Why is it that some players perform incredibly for one manager and poorly for another? Why do they perform poorly on one team and then one transfer later they are at the top of their game performing at the peak of their career? It can’t all just be a different determination (or lack of it) from the individual player, can it? Top-level athletes are mentally honed to be driven to succeed in each and every performance, each and every training session. Why do Alexi Sanchez, Romalu Lukaku and countless other players go from a club where they were incredible to another and fail?
The answer could lie in what in soccer terms is called “styles of play and culture” and in the business world we call “brand and culture.” The business management guru Peter Drucker once famously said. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” One of the reasons British players failed overseas was due to the culture. The weather was different, the language, the food and even the communications. Today, we are seeing more success on that front since the world is now more globalized, so heading from Italy back to London for the weekend for a player is like jumping on a bus. They are also far better compensated, and it’s more affordable for them to even get a private jet. Communications are better with FaceTime, texting and email. The world has shrunk, and therefore going overseas to play has less of a culture shock as many of the players have spent much more time overseas simply on vacation than their predecessors a couple of decades ago. The opposite direction is also true. A South American player used to the long beautiful beaches of Rio is in for a shock to the daily cold and rain of Manchester while getting smashed from behind during training by his own teammate!
Great players often fail at different clubs due to the style of play being different to what they are used to and what they are capable of. This is the failing of the manager and executive team for not predicting this as much as the player. Very often, the management and club execs get far too excited about the media and fan frenzy of signing a “big” player and all the marketing exposure he will bring to the club rather than focusing on whether he is the “right” player.
We see this in business all the time. Hires, mergers and acquisitions that look great on paper, but the culture of the companies and personnel involved have not been considered. The failures are too many to list. Steve Jobs and Apple hiring John Sculley. He was a top exec at Pepsi and looked like a great hire to give Jobs some “adult supervision.” But the culture of Apple was massive, breathtaking innovation driven by a relentless work ethic of programmers and “geeks” who worked themselves to death to get the new product out. As Jobs put it, Sculley came from a place where you can’t innovate Pepsi to be better. It’s just a marketing company.
The AOL and Time Warner merger was another culture disaster. There are some famously successful examples such as the Enterprise Rent-A-Car acquisition of National and Alamo, the two companies who were listed in the bottom half of the table for customer service in their industry. Enterprise infused their culture of extreme customer service, which had huge success and put the companies in the top three spots of the J.D. Power customer satisfaction list that they have held since 2012.
Not all of us have the luxury (or stress) of massive acquisitions, so how can we make all of this relevant to everyday business? The lessons from us come directly from the soccer example of signing and releasing players. Hire slow and fire fast. When we are looking to hire someone, it’s important to consider if this person is RIGHT for the company. Do they fit in with the culture? Are they going to go the extra mile, stay late, join in the monthly potluck lunch, do karaoke at the holiday party or simply get their head down and get to work? Only you know what that culture is, so only you can answer those questions. It’s important not to get excited at the prospect of hiring your industry’s Ronaldo if they are not the right fit for the company. They may be a superstar sales manager who smashes their numbers, but if they want to keep everyone on the phones after 5 p.m. on a Friday rather than adhering to the traditional company happy hour, they may not be a right fit for you.
Don’t hire the BEST person, hire the RIGHT person.
