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— Management conference 2011 —
Kicking off
the
manager
WINTER 2011
Understanding
World Class
Leadership
The LMA’s third Annual Management Conference, sponsored by Barclays, provided an
array of management insights to a packed audience of leaders from football and business
more than 250
of the LMA’s
members, sponsors and commercial
partners came together with delegates
from the worlds of sport and business
at The Emirates stadium on
Wednesday, October 12th 2011 to
take part in the organisation’s third
Annual Management Conference,
sponsored by Barclays.
Following a welcome address from
LMA chief executive Richard Bevan,
the event began in earnest with a
presentation from the leading business
speaker Jeff Grout, in which he offered
insight into how some of the UK’s top
sportspeople and business leaders
operate (turn to page 17 for more).
Grout’s presentation was followed
by an in-depth conversation with two
former Middlesbrough managers,
Gordon Strachan and Gareth
Southgate, conducted by the event’s
host, the broadcaster Matt Lorenzo.
This covered a variety of topics,
including the loneliness of leadership
and the inherent insanity of the
managerial merry-go-round. Strachan
offered his thoughts on how tough the
job can be for those who are just
starting out (“The early days in the job
can make or break you.”) while
Southgate argued that, despite the
notorious ‘churn’ of managers in
English club football, anyone going
into the job should “...manage as if
they’re going to be there for 10 years.”
Southgate and Strachan were
followed onto the stage by the former
Red Arrows pilot Justin Hughes.
Hughes, who now runs the
management consultancy Mission
Excellence, offered a behind-the-
scenes look at how the Red Arrows
team is structured and how its
management system functions.
The most striking element of this
– as demonstrated by a ‘fly on the
wall’ video of an actual flight debrief
– was the air of open dialogue which
is encouraged between all members of
the team, regardless of rank or
experience. The policy is that each
debrief begins with an address by the
team leader, who admits his own
failings and notes how he could
improve his performance, before
handing it over to the other team
members to do the same. This,
Hughes believes, leads to a culture of
learning and accountability which is
vital in the high-pressure environment
of formation flying, but is equally
important in any team situation,
whether in business or sport.
After a short break, the floor was
turned over to the chairman of the