Who among you still remembers the 2017 UEFA Champions League final? It was June 3, 2017, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Juventus Turin against Real Madrid. "Gigi" Buffon against Cristiano Ronaldo. The score at halftime after a relatively even first half: 1-1. Final score after a spectacular second half by Real Madrid: 4-1 victory for the Royals from Madrid. You're probably wondering what all this has to do with leadership? A lot!
Zinédine Zidane, coach of Real Madrid, has achieved leader as leader that no other coach has ever managed to do before him: winning the Champions League title, the highest title in European club soccer, twice in a row. But how did he achieve this from a leadership perspective, and what is so unique about it? The following three principles highlight how Zinédine Zidane achieved these leadership results and what leader can learn leader him.
Down-to-earth, modest, not aloof
"All of his former coaches confirm it: Zidane was modest, and he worked hard, harder than most other professionals." (https://www.11freunde.de/artikel/zinedine-zidane-neuer-real-trainer)
People like people who are down-to-earth, modest, and not aloof, but who also have a healthy self-confidence. Of course, people often look for role models whom they like to put on a pedestal. In personal development, it can certainly make sense to orient yourself toward a role model. When it comes to leading people, however, it is often precisely this "exaggeration" that stands in the way of managers.
People no longer want to be led by aloof blowhards and motivational gurus. People want to be treated as human beings, to have a say in decisions, to be involved, and to achieve results. Much more important than any leadership methods and tools is reaching people on a personal level and thereby gaining the authority to lead employees. Leadership based solely on power is becoming less and less effective; it is about influencing and treating people as equals.
In my daily work as a management coach, I often encounter the following principle:
"If you make yourself appear greater than you are, other people will see you as small. If you act normal/human, other people will see you as great."
Invest the energy you have previously spent on constantly exaggerating your importance in developing your employees and your leadership skills. Work harder on yourself instead of constantly trying to shine in front of others.
Leadership through non-leadership instead of leadership through hierarchy. Feedback on an equal footing instead of leadership through power.
World champion Toni Kroos also clearly feels comfortable under Zidane. "He's not so didactic. We meet on equal terms. He doesn't need to put himself above us because he can simply do it, because everyone listens to him anyway,"Kroos reported after the final. (http://www.sport1.de/fussball/champions-league/2017/06/champions-league-darum-ist-zinedine-zidane-real-madrids-heimlicher-held)
leader leads by not leading. This apparent contradiction quickly resolves itself when you take a closer look at Zidane's role. In addition to their outstanding soccer skills, the Real Madrid players have enjoyed enormous success from a young age and are therefore almost exclusively strong personalities. How do you want to lead these employees? It certainly won't work to rely solely on hierarchy, as you will fail as leader or later. Zidane has established certain guidelines (rules) within which the players can act freely, and sees himself as leader the role of a sparring partner on equal terms. Zidane communicates a lot, gives feedback, and ensures that the working atmosphere within the team is good. That is his role, and it suits his employees and Real Madrid perfectly.
Some people will surely object: if I only had employees of the caliber of Ronaldo, Kroos, or Benzema, then I would certainly have no problem leading them and the results would also be first-class. I understand this point of view, but I don't agree with it. Strong employees also need strong leader. The stronger the individuals in your environment are, the stronger you need leader as leader . I'm not talking about professional strength here, which is a basic requirement—I'm referring more to personal strengths such as the ability to engage in debate, clarity, and perseverance.
Team interests (we) over personal interests (I)
"What Zidane did very well was to make everyone feel important. He rotated the squad a lot in the league, and everyone was really important,"said Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos. (http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/champions-league/kroos-schwaermt-von-real-trainer-zidane-52039508.bild.html)
"I'm not the best coach in the world,"said Zidane, downplaying his contribution to the nowlegendary 4-1 victory over Juventus Turinand referring to his players: "Only with them can you achieve something like this. I am also part of this team, part of this success, but not the one who plays." (http://www.sport1.de/fussball/champions-league/2017/06/champions-league-darum-ist-zinedine-zidane-real-madrids-heimlicher-held)
First and foremost, leadership is about developing other people into strong individuals and building a healthy ego among employees. This area in particular offers enormous potential for leadership, which unfortunately very few leader exploit leader themselves or in their employees. Once this step has been taken, the focus shifts from "I" to "we." The next task is to form a team structure out of strong individuals—and this is where the wheat is separated from the chaff in leadership.
In my opinion, Zidane's greatest achievement is that he managed to transform strong individuals (I) into a team structure (WE) in a very short time.
But how did he do that?
On the one hand, Zidane made everyone feel important, rotated players frequently, and communicated well. His guiding principle was always: team interests before individual interests. Only "we" wins. In implementing this principle, he also substituted his top performers such as Ronaldo and Kroos from time to time and gave them a break. This meant that Madrid had an extremely broad squad during the decisive phase of the season and the responsibility the team's results was spread across many shoulders. As a result, every individual was important and many players realized that winning is only possible with a team that functions well internally. Players who did not subscribe to this principle and continuously put their own interests before those of the team were not included in the line-up.
The application of these principles can also be observed to some extent among the "younger" generation of coaches such as Julian Nagelsmann (Hoffenheim), Hannes Wolf (Stuttgart), and Domenico Tedesco (Schalke 04) – I am curious to see what results they will achieve with them in the future.
That's why you're not really happy.
Why success and fulfillment have nothing to do with each other.
Image source:©pixabay
