As gutted as I am this morning, and I am, I can’t help to be proud of what the England team has managed over the last month. You could say it’s just football, but England and Southgate have stood up to racism and bigotry, went toe-to-toe with the world’s best and came so close.
And as I can’t celebrate victory this morning, instead I’ll celebrate Southgate’s leadership style with 5 points below I feel anyone would do well to learn from, even if it is just for your health.
Sure, we lost but you’ll be a fool to think we can’t learn.
Ownership.
Decisions. Big decisions were down to him. He’ll take the blame for the losses and pass on the wins to the team. He understands the game isn’t about him, and it shouldn’t be.
But, he doesn’t go hiding when questions are asked and accepts full responsibility, like last night when it did. ‘It’s all down to me’ were the last words of Southgate last night, and deflecting the criticism goes a long way in helping Saka, Rashford, and Sancho through the next couple of months.
Leaders eat last as Simon Sinek says, and Southgate embodies that.
Divergent thinking
Southgate doesn’t just learn from those in football, but from those far afield. In human psychology, we love being around people who think the same, a term the ancient Greeks called ‘homophily’. This way of thinking, although comforting keeps us from learning.
Google and other giant tech firms realised this flaw a number of years ago when they generally hired from the same universities, whose pupils learnt from the same professor and had the same educational upbringing.
Learn from new concepts and a different approach. Even with your health. “You learn from listening to people who know things you don’t” Southgate mentioned in a pre-tournament interview. We’d be wise to do the same.
Social equality
You may not be a football fan, but in the England squad you’ll realise they are ‘one’ and ‘us’, not ‘me’ and ‘I’. Everyone’s the same, regardless. Even those who don’t play. Connor Coady, the Wolves defender, who hasn’t featured at all in the tournament was asked if he was upset he hasn’t had a kick heading into the final. “You joking?” he said. “This has been the best 6 weeks of my life”.
Whether it’s Saka starting his first taste of international football at 19, or rotating players frequently, he treats everyone the same. And gets them on board with his decisions because they’re shared decisions, and not solely his.
Meticulous planning
Things aren’t off the cuff or rushed decisions. Plans are executed and everyone understands their role. Trippier playing left back, formations swapping from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2. Southgate does his homework, appreciates our own strengths but also understands the strengths/weaknesses of the opposition.
That may seem risky to us outside of the camp, but inside there’s a reason and a careful plan to follow through that means decisions aren’t as risky as they seem. They are indeed, just logical decisions without emotion.
Effective Communication
We had Kalvin Phillips of Leeds, who had 1 season of premier league football starting in the biggest of games. We had Saka come in on the right wing ahead of more prominent stars like Sancho, Foden or Grealish. Without communication and direction, these masterstrokes would have been a disaster.
Southgate was able to translate the direction of the team across everyone, which helped with the other points above, but allowed us to reach the finals of a competition we haven’t come close to winning since its inauguration in 1960.
That’s a helluva long time.
And not only has his communication come across to the team, but it’s united a nation, brought a calmness around the press (who usually do their best to ruin our chances) and stayed consistent throughout the years he’s been a manager.
We may have lost this one, but I am hopeful we will be around a long time at the top with these young crops of players on the pitch and Southgate behind the wheel.
It may hurt now, but as Southgate mentioned last night ‘It’s another step in our evolution as a team’. And the more steps we take, the better.