I was delighted to appear on BBC Radio 4's The WorldTonight programme last Thursday to discuss the leadership angle on José Mourinho's departure from Chelsea and Dylan Hartley possibly becoming the New
England rugby union captain.
I commented that Mourinho appears to have a strong ego
that is both a driver of success and a barrier to being a really effective long
term leader. Too often he is the story rather than the club or players he is
managing. He is a classic hero leader, I would suggest, being naturally
brilliant and very much the centre of attention, the 'Special One' indeed. He
has brought immediate success to the clubs he has managed, but at a price. He
is said to have fallen out with the players at both Chelsea and Real Madrid,
but places the blame squarely with the players, saying that he has been
'betrayed' this week and that he was 'stabbed in the back' at Real in 2013.
This is not the stuff that trust is made of.
Hartley is a more pragmatic character, with a 'win at all
costs' approach to rugby that seems to include behaviour such as biting,
gouging and punching opponents. His
behaviour demonstrates what he really values, which is winning rather than any
more noble code of conduct. Eddie Jones,
the new England manager, may select him because he is a very experienced and
effective player, and he brings this winning mentality to the team. But if he does he will be demonstrating the
same pragmatism as Hartley, and I am not sure that the resulting England team
ethos will be one which I would want my sons to follow.
You can click here to listen to my interview on the BBC website. It begins 32 minutes in.
You can click here to listen to my interview on the BBC website. It begins 32 minutes in.
