Hellen Ward’s blog has been turned into a video. Please watch below:
A long-standing salon insurance customer of Salon Gold, Hellen Ward expresses how we should take inspiration from the leadership of Gareth Southgate in England’s performance, and how we can use this to inspire our own salon teams.
Being a football loving woman, it goes without saying that I am gutted that we are out of the World Cup. But watching our talented young team, as well as their inspirational leader, I think there are lessons to learn from this amazing bunch of players for anyone involved in management.
What made this our most successful recent squad? What magic ingredient (other than their fearsome left/right feet) did this particular generation of players have that was different than their predecessors? How much of their success was down to their skills on the pitch, and how much was due in part to the way they were managed?
Of course, it will be a combination of both elements that led them to be so successful in the most treasured of the beautiful game’s tournaments; after all as fans of our national game have pointed out, we’re not used to being excited, thrilled and amazed by our national team’s performance on the world stage…
I’ve been thinking about how Gareth Southgate and our lads have created something in this squad that we can all be so proud of and what elements we can take back to our own salon teams to motivate and inspire us all.
Ego – or rather, the lack of it
Think back to some of our recent teams where their club sides and financial value seemed to play such a part in the jostling for power. This team seem to have parked their ego’s firmly at the door. None of the pampered, preening footballing ego’s seemed like they needed stroking.
Humility
Can you imagine Southgate doing a Sam Allardyce and bragging about how he could manipulate the game in any way? Of course not. He’s an all-round good guy, as the Twitter feed #GarethSouthgateWould demonstrates. Yes, he really would go round your house and get your washing off the line if it started raining.
Teamwork
We all know there’s no “I” in “team” but this side really walked the walk instead of just talking the talk. I know lots of them have been together since the youth squad, and with Southgate in that time too, and I know that you could actually say it was Spurs 1, Croatia 2 (so many of them play for Tottenham) but they really do gel together. They think about their performance as a whole, not just individually.
Role models
From wearing their M&S suits (as if they’d dress from there in real life…) to singing the National Anthem properly, they’ve inspired us all. Patriotic, behaving correctly, no dirty play on the pitch or off it. They do what’s right. They’ve made behaving well cool. At last!
Pride
Pride in how they play, pride in their country. And their pride has made us proud of them. Win or lose… football did come home.
As any manager of young people should, I’ve watched them and enjoyed them but they’ve also made me learn lessons that I want to utilise in my young team. Well done boys. We love you.
What lessons do you think Gareth Southgate’s performance in the World Cup has taught you about good leadership? Share your thoughts with us in the comments on Facebook and Twitter.
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