Due to school, these days I have been juggling with many readings, assignments and other school-related stuff. However, this has not prevented me to allocate a few minutes a day of reading Alex Ferguson’s auto bio–a book that has just come out. Alex Ferguson was the Manager of Manchester United Football Club (English football league). Ferguson was the manager of Manchester United for about 27 years in which he won 49 trophies. Because of all the trophies, his game style, great players he coached, and the transformation that the club undertook during his reign, he is regarded as one of the most successful football coach in British history and, arguably, the most successful football coach in the world. Whatever the case is, he is up there.
It is a real thrill to read his book. As I was reading this book, on the early pages of his book, I got caught on a line that reads “I decided right away that in order to build trust and loyalty with the players, I had to give it to them first.” I feel this line is loaded and would like to elaborate on this, which is also related to what we’ve seen in class.
Teams are something interesting to watch–for better or worse. Prof. Hackman (from the class reading “why teams fail”) reveals that working in teams doesn’t guarantee efficiency. They are as likely to under perform themselves, if they are not certain measures to be taken. Yet, putting the right pieces together can make teams amazing such as the case at hand.
One aspect in teams I want to point out is loyalty—which I think it is crucial for the development and efficiency of the team. Prof. HAckman does not elaborate much on this matter, but here are a few thoughts to build upon his material.
The dictionary tells us that loyalty means to be “faithful to one’s oath, commitments, or obligations. ” Loyalty is not only to be loyal to others but to ourselves as well. When Ferguson wrote this, it took me to a journey of self-reflection. Being loyal is to show one’s commitment not only for the well-being of the group but for the well-being of oneself. Ferguson showed his commitment not only to other aspect of the club but also to every single player, to the development of the player and the relationship between him and the player.
It is interesting to see that Ferguson is the one that initiates the contact with the player first and not all the way around. I find that very interesting because in a team and in life, taking the initiative to anything in life is eventually rewarding. In this case, players are human beings as well, and having Ferguson (as the boss) initiating the relationship and shows care to his players, players responded with the same actions. Since teams are formed by people, it is important to keep that human aspect in the back of our minds. This also show us that regardless of the structure, both parties (the leader and the leading need each other) People are reciprocal and appreciative towards those who help them—although this may not always apply, it is, more often than not, true. In a team, when you help others, you are indirectly helping yourself anyways, creating a win-win situation.
Moreover, having a sense of loyalty in the team is an important asset because it keeps the team members focused and bounded towards thesame goal. Ferguson also mentions “trust.” Trust is like the fuel needed to keep on going. The fuel that tells you to continue on regardless of adversities. When you have loyalty and trust mixed together towards the right goal, amazing things are likely to happened as Ferguson showed us for the past 27 years. Any thoughts on this to further develop it?
Andres
Sir Alex Ferguson : “I decided right away that in order to build trust and loyalty with the players, I had to give it to them first.”
Can’t agree more,in a team,in life ,at work..on the moon even 🙂 Trust is the strongest empowering element and a building block for most stable and succesful relationships ever.
I appreciate how the importance of loyalty and trust in a team was stressed in this blog. I couldnt agree more with the belief that the lack of loyalty and trust could be the “downfall” of a team. As distrust and disloyalty builds up, members of the team will continue to be suspicious of ones actions or intentions. It is important that the leader should be the one to set an example to its members. If the leader himself does not show these traits, the members would feel that these traits are not important.
The success of Ferguson’s leadership was based on the fact that he led by example. He did not impose to be different from his team, instead he made it a point that he initiating the relationships and fostering them as well. He saw the value of being one of them and it paid of.
I think one meaning of trust is “assume good will.” If team members keep this in mind they will go far in preventing or slowing the movement up the Ladder of Inference that creates miscommunication and ill will.
The sports analogy here is useful, but might be limited in its application to the work world. Team members do well when given trust in athletic competition because although of varied skill level, they have clear goals and practice towards them. The work world is different in that practice may not exist. Every work day is game day and managers may not have the capacity to lead by example, because they have significantly different responsibilities and varied histories. Granted, this can be overcome to apply Ferguson’s principles (which I agree with), but the differences should be noted.
Taking this example into the workplace, I feel it can help push people that extra little bit that is needed sometimes. Looking at the other side when there is no loyalty or trust in a team in an organization, things might get done, but it is much more likely to lack the element of care and dedication. For a sports team that extra little push shown by loyalty or trust can win the game, and for an organization likewise. I have worked under managers that were loyal and trusted their employees and worked for the opposite and I really had a stronger desire and concern for the managers that showed these important traits.
Alex Ferguson’s thought “I decided right away that in order to build trust and loyalty with the players, I had to give it to them first” is compelling and ideal, but it is not always the method that leaders and managers take on. I too have worked in organizations where the boss did not trust his employees. Needless to say, his employees who worked for him were unhappy leading to high turnover rates. It would be ideal for a manager/boss to be the first to trust and be loyal but this puts them in a place of vulnerability which some may not want to put themselves in. From the end of an employee’s perspective, I fully agree with Alex Ferguson’s method. He was successful in doing so and it creates a better work environment.
@ck153244 How different is this from the work world? “The work world is different in that practice may not exist. Every work day is game day and managers may not have the capacity to lead by example, because they have significantly different responsibilities and varied histories.” I argue there is no difference. Managers have everyday a responsibility to lead by example. Loyalty in an organization is crucial to keep the crew running and to keep their beliefs. E.g. Google tends to promote from inside rather than from outside. Keeping them and promoting from inside forges ties between the organization and the individual. It create a sense of responsibility to the individual that eventually translate into loyalty that should be kept every single day, whether in an office or in sports, after all, both are a type of working profession.