Almost a year to the day since they triumphed in the Champions League with a temporary manager, Chelsea did it again – beating Benfica 2-1 to win sister tournament, the Europa League. The victory means that the club has now won 11 trophies in nine years, under an astonishing eight different managers. Does the team’s win prove that consistency and loyalty are not, in fact, required ingredients for success?
Goalkeeper Petr Cech certainly seems to think so, comparing Chelsea’s record with that of Arsenal: just the one manager, Arsene Wenger, who has won no trophies at all in the same period. He makes the shrewd observation that when they have run into difficulties, “the easiest cure is to shock, and to change the manager. You can’t change 20 players in the middle of the season”. It’s an interesting idea: in each of the last two seasons, a small dip in form has led to the squad having a jolt in the form of new management, which has seemed to galvanize the players. Both temporary managers – first Roberto Di Matteo, then Rafa Benitez – have walked away with trophies.
Perhaps the same idea can be applied to businesses: a constant threat of management change and a high turnover at the top could be effective in keeping the rest of the workforce on their toes. However, the devil is in the detail: firstly, Chelsea’s constant stream of new managers has cost a vast amount in remuneration and compensation; secondly, they have also notched up heavy expenditure on new players, regardless of the manager (perhaps they could have done even better without the chopping and changing). Thirdly, it’s important to note that there has been consistency within the team in the form of the senior players of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Cech himself. Those players, in their own ways, have effectively run the team. A fourth point to note, though, is that the team has failed to develop a distinctive style in the manner of Barcelona or Manchester United – almost certainly because no manager has been present long enough to impose a philosophy. Meanwhile, Terry et al – being players – are not best positioned to objectively think any further than the methods needed to win the next game.
It is this latter point that means they will struggle to gain a worldwide reputation and following in the manner of those clubs. The great companies and businesses are forged in the image of a consistency of thought and style under strong leadership: think Steve Jobs at Apple, Bill Gates at Microsoft, James Dyson at his eponymous electrical goods firm, and perhaps even Richard Branson at Virgin. Leaders of that calibre have also gripped the public imagination, earning loyalty even through hard times. That, surely, is what great firms should aspire to. Chelsea’s methods may have maximised their short-term returns, but it is perhaps not a viable strategy for long-term success.
Image of Petr Cech and Chelsea squad courtesy of Laszlo Szirtesi / Shutterstock.com