Leadership is an attitude to make yourself the best you can. To learn discipline and make the tough decisions in life. I do not believe in the stick model leadership. Leaders rule by setting example. The Machiavellian leadership model is of the past. The Steve Jobs of the world do not survive often unless they have the charisma that others can not resist. But the Steve Jobs of the world are far and in between.
The Watsonian model of leading yourself first which proves you have the ability to lead others is one of the core principles we want to teach with Pivot.
We must focus on developing good, strong personal leaders on and off the soccer pitch. It is not about who is the one wearing the Captian’s armband. It is about your actions and your dedication to excellence. To live the “Samurai” way:
“They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.”
“What does it mean to be Samurai? To devote yourself utterly to a set of moral principles. To seek a stillness of your mind. And to master the way of the sword.”
Once the leadership has sunk in, becoming a pro soccer player is the consequence. Only less than 20% of the talented players make it as a pro.
“To give you a number – between [the age of] 16 and 20, 67 per cent of them [players who have received a pro contract from] are not anymore in football at the age of 21,” says Wenger.
“Not even in football anymore – at all. That is already the elite of the elite, the guys in the academy. That shows you how difficult it is.”
Wenger’s statistics emphasize just how tough and rare it is for a young player to make it in the modern game.
In the next articles we will dive deeper into this topic.