The Jurgen Klopp masterclass – His top 5 leadership approaches. . .

Andy McComments off.

Jurgen Klopp is now basking in the glory of  delivering the Champions League trophy to the Anfield Trophy room in a thrilling season in which his Liverpool side was pipped to the Premier League title by a singular point confirmed on the last day of the season. It’s easy to forget that he only walked into one of the most challenging jobs in football 4 years ago, taking charge of a club with a rich and successful tradition which has created an expectation for success both domestically and in Europe yet despite their rich history they had only won one trophy during the past ten years prior to his arrival.

On 8th October 2015 he signed for Liverpool where he immediately looked to implement his leadership philosophy.

Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

Vince Lombardi

 

Business leaders have long looked to sporting managers for inspiration, and often used sporting success as an analogy for analysing and interpreting business leaders behaviours, such as teamwork, motivation and people management. Coaches, managers and leaders obviously have important things in common. Klopp has deployed 5 key leadership approaches during his successful career:

Klopp Masterclass #1: Every moment of pressure is an opportunity for greatness

A high-pressure situation can crush many Managers and Leaders, however there are a few selected individuals like Jurgen Klopp who instead see pressure as an opportunity for greatness. This successful mental approach was demonstrated clearly this year in the quarter-final of the European Cup. Liverpool were playing Barcelona and saw themselves facing elimination after dropping the first leg of the semifinal 3-0 at Camp Nou, and with two of the team’s star scorers Mohamed Salah and Firmino out due to injury.  In the time between the two games, even  Jurgen Klopp was ready to admit that his team’s chances were slim, prompting him to give his players a stirring, but somewhat quizzical bit of advice ahead of the match.

Rather than implore his team that they could undoubtedly do the impossible, Klopp took a more stoic approach to hype up his team;

We want to celebrate the Champions League campaign, either with a proper finish or another goal, that is the plan: just try. If we can do it, wonderful. If not, then fail in the most beautiful way.

Jurgen Klopp understands the psychology of leadership and understands that high performance occurs when people are in a positive state so he stopped his players focussing on the negative and instead turned the scenario into a positive one – rather than heap pressure on his team to achieve (what looked like) the impossible mission… he focussed them on playing to their strengths and delivering their very best performance.  Klopp instilled in his players that the level of performance was more important than the result.  With this pressure removed, the Liverpool players did, indeed deliver a performance which stunned the footballing world and, of course, delivered the “mission impossible” – they won the tie and progressed to the final!

Klopp’s famed motivational skill is his favoured tool for getting his players to play the effective high-octane football he has become synonymous with. TV personality Johannes B. Kerner once asked him: “Everybody says you can really fire up people. If I were one of your players, what would you do now to get my adrenaline pumping?” Klopp looked at him, then slapped him in the face.

The challenge is to stay cool enough to handle the pressure in the moment so that you can succeed in the future.

Klopp Masterclass #2: Controlled Failure: Losing leads to success

Defeat or failure can break a person, team or leader, failing can damage confidence, self-belief and getting so near to a goal and just missing out can be devastating, yet Jurgen Klopp demonstrates how to use defeat as a mechanism for future success. Jurgen Klopp was quoted as saying “It’s not a problem that you lose. The problem is how long it takes to win” By not being afraid of losing, Jurgen Klopp allows his team to learn the valuable lessons that come with defeat and it’s these lessons that make his teams so successful.  12 months ago Liverpool football club were defeated in the 2018 Champions Leagues final – Klopp was famously videod joining supportewrs and players singing Pro Liverpool songs in the early hours of the following morning – Whilst Klopp lamented the result, his focus for supporters and players was clear – “this is the start – we will be back to win this trophy”  Just 12 months later he achieved his aim.

“You have to feel a defeat. You cannot say ‘I don’t care, it’s not important’. It was important and we lost, so that feels not too good. You always have to strike back. We can say all of these things, but you know you can fall down and then you have to stand up. That’s the truth, but it’s completely normal – only silly idiots stay on the floor and wait for the next defeat.”

 

Klopp Masterclass #3: Ignite passion in your team

Klopp daily exemplifies his passion for football. His enthusiasm for football is contagious, it’s clear that his players would never try to do only the minimum to get by. Since they believe in what they are doing, his players are always willing to give it all and to go the extra mile.  Klopp makes sure that the players do not see their job simply as a means to an end – money, but that the players’ hearts are in their work. Klopp was able to convince his players that they are at the right place despite the fact that many of them could earn more money somewhere else.

Klopp has successfully tapped into the career purpose and passion of his players, igniting a spirit within that translated into an outstanding performance culminating in the win of the championship.  Additionally, Klopp is never shy to show his own passion and empathy: Against a “crazy” 5-4 win against Norwich, Klopp celebrated Adam Lallana’s last-gasp strike – Klopp ran down the touchline to embrace the midfielder, breaking his glasses in the process.

Asked about the joyous scenes that greeted Liverpool’s first Premier League win of 2016, a smiling Klopp said “I don’t know, I saw nothing”. Asked about the damaged eyewear, he responded: “I usually have a second pair of glasses but I can’t find them because it’s hard to find glasses without glasses!” Of course, this also shows another important leadership trait – the ability to reflect. It is indeed hard to see where your glasses are without your glasses on!

It’s like he’s playing alongside the players. When Liverpool scores you can see Jurgen jumping in the air celebrating. When a game finishes you see Jurgen walk on the pitch hugging his players. It’s this transparency of passion and commitment that has made him so popular with the Anfield faithful, for them he is a fan like themselves and for the players they see a leader who reflects their feelings out on the actual pitch – he is one of them, he understands and “lives” the agony and ecstasy they feel, and because of this connection, he receives the loyalty and trust that every leader needs in order to succeed.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to build an inspiring vision for our team members to follow. We have to show them how the outcome will benefit them as well as the whole organisation. We must create an environment where people can thrive, grow and succeed with passion.

“I know this is a place for big football moments – we didn’t start this story, there were other people. But we know about our responsibility to try to write a few nice stories in football and tonight it was a really nice story.”

 

Klopp Masterclass #4: Put the team above everything

In football as within business, it is all too common that individuals have a quest for ego-driven glory. Therefore, Klopp puts in his players’ minds that the most important thing is the team. Together with his players, he developed a set of values for his team.

In front of the players’ dressing room, there is a signboard that reads as follows:

OUR PLEDGE:

– Total commitment

– Fierce obsession

– Determination, irrespective of the run of play

– To support everybody

– To allow others to help you

– Everybody uses 100 % of his qualities (ability and skill) for the benefit of the team

– Everybody takes up the responsibility

Klopp has undoubtedly created a great team spirit and is trusted by his players.  This is generated by his willingness to show human warmth and treating the team with fairness and respect. Every member of the team is treated the same way, irrespective of his public standing and reputation.

The great team spirit is also proven by the fact that during the whole season there were no public complaints from players who were sitting on the bench.

Good teamwork is vital to the success of any organisation, and it all starts with making all team members understand that they have to put the team and it’s future before themselves.

“We can change nothing now, but we can change something tomorrow morning. Tonight, we feel rubbish. OK, we feel s**t.” 

 

Klopp Masterclass #5: Invest in your team members & get the very best from individuals

There were many amazing individual performances in the Liverpool season – a lesser known name will be Divok Origi, who had been on the bench most of the season, overshadowed by the accepted first picks Firminho, Mane and Salah.  But with Salah injured for the Barcelona 2nd leg, this was Origi’s chance to shine, and he certainly did with two goals ( and then another in the final – after coming in as a sub)  So, Klopp has a player on the bench, who knows he is not a first choice striker and rarely gets any game time but can perform under the most pressurised of circumstances and in the two biggest games of the season, stepped up and delivered.

As a leader, Klopp somehow managed to maintain Origi’s focus and motivation for the course of the season, to be able to unleash his potential when it really mattered.  But this wasn’t all plain sailing. The first time he did get on the pitch this season, Klopp took him off at half time, unhappy with the way he was playing. So, a mixture of honest, constructive feedback and coaching, along with ensuring that over many months in the sidelines he still felt valued, important and involved.  This is a masterful example of Leadership at its highest delivery, as leaders, we all have those team members who display outstanding potential but who currently are not considered the specialist – keeping these individuals engaged and continuing to develop and improve is one of the hardest tasks for any leader. 

Additionally, in many companies, hierarchical layers are still a big barrier when it comes to the growth of young and promising talent. People have to mark time in their positions before they can move up and obtain more responsibilities.  However, when talented young employees and managers are given a chance early in their career, they typically deliver.

Clearly, effective leadership is transferrable regardless of the organisation or the sector which you may find yourself – so we will leave the last word to Jurgen Klopp himself:

“I need experts around me. It’s 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’s what leadership is: have strong people around you with a better knowledge in different departments than yourself, don’t act like you know everything, be ready to admit, ‘I have no clue in the moment, give me a couple of minutes and then I will have a clue probably.’

“That’s how I understand it but it’s no real ‘philosophy’, it’s just my way of life.”

klopp, leadership, liverpool Posted in: Leadership, Uncategorised