The Manager: Inside the Minds of Football's Leaders by Mike Carson

and not boys, and I expected them to speak to me like a man. I became straightforward with them – not waiting six
months to tell them something that I know now. Secondly, I committed to provide more quality in my work. I’d study, I’d prepare, go into detail in my planning and preparation to ensure
that the players were as prepared as possible. And thirdly I would be much more ambitious: for the club’s success, for the players’ success and for my own success – in that order.
So now we have both style and steel. That is the phrase the team uses – it is true for them, and it is true for me.’ Rodgers’ shift to steel expressed itself in his one-to-one
dealings with players. He was still investing in them – indeed he took even more time to think through his messages and his interactions, linking them to his vision and his personal
preparation. But the messages were clearer, stronger and with no room for ambiguity.
    Changing times: steel expressed through values
    It is not uncommon for leaders to regard values as stakes in the ground – anchor points against the seemingly endless change of the environment around them. And
that’s all very well. But living out these values in the face of criticism requires a steely commitment from a football manager to his deeply held beliefs. Since joining Arsenal in 1996,
Arsène Wenger has seen huge shifts in the very foundations of football. He reflects on them from a player’s perspective, as a good leader would who understands his people. But there is
an underlying steel also to his words: ‘Let us say honestly they have gone from a very normal world to a very privileged world, today all the players are in a very privileged situation. So
how players are perceived has changed. Some people believe now that because they make a lot of money, they just have to produce. But it doesn’t work like that. No matter how much money you
make in life, you are a guy who wakes up in the morning with a pain in his neck or his knee, who feels good or not so good, and you are first a person, no matter how much money you make. At this
club – as at a number of others – we manage to keep traditional values at the foundation of all we do. These include respect for people, solidarity when people are in trouble,
supporting players’ families, keeping our word. Basically old-fashioned qualities are still respected here and maybe that is why people have fond memories of our club.’ This
understanding and these qualities are at the heart of successful one-to-one leadership.
    The Graphic Equaliser
    There are four challenges to great one-on-one leadership: capturing the loyalty of your people, understanding their humanity, the extent to which the environment you’re in
is one of high pressure and high visibility and the changing nature of the world around. In response to these challenges, football’s leaders must deliver a mix of empathy and steel.
    1. Empathy:
    The master of empathy builds loyalty through understanding, listens to his people at a profound level, shows a human side that speaks louder than the external noise and
     transcends the changing times through personal charisma.
    2. Steel:
    The master of steel builds loyalty through clarity and objectivity, makes good decisions with clear rationale but without apology, takes time in the high-pressure
     environment to get to the clarity and holds fast to his deeply held beliefs.
    There are no hard-and-fast rules for what the mix is. Instead, the leader needs to see it like a graphic equaliser. With sound, the settings are adjusted to give the right
effect for the music, the venue, the audience and the occasion. With leadership, the context is defined by the organisation and its values: the business challenge (the competing needs of task, team
and individual), the person involved (does he prefer a gentle approach to feedback, or does he value head-on confrontation) and the natural style of the leader himself.
    Individual