Clearly Under Pressure” and leadership across the Premier League, the Armed Forces and Industry.
Mike Carson – author of ‘The Manager – Inside the Minds of Football’s Leaders’ and Partner at Aberkyn
Imagine that every time your team fails to meet its objective, it’s headline news with odds on how long before you lose your job. Imagine that every tactical decision is subjected to the scrutiny of 40, 50, 60 or even 70 thousand people and those same people come into your place of work and make strong protests for you to be removed from your job. And imagine having to deal with a prima donna workforce with eye watering remuneration packages that dwarf your own. That’s the life of a successful football manager and, while it’s often very well rewarded, the pressure is almost impossible to imagine. And yet, in the middle of all of this, it produces managers who may well be among the best leaders in the world.
Mike Carson interviewed more than 30 top football managers (including Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho) about how they deal with the pressure and still come out as winners.
Through his interviews, Mike identified 3 key characteristics that were common themes across these managers (all equally applicable in most leadership situations). They are:
- It’s all about people
- Showing humility appropriately is crucial
- Many successful managers are ‘unconsciously skilled’ (they do what they do instinctively, not through training).
In addition, there were 3 leadership skills that he identified that made them successful in their leadership roles:
- The art of one on one. There are 2 elements to this – empathy and steel. Empathy in dealing appropriately with individual players and steel in the ability to take unpopular decisions and stick with them until it’s categorically proven that a different approach is needed. Mike found that successful managers were world class at one of these but also good at the other.
- Use of three leadership styles (Command/Leadership/Management). Command is used in a crisis but is short term only. Leadership is used for a step into the unknown but it’s important to be inclusive if there’s a strong and influential sub-group to consult. Management applies where there is no crisis due to the application of process. The key is to strike the balance between them.
- Sustained Leadership. This is about building for the long term through succession planning. Liverpool Football Club enjoyed sustained, planned success over a long period during the Shankly/Paisley/Dalglish era. Manchester United had sustained success for a long time under Alex Ferguson but it only lasted until he retired. The key for sustained leadership is to build something greater than you.
Chris Recchia – Partner, Deloitte and lead for the Deloitte Military Transition and Talent Programme
Deloitte launched the Deloitte Military Transition and Talent Programme (DMTTP) in 2012. The programme aims to support members of the Armed Forces to transition into a commercial career. Since 2012, over 700 people have attended ‘Insight into Professional Services’ events.
Servicemen and women are trained to deal with the pressures that their jobs entail. But what happens when their military career comes to an end? If one of your key skills is to handle high pressure, sometimes life or death, situations, how do you transition back into the ‘real’ world?. And how do you merge people coming from a highly disciplined environment with those where the mindset and discipline are somewhat different?
Chris identified three key elements important for former military personnel who have successfully made the transition. Ex-servicemen and women need to show humility when entering a new work environment, learn to adapt to a new environment (rather than necessarily look to change it) and learn to articulate the value they can bring to organisations outside the military (the issue of identifying transferable skills is a key one for anyone changing careers) . This is what Deloitte’s programme is designed to teach and promote and Chris showed an excellent video of former military personnel who have been helped by the Deloitte approach.