Your track record means nothing if you can’t change track

Imagine, you’ve just been offered your dream job. But, the only thing higher than the pedestal that’s now yours for the taking is the expectation that come with it. The brief is crystal clear: win – which none of the previous 18 holders of that role achieved. It’s why the pedestal is vacant, and why they call it ‘the impossible job’. So would you take it?

Next to running a country, running a country’s national sports team must surely be the toughest job going. In New Zealand, it’s rugby, Barbados, cricket. In England, it’s football, which hasn’t come home since the Beatles were all still friends.

Last week Thomas Tuchel was appointed as England manager. He’s been given a short 18-month contract, just long enough to reverse a 60-year losing streak by winning the 2026 World Cup.

Two things about his leadership have opened him up to criticism. There’s such evidence that his alpha male style has triggered the fear factor in his players that he’s had to develop a softer approach. And he doesn’t seem to have the conviction to commit to a preferred formation on the pitch, which is atypical and worrying some commentators.

Reasons for England fans to be worried?

No, I don’t think so, and here’s why: Any leader at the top who’s still working on their own game has a growth mindset that will set the tone for the team. Whether or not Thomas has read Marshall Goldsmith’s ‘What Got You Here Won’t Get You There’, he gets it. And any leader who’s prepared to deploy a range of strategies in response to a range of conditions – rather than being a one-trick pony – is more likely to win.

In short, Tuchel possesses a level of adaptability – in both his man management and strategic thinking – that will enable him to exploit the marginal gains that make all the difference at the elite level.

Leaders whose long legacy of success has calcified their M.O. are destined to be dinosaurs. And leaders whose legacy of success has given them such momentum they can’t turn when the game heads off at a tangent will quickly disappear into obscurity.

Tuchel might just succeed, not because he’s got a history of being a winning machine but because he’s a learning machine.

Rich Alderton specialises in Adaptability Intelligence, so why not call us on 07873 823 800, email us or complete our enquiry form to find out more?

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