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Dream Big

Leadership… Emotional Intelligence

If you follow me on Twitter, you’d have noticed, that I was at Wembley on the weekend. Sunday, Nottingham Forest played Huddersfield.. in the Championship Playoff Final. An opportunity to be promoted to the Premiership and moreso… the financial advantage of £170m.

But let’s take a step back.

In September 2021… this is how the league table looked…

An announcement was made by the club…

Nottingham Forest have sacked Chris Hughton after six defeats in their opening seven league games left the club bottom of the Championship with one point.

Having already overseen Forest’s worst start to a season in 108 years, Hughton’s final game in charge was a 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough at the City Ground on Wednesday.

Hughton out.

Cooper in.

And what a turnaround.

He changed a few things. And the result was, he brought the club to a Top 6 finish and moreso.. saw Forest beat the likes of Leicester and Arsenal in the FA Cup.

But how?

Well… there’s one key thing he’s done. And that’s using emotional intelligence.

What is Emotional Intelligence Bal?

What Steve Cooper has done is build belief into the team. He’s coached the players, had the right coaching staff with him, understand what the aims and objectives are, worked closely with the CEO, got the right players in the team (loans from other teams that strengthen the team)… but most important, built a purpose of belonging.

He had a bbq and invited the players, the staff, kids, everyone… it was a lovely day. Showed that the team is one big family.

Now don’t get me wrong… he’s tried things, and sometimes they haven’t worked out. Maybe not playing a particular player for a match which was lost. There’s learnings to be had. And it’s those learnings that make us stronger.

Below is a picture of Djed Spence. But focus on what is on the poster behind him…

On the poster behind him… are personal messages from his family.

It’s these small touches that build the connection.

It’s these small touches that build the togetherness.

Yes, they are all individuals – but together a team. That needs to function but bring their individual skills and contribution to make the whole team a success.

Everyone operates differently. But having empathy, helps tremendously.

Not only with the players. But with the supporters. The way Steve Cooper has interacted. Each week has been a sell-out at the City Ground.

This leadership can be taken from the football pitch to the large businesses and organisations, where leaders are trained and built to have emotional intelligence.

There’s a number of things that Steve did… both on and off the pitch, this is the one that really struck out for me, as one that others can take away and learn from.

Oh, and this is what the table was like at the end of the season…

(For those unaware… top two are automatically promoted… 3 played 6 and 4 played 5…. then, the winners of both played in the playoff final).

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Quite a deep one today.

Mainly reflecting on a few things – personal, professional and one that has been hurting me for a few days. Well, since Wednesday night. Since, Nottingham Forest – who’d been in the Top 6 of the Championship since 26th December… fell to 7th place (and out of the play off places) at the 91st minute of the last game of the season.

My heart broke.

But – having reflected (and gone through the change curve) I strongly believe… that if certain things remain in place – and we improve on our weak areas, we will grow.

Growth in general – is uncomfortable. Because, if you are comfortable – are you learning and growing?

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Monday Motivation

I always suggest – if you have a passion, you should follow it!

Sometimes, at the start it might not work out – or success might not come that soon or as quick as you wish…. but keep going. Don’t give up. Keep learning…

Today’s Motivation comes from a footballer…

Imagine – having to pay to play!

How many of you would pay to follow a passion? May would expect to be paid!!

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Didn’t they do well….

Let’s be honest.. hasn’t it been a great Summer so far, especially with the FIFA World Cup!

All the surprises… who would have thought Germany would’ve gone out during the group stages… or that Croatia would’ve made it to the Finals?

Or how’s about, England making it to the Semi Finals? I know… although there was a moment we all thought that the finals were ours… we did very well in Russia this summer.

But most in particular for me, it came down to one thing. Leadership.

That’s right… the leader, the manager, the person in charge. Mr. Southgate.

Couple of things that really stood out for me….. (that made it a bit magical).

1. The Passion.

A normally quiet kind of guy… composed and not necessarily always full of emotions… however, the passion was there.

When we won, there was a moment when Gareth would walk over to the fans and really encourage them… Thank them…. show the passion!

And this filtered down to the players. They played with passion. They stepped up and that’s one of the reasons why the England team did well.

2. The Experience

We know he’s been there. He’s experienced heart ache. He’s got the scars and the stories.

You have to have been through those times, those difficult times…. where either things haven’t gone right and/or you know what could’ve made it better.

And it’s that…that helps you learn. Make things better for the future. With experience…. comes that knowledge.

3. Humanity

There were several other words I could’ve used. Compassion. Kindness. Sympathy…..

After the Semi Final game…. Gareth, hugged each devasted player. Hugged the staff.

After the majority had gone home. Hugged his wife. It’s this quality that shows he cares. Deep down… he cares. It matters to him. A lot.

Even at the press conference, thanked the players, the staff, the fans – especially those who travelled over… thanked Russia for hosting such a wonderful World Cup, thanked everyone.

Thank you Gareth. You exceeded expectations.

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation…

Anything is Possible.

Iceland’s Goalkeeper, in the 2018 FIFA World Cup… produced a video.

That’s his day job. To make videos. It just so happens that he’s good at goal keeping too…. and qualifies to play for his nation.

 

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A Leader Leads by Example…

Last week I was in lovely Stockholm. At a Leadership Meeting.

At the meeting, we had our Chief Executive share a short presentation – well, in fact, he didn’t have any slides… he just spoke.

There were a few things he said, that really resonated with me, and some phrases he shared that I wrote down.

You could be thinking – Well Bal… Leaders are meant to say things and share things that should resonate and folk write down. That’s why they are leaders.

True. But I’ve seen leaders previously… to whom, i’d listen to. But wouldn’t have the urge to write anything down.

This then got me thinking. In general. About Leaders…. Leadership behaviours, Leadership traits, etc… How should a Leader be?

There’s lots of traits a leader should have… Let’s take Mr Steve Jobs. One of the most well known leaders of recent times… what were the components of his leadership?

That last one… Effective Communication! – That’s the key one in my opinion. One of the most important ones.

I appreciate leaders have a lot going on. Emails, calls, meetings, presentations, etc… then there’s the day job! But what is important is having the ability to communicate.

But it’s not just communicate, but effectively communicate.

For example, I’ve heard one of our leaders previously say….  “that people are important in an organisation“. Yes – agreed, they’re important. He then went on to say, “how we have to value them and treat them fairly. ” Agree. We should. goes without saying, right?… he then shared, “sometimes, you have to make decisions which impact people” – that is true, maybe moving people around the organisation, changing roles, reduced hours, etc… change can happen. “and it’s when looking and making these decisions, we have to ensure, people are treated fairly“.

It’s not always about telling a story, but being clear and concise on the message. Allowing the audience to take away the key take away’s without you having to say, here’s the key take away’s!

And a good leader does this by example.

If he’s treating people fairly, the people below him will treat their people fairly, and so on… If the leaders are doing what they are saying, then the element of trust can build.

You probably know how I like to link sports to business.

In sports, and i’ll focus on football… you have some great leaders. Either on or off the pitch.

On the pitch, they can be visible. With their behaviours. Their attitude. Their style. But most importantly, with their communication.

Don’t forget, communication can be both, verbal and non-verbal.

Actions speak louder than words.

So if you are a leader, or aspiring to be a leader… firstly, take note of the above components – embed them into your day to day activities and long term goals… (you might be wondering, Bal… how do I learn how to communicate… well… there’s courses… and these days, you could probably do what I do, and jump onto YouTube and watch some of Steve Jobs presentations… or watch a video of people sharing top tips on how to communicate) – but remember, it’s also about non-verbal as well. Secondly… watch the video below of Carlos Puyol. His leadership behaviours are a great example to follow…