Ranieri Proved the Efficacy of Transformational Leadership.
- Lucas Franco de Siqueira / Edited by Samuel Hays
- May 24, 2016
- 5 min read
"The most unlikely triumph in the history of team sports", "a real fairytale", "David versus many Goliathes in English football", and "a football miracle". Claudio Ranieri was a protagonist in all of the narratives that followed the headlines above. The sixty-four year old Italian soccer coach defied the odds, 5,000 to 1 to be more exact, in the process of guiding Leicester City to win its first English Premier League Championship in its one hundred and thirty-two years of history.
The man became a legend alongside the hardworking players that he guided during the 2015-16 EPL's season. He definitely wrote his name in the history of the sport, taking into consideration that the English Premier League is considered the hardest professional football league in the world by many journalists, coaches, and even players. The league is the most watched league in the world, broadcasted to two hundred and twelve territories around the globe with the estimate of more than four and half billion people watching its intense games per year.
He coached against Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and other wealthy and well-known clubs. According to ESPN soccer, the squad value of Leicester City was of fifty-four million pounds (One of the cheapest teams in the league), as opposed to a four hundred and eighteen million pounds squad held by Manchester City. The value of just one Manchester City player, Kevin De Bruyne, was equal to the value of the whole Leicester team.
However, even though I really admire the accomplishment and the eternal mark that Ranieri and his boys left for the sport, what caught my attention was the way that Ranieri was able to consolidate a team that struggled not to be delegated just one season before they conquered England. How did he take a team from the bottom and place them on the very top in such a short period?
Ranieri Did What Most Do Not Want To Do.
This wise Italian coach focused on the process instead of the pursuit of wins. He focused on team development instead of final scoreboards, and he also focused on having a beneficial relationship with his players instead of looking at them as replaceable production units.
This coach would take all his players for pizza after they held a clean sheet (did not conceive goals) in a match, and he would pay for it! He was not just rewarding hard work, but he was actually celebrating it and using the celebration as an opportunity to bond with his squad.
He openly complimented players on interviews and press conferences. Many times, he exposed how proud he was of their fitness levels and team spirit when talking to the media.
Also, after they won the league and qualified for the most prestigious football tournament of the world, the Champions League, he came out and said, "I don't want to bring €40 million players that can break the locker room. I want players that have the same spirit of my boys. I always tell them: I don't ask you to win, but I ask you to give your best. And, they did that, many of them will do the same in the Champions League as well."
UNBELIEVABLE.
After the unexpected success, he is not changing due to pressure by media, by how the system works with the selling and buying of multimillion dollar players, and he is holding tight to the unusual mentality and character that took Leicester to the top.
What Can We Learn From Ranieri's Method?
1 - Ranieri focuses on creating an environment in which success can take place. However, he does not focus on success itself. He does not focus on what he cannot control.
This coach has explicitly shown that he cared about team spirit. Therefore, he would put effort (even from his pocket if needed! As he did with the pizzas) to obtain a positive environment/atmosphere for the players.
He understands that every other team is more likely to have their players playing out of fear or pressure. Fear of not renewing their contracts, fear of losing reputation and hurting their egos, or pressure from fans, club owners, etc. Thus, he concentrated in differentiating his team by helping them play out of joy, freedom, and for each other instead of playing for individual goals.
Everyone wants to win. Every team is focusing on outcomes they cannot control. He knew that all along, so he decided to focus on what he could control, which was the creation of an environment that fosters growth.
2 - Ranieri surrendered outcomes.
As it is written above, the Italian coach said, "...I always tell them: I don't ask you to win, but I ask you to give your best..." I cannot cite a better example of focusing on the process, from this guy.
He changed the definition of success in the club from winning = success to giving your all = success. He knew that the players could give everything they had one day and external factors like the referee, injuries, anxiety, or bad luck could make them lose a game.
Therefore, he decided to recognize what the players could 100% control: their effort, energy, focus, and how much they would give themselves on the pitch. Then, winning would be just a consequence of that, not the main target.
Even though his job depended on positive results, he decided not to give them too much weight. That is real courage.
3 - Ranieri and his NO EGO policy.
Many coaches are afraid of complimenting their players, especially, in public.
Coaches are scared that the players will get into comfort zones if they say they are good. Coaches are afraid of losing authority by publicly recognizing how great his or her players are. Also, there are the coaches that are afraid of losing their competent players, so they believe that by not complimenting them, the players will think that when they played well it was because of the coach's instructions, not because of their abilities.
Ranieri, again, showed that all of these beliefs are stupid false premises. He boosted players' confidence through not being afraid of letting them shine. He knows that everyone enjoys a compliment and loves being valued. Thus, he wanted to make sure that his players felt embraced and important for the ambitious project they hoped to accomplish. That sense of belonging and competence would give them, even more, motivation to be a part of the whole deal.
If you are a coach or you are in any position to which you can influence somebody, please, take these lessons to heart. Ranieri decided not to be broken or corrupted by the system; He acted according to principles and deeply held beliefs instead of fear. Treat your players as family, put their heart and character before their performances, let go of the scoreboards or final profit, and do not try to shine more than anybody else! The whole team is the one that has to be bright.
Comments