What can leaders learn from Jürgen Klopp?
Whilst no one would say I regularly draw parallels between the success of sports teams and that of corporate leadership teams, even the least sporty amongst us would be at least slightly curious as to what has been at the heart of Jürgen Klopp’s approach as Manager of Liverpool Football Club. He has presided over the club’s rise to the pinnacle of English football success over the last five years.
Growing up in a male, football mad household, it was hard not to be drawn into the religion that is English Football. And even if you didn’t follow them, in the 70’s as a kid, they were one of the clubs always in the spotlight for their success. Then they dropped the ball on their success and after a 30-year wait, Jürgen Klopp’s leadership of this club has transformed its fortunes. He has built strong and sustainable performance and turned the high pressure to succeed into an opportunity for greatness.
So what demonstrated leadership qualities has Klopp shown, that our clients involved in turning around team performance might learn from – I wonder...?
Creating a shared purpose and vision
A shared purpose and a vision that people are inspired by is one of the key reasons they’ll join your team and do the work required to be successful. Without the ability to inspire, it’s hard to win the hearts and minds and moreover, get them to do what they need to do in their job. People today need to understand their organisation’s ‘WHY’.
Google research can easily attest that following his appointment, Klopp’s focus was on a lot more than just filling the club’s trophy cabinets with silverware.
A former player himself, Klopp also completed a Master’s in Sports Science and is regarded today as one of the best football managers in the world – that’s a big claim. He seemed acutely aware of the need to build an inspiring vision that the team could follow. Over time, he has created an environment where people can grow, thrive and succeed while being mindful of giving the fans something to live for. Remember, most premier league football [after 30 years in NZ/Aus, I still find it hard to say ‘soccer’], is as much like a religion to the English as Aussie Rules and NRL is to Australians.
Klopp has made public, strong statements that he lives 100% for the team and what they do for the club and he has been proactive in developing Liverpool FC’s Players Pledge – a set of values and behaviours that hang up outside of the players’ dressing room.
Liverpool FC’s Players’ Pledge:
+ Total commitment
+ Fierce obsession
+ Determination, irrespective of the run of play
+ To support everybody
+ To allow others to help you
+ Everybody uses 100% of their qualities (ability and skill) for the benefit of the team
+ Everybody takes responsibility
Jürgen Klopp’s Five Lessons in Leadership:
1. CONFIDENCE: “Confidence is very important for a leader. I know I’m very good at a few things and that’s enough. As a leader, you have strong people around you, with better knowledge than you: you don’t act like you know everything and you’re ready to admit that you have no clue at any particular moment”
2. SIMPLICITY: “I have a lot more information than I give to the players…not because I want to keep it to myself, but because they have to play a football game and need to play with freedom”
3. ENERGY: “There are two reasons why I’m so energetic on the sideline: One is my character – although I’m a lot calmer than I was – and the other is that am kind of a reserve tank for the players. If I feel the energy level goes down a bit, I’m right there and can kick their butt”
4. RELATIONSHIPS: "All we do in life is about relationships. Otherwise if you only want to be responsible for the things you do and not anyone else, then live in a forest alone, or on a mountain – alone”
5. LEAD BY EXAMPLE: “As a leader you don’t always have to be the first in and the last to leave, but you do have to be an example”.
Klopp knows that good teamwork is vital to the success of any organisation and that it starts with ensuring team members know that they have to put the team and its future ahead of their own needs. For him it is crucial that they win for each other, saying that “it makes it more valuable, more worthy. If you have a bigger group to do it for, it feels better for yourself.”
Klopp believes in “a playing philosophy that is very emotional, very fast and very strong. My teams must play at full throttle and take it to the limit every single game. It is important to have a playing philosophy that reflects your own mentality, reflects the club and gives you a clear direction to follow.”
But rather than heaping pressure on the team to achieve, he has shrewdly focused on maximising their strengths and delivering their best possible performance. Klopp has concentrated his efforts on making his players realise that the level of their performance is more important than the result.
Building a bedrock of trust and safety
The foundation for high performance and effective teams involves building trust and Klopp has defined his leadership by championing accountability, communication and knowledge sharing. He has put a greater emphasis on what happens off the pitch rather than on it. As assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders points out ‘Klopp creates a family. We always say 30% tactics, 70% team building.’
Klopp has generated true team spirit and is trusted implicitly by his squad. His players know what he expects from them in different situations and everyone can play to their unique strengths. He excels as a motivator, understands how to unleash potential when it matters and connects emotionally with his players giving them an all-important sense of belonging and psychological safety.
Humility goes a long way
While Klopp shows great confidence in his leadership style with a focus on the harder tactical side of the game, he also majors on the softer human side by showing empathy and trying to understand those around him so he can give them real support.
He uses emotional displays to develop connections such as hugging players being substituted or at the end of matches, and stands shoulder to shoulder with his players and fans alike in showing unabashed passion when the team scores. There is no room for egos or pampered star players on his watch, with all team members treated equally with the same warmth, fairness and respect. His care for his players and genuine interest in their personal lives away from the pitch has been influential in players signing for the club too.
Learning from mistakes
Klopp is stoic in the face of defeat and uses pressure as an opportunity for greatness and learning. While he employs his energetic presence from the sidelines to rev up the team’s performance, he also makes the best of situations where a win looks slim. He is savvy enough to know that when people are in a positive state of mind, they are more likely to ignore the negatives and turn a situation into an advantageous opportunity.
For him, valuable lessons come from defeat and he uses that as a mechanism to make his team successful. As Klopp said: “It’s not a problem that you lose. The problem is how long it takes to win.” As an effective leader, Klopp realises that he needs to maintain the focus and motivation of his players and when they don’t deliver on the pitch he employs a mixture of honest, constructive feedback and coaching to help them improve their contribution while still feeling valued.
Klopp’s influence as a strong leader has played out on the pitch in the five years he has been at Liverpool. He has shown us that he is a people person, whose coaching style of leadership is purpose-driven, emotionally intelligent and that by not being afraid, he allows his team to learn from defeat so that they can improve next time. Klopp’s leadership has been transformational for the club and sets new standards for professional football management. The world of business should take note.
His reputation for passion and energy has heard some critics say that he’s crazy and/or unhinged! At the same time, he’s known for his clear, straightforward and equally passionate feedback, good and bad to his players.
One of the reasons why PHQ has tended to avoid sporting comparisons when we work with our client teams is because as a member of a sporting team, one doesn’t work day in, day out with your colleagues, 50 or so hours a week, 48 weeks a year. Sports teams have an entirely different rhythm, coming together 2-4 times a week for practice sessions, games and strategy sessions. Corporate life is very different to this.
But when I take a look at this man – his reputation, his empathy and compassion as well as his zest for the game he loves and the success of his business, his approach has provided an uplift in results that the eluded the ‘men in red’ for many years. Something about his positive, supportive approach is infectious to his players.
At the end, he is said to understand that he’s responsible for the success [or not] of each and every player in his team. That is something we believe as well and something we challenge our senior leaders to hold close.
About the author
Jacqui Ferris is a highly respected Executive Coach, Facilitator and Presenter who has coached and advised leaders in internal organisational roles and as an external coach, since 2003.
She is the Managing Director of PHQ and designs and delivers tailored one-on-one, team coaching and leadership development programs for executives and Board directors.