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the
manager
WINTER 2011
— MANAGEMENT EDUCATION —
THE BUSINESS
"It's all about
mutual
self-interest"
As part of a research project into football management education,
The Manager
sent a current practitioner to interview an expert in the subject
words
Aidy boothroyd
With the opening
of St George's
Park imminent, many of us involved in
football have been thinking seriously
about the role of management training
within the context of the game.
The role of the modern day football
manager is, in one way, quite simple
– keep winning matches and you'll
usually stay in the job. However, it can
also be quite ambiguous and complex,
depending on variety of factors
including the size of the club you work
for and the individuals you report to
(and who report to you).
All of us do, however, have to coach,
manage and lead at various times
during our working day. Usually, the
way we find out how to do these things
better is by listening to the wise words
of a more experienced colleague or,
more often, by learning on the job
(often through our mistakes).
There are, of course, some
educational routes we can follow –
the UEFA coaching badges and the
LMA's management course at Warwick
University, for example – but the
facilities offered by St. George's Park
will increase these options.
During the 'free' time I had prior
to my recent appointment as manager
of Northampton Town, I worked on
a project for the LMA, canvassing a
variety of people from within the game
as to what they would like to see in
future football management education.
Before I started this project, though,
I thought I should speak to an expert
in the field of management education.
I found the perfect person in Stuart
Timperley. Stuart understands both
football and management as he's not
only a director of Watford FC, he
also has 30 years practical experience
both as an academic and in the private
sector working as a management and
leadership consultant.
different things, or the same thing
approached from two different angles?
ST: There are differences between
the two – and a lot of that has to do
with time frames. Management is
essentially about influencing things
in 'the now', while leadership is more
forward-looking, it's about shaping
and guiding things, giving things a
sense of direction.
Leadership is about philosophy,
it’s about values, it’s about choices
and it’s about strong views; it’s about
weighing one thing up against another
and making a decision. You can have
all the data in the world, but that data
won’t make a decision for you – it's
your interpretation of the data and the
situation that's important.
AB: So management is about short- to
medium-term action, while leadership
is more about long-term thinking?
ST: Yes. There is a difference between
taking charge of an organisation that's
in 'turnaround' or leading something
which needs building. In the former
situation you make quick choices; you
can't be too scientific or too analytical,
but you will be active and you will, out
of necessity, be very directive.
I did some work once with the
global corporate turnaround practice
for the company that's now called
Accenture, where we looked at a range
“Leadership
is about
giving things
a sense of
direction”
I spent an intense couple of hours
with Stuart, during which our
conversation covered a wide range
of subjects. The following are some
extracts from that conversation, where
we touched on the fundamentals of
leadership and management.
AB: So, Stuart, I would like to start
with the whole question of leadership
versus management. Are they two