The Three Levels of Leadership – Scouller Leadership Blog April, 2016 | The Three Levels of Leadership - Scouller Leadership Blog
What Went Wrong at Chelsea (Part 3)
Why did Chelsea football club go from runaway English Premier League champions to relegation candidates within 16 games in 2015?
It was an extraordinary collapse that no one foresaw. In 2014-15, Chelsea won the English championship by eight points having lost just 3 games over a 38-game season. But 16 games into the 2015-16 season Chelsea were only one point above the relegation zone, having already lost 9 games. Experienced commentators said they’d never seen anything like it before in professional football. So what happened? This three-part post explores the possible system story behind the club’s on-field collapse which led to Jose Mourinho’s sacking … and what leaders can learn from it.
On Monday I posted part 1, defining what I mean by a system and a system story. Yesterday, in part 2, I posted the Chelsea story. Today, in the final part we’ll analyse the story to see what leaders can learn from it. Continue reading →
What Went Wrong at Chelsea (Part 2)?
Why did Chelsea football club go from runaway English Premier League champions to relegation candidates within 16 games in 2015?
Here was a collapse that no one foresaw. In 2014-15, Chelsea won the English championship by eight points having lost just 3 games over a 38-game season. But 16 games into the 2015-16 season Chelsea were only one point above the relegation zone, having already lost 9 games. Experienced commentators said they’d never seen anything like it before in professional football. So what happened? This three-part post explores the possible system story behind the club’s on-field collapse which led to Jose Mourinho’s sacking … and what leaders can learn from it.
Yesterday I posted part 1 and defined both a system and a system story. Part 2, in which I tell the Chelsea system story, follows today. Tomorrow in part 3 we’ll analyse the story to see what leaders can learn from it.
Imagine This Story…
What Went Wrong at Chelsea (Part 1)?
Why did Chelsea football club go from runaway English Premier League champions to relegation candidates within 16 games in 2015?
Here was a collapse that no one foresaw. In 2014-15, Chelsea won the English championship by eight points having lost just 3 games over a 38-game season. But 16 games into the 2015-16 season Chelsea were only one point above the relegation zone, having already lost 9 games. Experienced commentators said they’d never seen anything like it before in professional football. So what happened?
This three-part post will explore the possible system story behind the club’s on-field collapse which led to Jose Mourinho’s sacking … and what leaders can learn from it. I’ll argue that the story’s main actors (the official leader, the people who commission the leader and the “followers”) must stand back at times and see the whole emerging story rather than let its individual elements blind them. That way they’ll have a chance of steering their organisation away from a downward spiral into crisis. However, this intellectual truth will count for nothing if – while mired in the crisis and feeling the pressure – the actors don’t remember it and find a way of seeing the big picture. The key? It’s self-mastery, the ability to choose your emotional reactions under pressure – a continuing theme of this blog. Today I’m posting part 1. I’ll post part 2 tomorrow and part 3 the day after.
Two New Books to Come…
I want to apologise for not having posted a blog for four months. It’s because my attention has been elsewhere. More specifically, it’s been on completing the second edition of The Three Levels of Leadership (due out at the end of May 2016) and on starting my long-awaited second book, which will be on teams.
For those of you wondering “Why a second edition of ‘Three Levels’?” here’s what I’ve written in the new book’s preface: Continue reading →
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