One of the world’s top soccer managers has run out of steam. This is his lesson for us
Energy
Let’s talk about energy. Not the type that heats your house or fuels your car or keeps a factory going through the night. I mean the type of energy that separates some top leaders from the rest of us.
The Economist magazine just reported that Liverpool Football Club’s (i.e., soccer team) manager, Jürgen Klopp, is stepping down after eight wildly successful years. The team leads the English Premier League and Klopp’s contract goes until 2026. So why step away?
Energy.
Klopp and a few others, like Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand, have acknowledged that they’ve run out of the steam to keep performing at the high levels they (and we) expect. They need to recharge to be effective.
Klopp commented that his resources are finite, and that he didn’t want to do the job on “three wheels…” or “be a passenger.” He wanted to lead the team but just ran out of the energy he felt it required.
While any good leader needs ambition and competence and luck, according to The Economist, energy separates the ones who stand out over time. For extended, intensive periods, leaders must interact with employees, board members, investors, the press and many others. They must make hard decisions, travel frequently across many time zones … and do it on less sleep than many people need or want.
Extroverts have an edge here, as they gain energy from being around people much of the time. Introverts may crash after a few days or weeks and need to recharge alone.
What I find refreshing, though, is that some leaders who know themselves well, like Klopp, recognize when they need to step away fully. They realize they aren’t able to continue at top performance if they remain in their positions. It wouldn’t be good for their organizations, for others around them, or for themselves.
But who knows? Some may return recharged and become even better leaders in the future. The story is probably not over for Mr. Klopp.
Nancy Napier is a distinguished professor emerita and coach for the executive MBA program in the College of Business and Economics at Boise State University in Idaho. nnapier@boisestate.edu. She is co-author of “The Bridge Generation of Vietnam: Spanning Wartime to Boomtime.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2024 at 4:00 AM.