Developing winners
The German team that won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was the result of a development system that Germany revamped starting fourteen years ago. In his article “Germany’s World Cup triumph a victory for intelligent design,” Barney Ronay of the Guardian calls the new system
“the most perfectly calibrated, most relentlessly first-world system for producing high-class footballers yet devised, a piece of intelligent design that has now flowered to its logical end point.”
That system is the result of a crisis. In 2000, Germany didn’t make it out of the group stage in the European championship. Brendan Greeley of Business Week compared that to the New York Yankees finishing dead last in the American League East. Something had to be done.
It was. By 2002, there was a plan in place to improve the development of German youth players who would someday play for the national team. Someday is here.
Leadership development lessons
There are lessons in Germany’s player development program that you can apply to your leadership development program. Here are four.
Leadership development should be a process
Germany took a look at the entire development process and then changed parts of it. Take a look at the paths people in your company take to leadership. Then, design your program around what works and make changes where they’re needed.
You have to spend money
In the period from 2002 to 2008 spending on German player development doubled. You won’t get results without committing resources.
You have to take the long view
Mario Goetze, the player who scored the winning goal for Germany in the final championship match is a product of the process. He was eight when the German national team was at its low point. Like player development, leader development takes time.
Commitment is vital
Like player development, leadership development requires commitment. You need to provide money every year. You need to commit other resources of time and attention. Top management has to make it a priority. Other managers need to make it part of their work.
Assess your leadership development program. Can you reasonably predict championship-caliber leaders twenty years out? If not, what are you doing about the situation?
