Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches

by Carlo Ancelotti

  I once talked about these cultural differences in an interview and they didn’t like it in France. They said that I didn’t speak well about their country’s football – that I was a racist. I am definitely not racist and the French managers agreed with what I said in the interview. I see differences in the way things are in different countries, different approaches and cultures and management styles. One is not better or worse than the other, but they are different, and you must adapt.

  For example, my time in Spain showed me that they like to play football in a certain way and all the teams broadly like to follow that approach. There is more emphasis on possession of the ball. In La Liga, less possession means that you are at the bottom of the league, but that is because everyone plays the same way – everybody accepts the model. If you reject that model you can beat the best teams who play with that model. Bayern Munich, for example, beat Barça 7–0 over two legs in the Champions League in 2013 with less possession. Leicester City rose to the top of the English Premier League table with some of the worst possession statistics but also one of the highest number of shots of all the teams. This would not be usual in Spain.

  In England there is much more aggression and less obsession with possession. English teams and players have a strong fighting mentality. If I had to go to war, I would go with the English, not with the Italians or the French. It is absolutely essential to understand this culture, which is macho like the South Americans, but in a quiet, understated way. Didier Drogba, for example, did not understand, when he first joined Chelsea and was guilty of ‘simulation’ and exaggerating injuries on the pitch, that a big man simulating injury is not seen as manly in England – it goes against the notion of fair play, and this is a cultural thing. It is different in Spain. John Terry spoke with him and he changed, going on to score lots of goals and become a club legend. Sometimes it is better for this conversation to come from the dressing room leader and not the ‘boss’. That player can become the de facto manager for this moment, in the sense that it’s more effective when such advice comes from his teammates, peer to peer. It can be more effective and more efficient than if I tell the player myself.

  Understanding the culture, having it explained to him by someone steeped in its values, helped Drogba to flourish. This kind of cultural assimilation is fundamental to the success of a multinational, multicultural group of players because it allows relationships between the players and the staff to form and be strengthened. Football is a global business now, with people from all corners of the globe playing at the clubs. The more things the players have in common – the language, observing the cultural values – the better they can communicate and function as a team. Players who don’t assimilate become unhappy and might not stay for long. If we think of the club as a family once again, and we look to somewhere like Milan, we can see how long some of the players stayed there. They had integrated efficiently with the culture of the club. Learning the language is the best place to start for a foreign player or member of staff because it communicates one value of the person very clearly: their commitment to becoming part of the club.

  Loyalty

  It is easy, from the outside looking in, to see football and think that a leader must manage the players and also manage upwards, dealing with expectations from the owner or president, but it is easy to overlook one of the most important relationships at a football club – that between the manager and his support staff. This is where the second aspect of the family comes in, with me and my trusted lieutenants. The support staff should be there to listen, to share ideas, for support and as part of a united front as a management team. Finally, and most importantly, trust between us should be implicit – and loyalty is paramount. It is non-negotiable.

  When I hired Giorgio Ciaschini in my first job at Reggiana, we stayed together for ten years at different clubs. A very strong relationship grew up between us, so that he was part of my football family. It should be difficult to break into the ‘family’, but once in it should be even more difficult to be excluded. As you spend more time in football, working with more people, the family grows, so that you have a bigger and bigger trusted support network around the world of people you can rely upon. It is people who warrant our loyalty – not organizations. With organizations, it’s always just business.

  Originally, when I was managing in Italy, I had my family, the loyal, trusted people I worked with, and I wanted to take these people with me, from job to job. Many managers do this when they start a job – they replace the staff en masse with their own people. But my time at Chelsea would change my outlook on all of this, and show me that it was possible to forge new loyalties and new ways of working. It would make me more flexible and adaptable in my approach to leading.

  When I was having talks with Roman Abramovich and Mike Forde during my courtship with the club, I told them that I wanted to bring my own staff with me, but Abramovich said, ‘Look, we have excellent staff and great organization. These are good people working for us. You have to come to the club, see what it’s like first and then if you’re not happy you can change.’ I accepted this – but I added that I wanted to try it for one month. ‘If I feel good, great, let’s continue,’ I said. ‘But if I don’t feel good we have to change something.’

  Chelsea, then, was a first for me, as I didn’t bring any of my staff with me from Milanello except for Bruno Demichelis, an Italian psychologist who spoke English. I spent a lot of time thinking things over before agreeing to go to Chelsea. I was not sure – I had always worked with my football family before and I was a little bit worried about the language. Bruno was my safety net and he added value with his experience in the Milan lab. Of course, I would have preferred to bring my family, but it was becoming less common for clubs to allow managers to bring in so many of their own people.

  When I arrived I was quickly happy with the staff – there were top-quality people there. Ray Wilkins, who had been working with my predecessor, Guus Hiddink, was helpful because he could speak Italian and therefore be a bridge between me and the players. He was an ex-Milan player, so he was like family already. Ray provided the cultural link you need when entering a new organization. There were also excellent analysts, scientists, nutritionists – all the infrastructure was in place. And then there was Paul Clement.

  When I joined I felt that I needed one more trainer, so I spoke to the sporting director, Frank Arnesen, and we agreed to bring in Paul, who was working with the reserves, for fifteen days in the first instance, just to see how he did. After the fifteen days were up, Paul came to me and said, ‘Should I go back to the reserves?’ I said, ‘No, no, no. You stay with me.’ Paul became part of my football family. He came with me to Paris and then Madrid, before we went our separate ways when Derby County appointed him as their manager. It was Paul’s time to go alone, just like it had been with me and Sacchi before.

  When the month’s trial with the staff was up, I said, ‘OK, we do it this way.’

  My experience at Chelsea taught me that you don’t necessarily need what you think you want. Working with staff who are already part of the business you are joining can be a huge advantage. Maybe if David Moyes had given the incumbents at Manchester United a chance, things might have been different for him. I thought not having my confidants around me would be a big problem, but it wasn’t because I made new ones.

  The problem with loyalty is that it can last even when it’s damaging. Bringing in tried and trusted lieutenants sounds sensible, but presumably they were also at your side when you were sacked in your previous job. Sometimes it can take external influences to loosen the bonds. I had to leave behind loyal assistants after a successful time in Milan, because of the Chelsea system. But it taught me that you can always make new assistants who are just as loyal – and expand your football family.

  The Cultural Bridge

  When arriving at a new club in a new country, it is important to have people on the staff who have a cultural link to both the country and the club you’re arr
iving at. As I’ve mentioned, this was Ray Wilkins for me at Chelsea and at Real Madrid it was Zinedine Zidane. It’s so important to settle in quickly, to adapt to the culture and the organization and to know about the players from all levels of the club – and these cultural bridges can help with all of this. At Madrid I had to take five players from the academy and I didn’t know anything about these players, but Zidane knew all about them and was able to help me. It didn’t hurt that Zidane had a very strong relationship with the president.

  I have learned that you cannot rule out the players acting as your support. When I arrived at Paris Saint-Germain I found Claude Makélélé there. He had just retired from playing and our paths never crossed at Chelsea, but I knew of him. He became my cultural link, above all with the French players. He was effectively a key support for me in cultural issues with players and nationalities that were new to me.

  In Paris I had carte blanche to appoint my own staff. I brought in the physical trainer I had worked with at Milan. I was able to take Paul Clement and Nick Broad, who was our nutritionist and statistician at Chelsea, and who became our performance manager at Paris Saint-Germain. Sadly, he was killed in a car accident when he was so, so young. He was an amazing man and a big loss.

  In my opinion the support staff have the same importance as the players and I try to treat the staff the same as the team. Of course, I have a closer relationship with my staff than with the players, so for this reason it’s easier. It’s also easier because I don’t have to choose between them when match day comes. Effectively, they play every game.

  With the staff I look at their character as much as I do with the players or anyone else I work with. I believe that their quality will be more or less the same if they have all the qualifications. For me, again, the most important thing is trust. I need to have trust so that I can feel comfortable to delegate because I want to empower them and have them as involved as possible. I want them to have the freedom to speak with the players and sometimes I use the staff for assistance in speaking with the players myself – directing them in what I want doing. At Real Madrid, Paul Clement was important to help Gareth Bale with his induction into the club – with both the language and the culture – and he was often able to explain things to Bale better than I could.

  Every day, together with my staff, we arrange the training sessions. So we speak with each other, we organize together, have ideas together. Speaking with the physical trainer, the doctor or with my assistants can all have an effect on my original ideas. For example, Paul and I might decide that this is the day to have a strength session, but then the physical trainer might say that what we’re doing is too much or too soft and that we have to do something different. We then open a discussion and together we’ll find the right solution.

  Listening, learning, being adaptable – they’re all crucial when it comes to integrating effectively into a club’s culture. Not only that, but if my experience with the support staff at Chelsea has taught me anything, it’s that you must always be open to new ideas. Leaders cannot afford to stand still, they must always be developing, progressing. This wasn’t the only lesson I learned at Chelsea, either.

  At Chelsea, as at a lot of English clubs, they integrated the physical side of training with the technical, using data analytics, GPS and other technologies. At Milan we were used to training differently – to separate physical, tactical and technical training sessions. I didn’t especially want to change my style of training, but I did so at Chelsea to ensure that there was minimum disruption for the players and I learned to like this way too. Now I’m happy with this style and I don’t want to change it, but I am always learning, so, you never know, I may change again. I like to be open to ideas from any source – be it my superiors, my peers, my staff, players or even people outside of football. A culture of improvement is essential to success.

  CULTURE: THE QUIET WAY

  Learn the language; if you have insufficient time, study the culture. In other words, demonstrate a willingness to integrate. Insist on that from your staff as well; if you can make the effort, so can they.

  Cliques are unacceptable; eventually, you will have to break them so make it clear from the outset that integration is the only way to win.

  Cultural education can often come better from workmates rather than the boss.

  Managing the support staff is as important as managing the talent. They represent you every day in key moments when you won’t be there. Make sure they understand your plans but also the style you want it delivered in.

  You don’t always need what you think you want. Change can be liberating; don’t resist it just for the sake of it. You will inspire new people very early in the process by making them believe they are still here for a real reason.

  You need to trust in order to delegate.

  Loyalty is at the centre of relationships. It should be hard to break into a family but even harder to be excluded.

  Loyalty is to people, not organizations. For organizations, it’s not personal, it’s only business.

  Understand the nature of the organization you’re in (or plan to join). What’s the history and culture? Is it a small business, a family firm or a corporate entity?

  Move towards the culture you now find yourself in. Trust, respect and in some cases time will be granted to you if you demonstrate that you know you are the ‘guest’ in someone else’s world / house.

  Don’t get caught in overplaying the value of loyalty in your key lieutenants. Not everyone continues to grow at the pace you need so it is important to access the sustainability of their motivation going forward. People will judge you on how you build a support team to drive performance, not on how loyal you are.

  In Their Own Words … The Players

  Zlatan Ibrahimović on Carlo

  I wrote my memoir I Am Zlatan before I met Carlo, so there is no mention of him in the book. If I were to write it all over again, there would be a whole chapter on him describing how, after playing under so many different types of coaches, all different characters, I finally met the best coach ever. It nearly happened before, but I didn’t go to AC Milan when he was the coach there; I went to Inter instead. I think he has forgiven me for that by now.

  I’d heard a lot about Carlo, but you never know until you meet the person. For me, I don’t judge anyone until I meet them and get to know them, and then I give my own opinion. So, from the first day, you get a feeling. The way you approach the person, the way he reacts – I could see immediately that I would like this man. I mean, it takes just a little intelligence to see how a person works and I could see immediately that he was more than just a coach. He is, of course, a brilliant trainer, but for me what counts is the person behind. I believed right from the start that he was the right choice for Paris.

  I can speak Italian and English, so immediately we could communicate and get to know each other, and together we started what he called ‘the Parisian Project’. Everything was new in the beginning in Paris, totally different to how it is now. The pitches were a state, the team was what it was – it was a completely new project. He had come from Chelsea and I from Milan, two big clubs, to build a club that would become big. Although he had already been there six months before me, we started from the beginning.

  We’d make jokes about the situation. ‘My God, what have we done, where have we come to, what is this place?’ we’d ask each other. ‘What do we do now, what do we do first, what do we do next?’ Every day there was something new to address, which was surprising. It wasn’t organized like the big clubs we’d been involved with and you come to expect things to be like that. I mean, even the kit guys – we only had two guys for twenty-five players and we were going away to America. Paris Saint-Germain hadn’t won the league for nineteen years and we said, ‘OK, we will do this. We will make this a big club.’

  Paris was perfect for him and he for Paris, but sometimes when you have other people involved with different ideas things can happen. I know he was very upset
to leave and very upset with his friend, Leonardo. Carlo was the first one to come here – which other coach at his level in the game would have come here? It was a big risk. He’d won everything with Milan and Chelsea, but he believed in it – and he convinced other players to come and believe in the project too, and that’s not easy.

  Let me talk about Carlo the coach. No one gets angry with him, even if they don’t play, because he is not just your coach, he’s your friend. He treats everybody the same. You think it is just with you because it is so great, so personal, but it’s with everybody. He’s incredible.

  When it comes to being professional, however, and it doesn’t go like he wants, he can get angry. We played at Evian, I think, away from home and it was cold. The pitch was terrible and we didn’t play well. At half-time, you always know when something is going on because that one eyebrow goes up. As I sat down I thought, ‘Now he’s angry.’ Carlo was speaking to us and there was a box in front of him and from nowhere he kicked it and it flew through the air and hit me on the head. ‘Jesus,’ I thought, ‘now he’s really angry.’ I had never seen him like this before. When he gets angry, he gets angry – but only out of sight. Only in the dressing room. For him, what is most important is the respect. He gives you respect and he expects it in return. If you don’t respect him, then we have a problem, but the thing is that you cannot help but have great respect for him – it’s impossible not to.

  I saw this with all the players, which is unusual. In every team I’ve played for you see that, when players don’t make the team, they get annoyed with the coach, but with Carlo it didn’t happen. And if somebody were to get close to that point, I would say to them, ‘Believe me, you have a coach who only wants good things for you, even if you don’t play as much as you’d like. He cares for you and you will notice the difference when you have another coach.’ This is what everybody said when we lost him at Paris, and when he changed things at Real Madrid, the players there said that it was like they’d hoped football could be.