After the 5-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford, Liverpool wents went crazy! As a Liverpool fan myself, I must admit that I’m thrilled. But this post is not about bragging about why Liverpool is the best club in the world. Rather, what I’ve learned from Jurgen Klopp about leadership and management.
If you’re a Liverpool FC fan, you’re going to enjoy this. However, if you’re a fan of an opponent team, I hope you can draw some leadership lessons for you to be a better leader, manager, and coach.
And if you’re not a football fan, rest assured, I’m not going to bore you with football terminologies. Only the important leadership lessons that you need.
Prior to Klopp’s role as a manager of Liverpool, it has been 30 years since Liverpool FC was last crowned champions of English football. When Jurgen Klopp arrived at Liverpool, he took over a team in mid-table that had won one of their previous 9 matches. One that had scored only 11 goals in their previous 11 games.
Unlike other wealthy teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, or Manchester City, he did not have the luxury of unlimited funds to sign superstar footballers for insane money.
So, how did this manager transform Liverpool in less than 5 years to two European Champions League finals, winning one, and to their first English League title in 30 years?
Lesson 1: Deep Connection With Team and Players
In a 2018 article, the Guardian said, “Klopp’s inclusive leadership, ensuring everyone feels nurtured and needed, is at the root of his success.”
Klopp himself said, “I have this helping syndrome, I really care about people and I feel responsible for pretty much everything.”
In another interview in 2019, Klopp said, “All we do in life, how I understand it anyway, is about relationships.”
Klopp lives this by making sure he knows each person by name at their training facility and the same goes for his players too. This allows them to create an atmosphere of working towards a goal together. They lose and learn together. They win and grow together.
This is something that translates to the business world and leadership too. At the end of the day, it is our relationships and the effort we put into nurturing these that provide the most value.
Klopp is renowned for his hugs, but alongside this, he shows genuine interest in, and cares for, his players. One research showed that showing genuine interest in players strengthens the trust between coaches and players which, in turn, enhances a coach’s inspirational capabilities.
His emotional displays are important to developing connections, as coaches who display “harmonious passion” have higher quality with athletes.
In fact, Klopp lives this not only with his players and backroom staff, just watch how he connects with Liverpool fans after every single match. He is one rare manager who gets his fans loud, emotional, and ready to jump – literally.
Lesson 2: Create a Clear Vision & Be An Example To Everyone
When Klopp first arrived at Liverpool in October 2015, he outlined a positive and exciting blueprint identity to inspire players and fans at a time when Liverpool was not performing well. He stated that Liverpool would win the title in four years.
Besides outlining a clear vision that is aligned with the club’s values, he was very clear and congruent with his words.
In an interview, Klopp shared, “I try everything to be as successful as possible. I live 100% for the boys, with the boys, what we do for the club. I think that’s leadership in the first case. As a leader, you cannot be the last who comes in and the first who goes out; you don’t always have to be the first coming in or the last going out, but you have to be an example.”
As a leader, you cannot say one thing to then do another and expect people to trust you. As a leader, you need to lead by example and show that you walk the walk too. This is an essential behavior to show your people that you are all in this together and are here to support each other no matter what.
If you want others to follow you, then you must lead by example. As a leader or coach, don’t just tell people what to do. Show them how and do it together.
Progression in the Premier League was evident. Liverpool finished fourth in Klopp’s first full two seasons, second in the third, and champions in his fourth full season.
Lesson 3: Hire Smart People & Support Them To Grow
You’ve probably heard Steve Jobs saying, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Jurgen has a very similar philosophy, “I need experts around me. It is really very important that you are empathetic, that you try to understand the people around you, and that you give real support to the people around you. Then everybody can act. That is what leadership is: Have strong people around you with better knowledge in different departments than yourself, don’t act like you know everything, be ready to admit, ‘I’ve no clue at the moment, give me a couple of minutes and then I’ll have a clue probably.’ My confidence is big enough that I can really let people grow next to me, it’s no problem.”
As a business or sales leader, you cannot know everything. Very often, we might have our salespeople asking us questions that we might not be able to answer. Yet, most people do not have the guts of saying, “I don’t know.” They think that they will be perceived weak!
Not many business or sales leaders have the degree of vulnerability to say, “I don’t know but let’s work it out together.”
When you say that, you can create better connections with your people. The purpose of a team is to create a team of experts who can work together to achieve a common goal. A good leader provides an environment that supports their people and creates the platform in which they can grow too.
Lesson 4: Confidence & Humility
Klopp explained, “Confidence is very important for a leader. If I would expect from myself that I know everything and I’m the best in everything, I couldn’t have confidence. But I don’t expect that. I know I’m good in a couple of things, really good in a few things, and that’s enough.”
Humility is often misunderstood for the lack of confidence. One of the Latin roots of humility means “from the Earth.” It’s about being grounded – recognizing that we are flawed and fallible.
Confidence is measured by how much you believe in yourself. You can be confident in your ability to achieve a goal in the future while maintaining the humility to question whether you have the right tools in the present. That’s the sweet spot of confidence.
As a leader, you should know where your strengths are, explore what you don’t know, and let other people help you with their expertise.
Be confident in your skills and expertise. Know what you can bring to the group. But don’t be blinded in thinking that you need to be the expert in everything and anything. That is impossible for all of us.
Practice confident humility. It doesn’t just open our minds to rethinking – it improves the quality of our rethinking. Plenty of evidence suggests that confidence is just as often the result of progress as the cause of it. We don’t have to wait for our confidence to rise to achieve challenging goals. We can build it by achieving challenging goals as a team.
Lesson 5: Listen and Learn
Klopp shared his philosophy in an interview, “I always have a lot of information to share with the players. But I keep it not because I want it all to myself but because they have to play a game and they need to play it with freedom.
When a new player comes in, I don’t give them any information. I let them play, learn about them and what they do naturally. We can then make assessments, see what’s working and what we might want to work on. I learn a lot about my team every day, like how to treat them and work with them. A lot of discovery happens in 1:1 conversation just as much as in group conversations. I try to learn more and help my people do the right things at the right moment.”
The biggest problem with most leaders is they think that they are listening, but in fact, they are not! One thing great leaders learn is the art of active listening. If you wish to understand and form deeper connections with your people, say less and listen more. It can be your key to learning how you can help an individual basis and improve the way your team works.
In order to listen and learn about your people, you need to build an environment in which they can do this. Keep things simple and create opportunities to learn more about each other. You learn more every day about the people in your team.
Also, one on one time with each of your team members is just as valuable as group coaching. Building strong relationships means you must connect with people in one-on-one situations. Provide safe environments for them to express thoughts, feelings, and let them be heard. You can learn an incredible amount about your people in both these setting so make sure that you invest the time for both one-on-one coaching and group coaching.
In summary, here is what you can learn from Jurgen Klopp on leadership:
Lesson 1: Deep Connection With Team and Players
Lesson 2: Create a Clear Vision & Be An Example To Everyone
Lesson 3: Hire Smart People & Support Them To Grow
Lesson 4: Confidence & Humility
Lesson 5: Listen and Learn
As a result, Liverpool as a team has evolved in such a way that they can now dominate all opposition, handle all game states. What had been one of the youngest teams in the English Premier League has now matured into the best.
It has been a journey of discovery for the team. A journey with a leader and coach who gives his players freedom to solve problems for themselves through his guidance and learning.
A team who was taken over at the midtable. To now becoming one of the best in the world.
Manage Your Sales Team Like A Sports Team
Being the sales leader is like being the coach of your sports team. You are only the head coach as long as your team is winning. Always have that in the back of your mind. It’s your job to motivate and keep them focused. Help them to win, and when and if they lose, help them get beyond that loss.