Forgive me for talking football; this is relevant to anyone in business whether you’re a football fan or not.

52 years ago, Alf Ramsey’s England team won the World Cup (this isn’t news I know).

Since then, it seems that every England team (and not just football) is constantly compared to that golden era;

Players earn too much today, they’re spoilt… 

We don’t have the right managers today…

There’s no passion…

Whatever your theory or thoughts, I pinpoint it down to two simple reasons why Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in ’66

1/. Vision

When Alf Ramsey took the reigns as England Coach in 1963, he publicly declared England would win the 1966 World Cup.  And he constantly reinforced this message to the press and his players during the three years leading up to the tournament.

Ramsey took CONTROL of ALL team affairs to ensure this vision could be realised. He punished any players caught drinking. He introduced a new training regime.  Players even had lessons on how to cut their toe nails correctly!

No excuses – he wasn’t afraid to drop his best players or to mix up tactics in order to achieve this vision.

2/. Environment 

I talk about Environment A LOT; in fact, most of what I usually talk about could be covered in my first point.

This is more about the Home Advantage, with the ’66 World Cup being held in England. And it was more advantageous back then because people simply didn’t travel like they do now.

• International players were tired from air travel and adjusting to the local time zone.
• They missed their families, became homesick.
• Drivers got lost navigating around England, trying to find the training grounds and stadiums.
• Referees were more easily swayed back then by the dominant home fans.
• These local fans were more hostile, conditions more alien.
• The Latin American style of football – where play-acting was acceptable but violent fouling wasn’t – was very different to the northern European style which was the exact opposite.

So, my questions for you this week are:

• How succinct is your vision? Is everyone aware of it – and aligned to it? How far off are you achieving it? What’s stopping you?
• What ‘home advantage’ do you have in your sector? Are you exploiting this?

BW,

Martin Norbury

The Scalability Coach | Britain’s Top 10 Adviser 2018 | Author of #1 bestseller I don’t work Fridays  | Ex-CEO of a PLC