Take, for example, Sir Alex Ferguson. The greatest manager in footballing history is set to release a book this autumn, entitled Leading. In the book, co-authored with Michael Moritz, Ferguson will share the leadership skills that he developed and applied during his 26 years leading Manchester United.
What can we learn from these leaders that we can apply to the business world?
Entrepreneur, businessman and former Manchester United player Gary Neville recently gave an interview at the University of Salford in the U.K. where he shared his views on success, leadership and ambition; views which can be useful for business school students at EU.
An Audience with Gary Neville
In recent years Gary Neville, who appeared 400 times for Manchester United, has been forging his own reputation as a strong leader. The former Manchester United right-back is tipped to be the next England manager and his well-considered, eloquent and commanding way of communicating make him a great speaker.
Through his expert punditry, the ex-England international has established himself as a strong authority and leader in the footballing world. His innumerable sustainability and entrepreneurial initiatives are also giving his thoughts on business a strong gravitas.
His recent interview with the University of Salford is divided into six thematic sections. We will take a look at each to dissect the key pieces of leadership advice for EU students.
1. The Attitude for Success
What does the competitive landscape look like for you, in the field that you would like to work in?
Neville describes that a key moment in his young career was when at 14 years of age, a crop of new players joined the Manchester United youth team – legendary players such as Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt. Neville recognized the incredible natural talent of these players and deduced that in order to compete he would have to work incredibly hard.
I recognized at that point that I had to work so much harder than I ever could have imagined.
Neville made a conscious decision to focus intently on his training and set himself a rigorous schedule that gave him the chance to play and practice at every available opportunity. His hard work was rewarded when he made his senior debut in 1992.
Our first lesson is to identify the capacities and the standard of quality that exists among your competitors, and try to go above and beyond.
2. Ambition
What is your ambition?
As with any large business, it is important to establish your own vision, mission, goals and objectives.
With characteristic humor, Neville recalls when he made his Manchester United debut at 17 years of age. He felt as though his dreams had come true, and he had achieved everything that he wanted to. The next day he was delighted and when he returned to training the youth team coach, Eric Harrison, told him “you’re not a player at this club until you have played 100 games.”
Your ambitions have always got to be reassessed, realigned and reset all the time.
Neville says that this was a lesson that was constantly reinforced during his young life; your ambitions must always change and while you should celebrate success momentarily, it is incredibly important to keep moving forward and succeeding.
Our second lesson is to adopt a long-term view of ambition, and to reassess our goals.
3. Life After Football
What is your passion?
Having an abiding passion for a particular topic can give you endless opportunities that you did not consider at first.
In this portion of the interview, Neville speaks about the lives of footballers after they retire. He says that after participating weekly in a high-intensity, high-profile career, some players decide to take some time to relax. For himself, he did not want to lose his hunger or drive and instead decided to learn about football from another perspective.
I wanted to learn about football. I took the opportunity to do that and it’s probably the best thing I ever did.
Neville took four years to learn and develop his tactical understanding of the game, before arriving at his current crossroads, between a career in either coaching or punditry. He explains that he is happy to have taken this time to reassess and consider his ambitions.
Our third lesson is to try and find a subject that inspires and excites us, that we can approach from different angles.
4. Adversity
What is your biggest hurdle to achieving your goals?
No matter who the successful person is, they will undoubtedly have had to persevere in the face of adversity in their past. Reflecting on your own challenges can give you the chance to overcome them.
Talent… in life for me, comes pretty low-down on the list. I think that hard-work, attitude, perseverance, preparation are absolutely key.
With candor and a disarming honesty, Neville says that the biggest source of adversity in his young career came from a lack of talent in comparison to his naturally gifted peers. It was through hard work, a good attitude, perseverance and preparation that he managed to succeed.
Our fourth lesson is that acknowledging and compensating for adversity is better than avoiding it.
5. Business Experience
Are you always learning?
Whether you want to diversify your fields of interest or drill deeper into the wells of one particular area of knowledge, it is important to constantly learn and improve.
In this portion of the interview Neville speaks more about his own business projects, and developing his management and leadership skills. At the age of 22, Neville project managed the construction of his own home and at 29, he invested in a mechanical and electrical design consultancy. He went on in this manner investing in businesses, and he says that it was important for him to keep busy even while playing football. He explains that failures in his business past gave him opportunities to learn and make better decisions in the future.
I want to learn more and more and more all the time – I want to achieve things.
The wealth of Neville’s interest is a great motivator, and can inspire you to learn more.
Our fifth lesson is to ensure that we keep on learning and developing our interests.
6. Three top tips
This portion of the video sees Neville give his three tips to succeeding both in business and any other strand of career.
- His first tip is to work hard, and “make sure that you standard of working hard is the real high standard of working hard.”
- Second, he advises that it is imporatnt to try and take a piece of knowledge from every person that you meet.
- Lastly, he advises that people should “go for it” in their pursuits. He says that people should not see obstacles as walls, or be disheartened if something doesn’t go their way; something will give.
We hope that these videos from the University of Salford have given you some food for thought, and helped you to think about the way that we can interpret and utilize the advice and musings of leaders in sports management.
I’ve learned a few good things here. Definitely bookmarking for a revisit.