leadership matters
By Phil Wilson, CHRP, SHRP
World Cup
HR lessons
Like many of you, I spent much of July engrossed in the 2014
World Cup in Brazil. It was a fantastic few weeks of brilliant
soccer and it was a pleasure to see the world’s best compete
using styles of play and strategies unique to each nation.
But while I was awed by the athleticism on display, I often found
myself watching games through the prism of a human resourc-es
practitioner – especially Germany’s 1-0 win over Argentina in
the final.
HR? Soccer? Let me explain.
TALENT MANAGEMENT/SUCCESSION/
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
The German powerhouse that humiliated Brazil 7-1 and tri-umphed
over Argentina and Lionel Messi was the product of a
10-year national effort – led by the national soccer association (the
Deutscher Fussball Bund) – to remold its talent development sys-tem.
After dismal showings at both the 2000 and 2004 European
Cup, and no international tournament wins since 1996, the na-tion
invested $1 billion in youth soccer development programs,
including elite academies at all Bundesliga clubs, and more than
300 regional programs run by the national association. Promising
children are identified and begin training with these programs as
early as age four.
The result has been a football factory churning out homegrown
talent that’s quickly restoring the nation’s soccer glories. Besides
the World Cup win, this year Germany sent numerous teams to
both the European Champions League and Europa competitions
– most of whom made it far into the knockout rounds. I believe
Soccer Canada should take heed of Germany’s approach as our
current system is struggling to develop world-class talent and
teams that can compete on the world stage. The last time Canada
played in the World Cup was 1986.
TEAMWORK
In all aspects of running a business or managing programs, wheth-er
it be in the public or private sector domains, my experience is
that major achievements are a result of significant teamwork in re-alizing
a vision or mission. Rare is it that an individual effort from
a star or the most talented player in the world like Lionel Messi
will win the day. Creating a balanced team with a few stars and a
great supporting cast who all put in the effort to meet the ultimate
goal will spell success.
I coached soccer at all levels in Ontario when my boys were
growing up and I can tell you that it was natural for coaching staff
to look to the stars, but I learned that a critical balance must be at-tained
so that the focus on the stars is not at the cost of teamwork.
In Germany’s case, although they had a few stars, the rest of the
team was balanced, skilled and everyone knew their roles, which
was pivotal in Germanys’ success
ULTIMATELY, IT WAS A LEADERSHIP
DECISION – ONE THAT TOOK INTO
ACCOUNT THE TALENT MANAGEMENT
BY ADDING THE RIGHT PERSON IN
THE RIGHT SKILLED POSITION AT
THE RIGHT TIME –THAT DECIDED
THE WINNER OF THE WORLD CUP.
LEADERSHIP AND ALIGNMENT
Germany’s coaches created an environment where their play-ers
could excel. They created a vision and goals that aligned and
focused the team on attaining the ultimate goal of winning the
World Cup. The coaches understood the skills and capabilities of
all their players and could insert them as appropriate into the line-up
so that they could excel and score in critical situations.
With Germany and Argentina deadlocked at zero as the World
Cup final ground its way to the extra time midpoint, German
coach Joachim Loew sent substitute Mario Götze on to the pitch,
telling him, “Show the world you are as good, if not better, than
Messi and can decide the World Cup.”
Having lost his place as a starter earlier in the tournament,
Götze was replacing leading scorer Miroslav Klose, but Loew was
confident:
“I always had a good feeling about Götze,” he told the Guardian’s
Dominic Fifield.
Ultimately, it was a leadership decision – one that took into ac-count
the talent management by adding the right person in the
right skilled position at the right time – that decided the winner of
the World Cup. Hats off to Germany and the many management
and human resources strategies that were utilized for success. ■
Phil Wilson, CHRP, SHRP is chair of the Human Resources
Professionals Association (HRPA).
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ SEPTEMBER 2014 ❚ 9
