The Big Picture Turning Into a Self Portrait

There was a time when few sports fans or those who played knew who the CEO was of the club they supported, let alone the head of the sport they played.

That was an era where often both organisations would be made up of a skeleton staff and everyone was multi-skilled and had to be hands-on, or quite simply things did not get done. It was all about getting the job done rather than who was doing the job.

Famously when the great Bill Shankly arrived at Liverpool, he spoke to every staff member and asked them what they did at the club, did they enjoy their work, and what did the club mean to them? Three simple questions that gave him the information he needed. Be they volunteers or paid staff, he then decided who stayed and who went, and worked out a structure and roles that would best serve the club. One of the key aspects was he wanted people who believed in the club and were prepared to put in the extra hours needed for the club to become successful on and off the pitch, without complaining.

Shankly was undoubtedly a figurehead and a leader.

Interestingly one former professional sportsman described the current CEO in their sport as being ‘as useless as the carved figure on the bow of a ship.’ This was not the best analogy, as in the days when seafarers did indeed carve a figurehead on the prow of a ship, it was not for ornate purposes. It served a purpose. In those perilous days at sea on an ocean-going ship, these figureheads embodied not only the spirit of the vessel, but were believed to offer the crew protection from the harsh seas and safeguarded them on their homeward journeys. So the figurehead was important, and served a purpose.

What is a grave concern of late is the calibre of CEO in some roles in sport, and their reasons for being there.

In the past four months four individuals who have held senior positions within a sporting organisation have resigned their positions, and all have cited the same reasons for leaving. The reason given being the ego of their CEO.

All have advised that in their opinion the CEO is not at all interested in the job they have been given, but see the role as one in which they can boost their own profile and future job prospects. All stated that they believed that the individuals concerned put their own profile ahead of the organisation that they were working for. Two went so far as to say that the individuals simply did not care about the organisation. They felt that working for such an individual made their role untenable, as decisions were not being made in the best interests of the organisation, and many decisions impacted their ability to do their job properly.

This is nothing new. As discussed on the show, and covered here, regrettably many individuals today are falsifying their resumes and LinkedIn profiles. (Podcast #107). They are in essence marketing themselves and doing a very good job of it. What is sad is that those tasked with finding the right person for this role are often the wrong people to be given that task. They do not take the time to do background checks and verify claims made by these prospective employees. (A Management Criterium)

One board member given the task of employing an individual for a senior management role actually advised that it was “illegal to do a background check.” Another gave a CEO role to an individual who was fired from their previous position, ‘because they were the only candidate with CEO experience.’ Needless to say that appointment ended in the ultimate disaster for that organisation, they were forced to shut down, declare themselves bankrupt and start again. (Who’s Hiring)

If this was business would the same mistakes be made? So why do they happen in sport, and why do sports allow good people to leave rather than removing the problem that has caused the good people to leave?

If a club is signing a player, they carry out checks. In many cases today before a club signs a youth player that club will have been not only watching their performances as a player but also will be finding out about their interactions off the field of play. They will be checking their social media posts, as well as school reports to get an overview of the individual and work out any issues that may arise or need to be ironed out quickly if they sign a player.

If a player is already in the system they will check their injury history, their reputation, and attitude. If they keep changing clubs a warning sign will go off. Why do they keep changing clubs? What is the reason for this? How many games did they play at each club? Were they playing consistently before being dropped?

A proper investigation will be carried out. In every case there will be a reason. It may be a new manager came in and changed the way the team played and they did not fit in. The new manager may not have liked them. It could be they had to move on because they have a gambling problem or are in debt, and need the signing on fee to clear those debts. They could be moving regularly to get the signing on fee to invest in property. They may simply not be good enough to play at this level.

Just as on the administration side there will be clubs that sign a player only to realise that they made a mistake. Often the coach will have seen something and felt that they could sort out the other issues and bring out the best in the individual. Yet all good managers and coaches know that if you do make a mistake with a player, the best thing to do is get rid of them as soon as possible. Move them on. If you don’t it will have a lasting effect on the moral and possible performance of the other players.

With CEO’s the same signs are there if you wish to look for them. The people that move on in every Olympic cycle, why are they moving on? (Administrators On The Move) They say that it takes three years to be able to judge whether a senior executive is good at their job; in many cases you know well before then. The reason it takes three years is the first year they blame the system and staff that they have inherited. They then look to implement their own systems over the next year. The third year will start to see the fruits of those changes, and often this is when they look for an exit, as they do not want to be around and held accountable when the outcomes become clear.

There are those who job hop. Change role ever year or 18 months for a number of years. These are clearly people looking to climb the ladder. This is fine when someone is starting out in the workforce but once in their late 20’s or early 30’s one has to ask what did they really learn from so short a time in a role, what could they have achieved in that time? Are they really ready for a move?

There is no doubt that times have changed from 20 years ago with the proliferation of social media. However, this has created a monster. Now the new breed of CEO wants to be seen, and heard at every opportunity. They are hellbent on self-promotion and raising their own profiles.

What is more important the sport, club or the individual?

The CEO’s that honestly think people want to watch a video message from them are completely misreading their audience. Most are truly horrific at talking to the camera, as they have not been trained to do so. Therefore they would be best to stay away from such an exercise.

There are, and no doubt will continue to be CEO’s who demand that they are part of any promotional photo that is published. As two of those mentioned who have resigned stated it was galling to see their CEO in pictures with announcements or achievements that they had had absolutely no input on. “Trying to stay in the limelight,” was how one described it.

Then we have to endure a banal comment from them in every single press release that comes out, again often when it involves an area in which others have been given the task of overseeing that particular part of the business.

The warning signs are there for all to see. Just as they are there with players in sport. Just as in the playing of a sport if you fail to manage these behavioural issues they will end up hurting you. So too will they in administration, as some sports are slowly finding out.

The problem with administration as opposed to a team situation is it takes a great deal longer to right the ship.