Leading the Lionesses
If talking and hearing about football does for you what spreadsheets do for me, then feel free to look away now.
If you follow football, even vaguely, you’ll be aware that the Women’s Football World Cup has been taking place in Australia and New Zealand, featuring the UK’s Lionesses managed by Sarina Weigman in the final this Sunday.
I’ve just been listening to Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 where Anita Rani was interviewing the former Lioness Ellen White, top female goal scorer and a key part of the European Cup Champions team last year.
The chat was all about the England Manager Sarina Weigman and what makes her such a successful leader.
I was driving while I was listening to this and found myself grinning from ear to ear at how Ellen answered this question:
“Many are saying that Sarina Wiegman is the best football manager in the world right now, would you agree and what makes her so special?”
The answer was NOT about how much she knows about football. It was NOT about her team strategy, her level of control or her competitiveness.
It was this:
“Oh 100%, she just instills a calmness, a level of togetherness, this culture that the whole group wants to buy into. She wants to get to know everyone on an individual basis, she’s got a lot of empathy.
“We’ve been waiting for a manager like this for so many years and then to tie that into having a really talented group is an incredible recipe for success.
“I wish I could experience having her as my manager for a lot longer.”
Now, I’ll bet if Sarina took the TRAIT Test™, she’d have Cheetah up there (of COURSE she is competitive, she wants to win!) but her leadership style is all about building relationships with her team, seeing them as individuals and building a culture that everyone in the team wants to be a part of.
So that’s what a great leader does. Who knew?
Me. I did. And that’s *exactly* what we give you the tools, practise and confidence to do on our leadership workshops.
Now, if we can just win one more match – COME ON YOU LIONESSES!
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