FERGIENISM: EIGHT (8) LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALEX FERGUSON – MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB
PreambleSir Alex Ferguson spent 26 football seasons as Manager of Manchester United. He is regarded as one of the greatest football Coaches in the world. He won 13 English League titles and 25 other domestic and International trophies. According to Anita Elberse (Harvard Professor), who wrote in Harvard Business Review of 2013, Alex Ferguson, during his tenor as manager, almost double the number of honours the next highest winning coach on English soil had amassed.
1. Start from the Foundation
Even during the periods of great success, Sir Alex
worked hard to rebuild his team to ensure continuous success. He is credited with having five (5) distinct
league winning Teams, which continued to win trophies and other accolades. His decisions were driven by where the Team
stood in the cycle of rebuilding and by a similarly keen sense of players’ life
cycle. Alex once said, “The hardest
thing is to let go of a good player who was a great guy”.
Everything he did was about maintaining those
standards that have been set and that applied to all his team building, team
preparation, motivational talks, and tactical talks. He always wanted to instill such values into
the daily life of his players too.
4. Never Ever Cede Control
Sir Alex Ferguson stated that he never lost
control and if any player wanted to take him on or challenge his authority or
control, he will deal with such player.
He however created a conducive atmosphere for positive contributions towards
the growth of the team.
5. Match the Message to the Moment
He worked hard to tailor his words to the current
moment. He said when he had to tell a
player who may have been expecting to start a game, he will not be starting, he
treated that as a delicate matter showing respect for such a player’s pride,
emotion and state of mind. You can’t
always come in shouting and screaming at your players.
6. Prepare to Win
Alex Ferguson’s Team had a knack for forcing
victories in late stages of the Game. An
analysis of the Team in the last 10 seasons reveals that they had a better
record, when tied at half time and when the team was tied 15 minutes to the end
of the football matches. Sir Alex
Ferguson had his players regularly practise how they should play if a goal was
needed with 10, five (5), or three (3) minutes to the end of the game.
His Team practised for situations where the going
gets tough. He would put in extra
attacker and worry less of defense. In
his words, it was perfectly happy to lose 1-3 if it meant we have given
ourselves a good chance to draw or win, those last few minutes were regarded as
“Fergie Time”.
7. Rely on Observation
Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that observation was
key to achieving success. As a coach on
the field, you will not see everything but a regular observer can spot changes
in training patterns, energy level, work rates, etc. The key is to delegate the direct supervision
in this area to others and trust them to do their jobs, and allowing the
manager to truly observe.
8. Never Stop Adapting
During Sir Alex Ferguson tenor, there were a lot
of changes. Alex demonstrated capacity to adapt as the game changes.
Sir Alex Ferguson was truly a great Coach. When he
retired in 2013, the club won its 20th English league title, revenue had increased
13 folds from when he joined the Club.
Culled
from: My Autobiography, by Alex Ferguson (mind you, I’m not a fan of
Manchest
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