Sir Alex Ferguson has morphed from soccer coaching legend to wise man of management—or at least that’s the plan.
The 73-year-old Ferguson, who won 38 trophies in 26 years coaching Manchester United just released his third book: “Leading: Learning From Life and My Years at Manchester United,” written with Michael Moritz, the Sequoia Capital executive. The book is 400 pages of anecdotes and musings culled from Ferguson’s years as a player and manager arranged to provide lessons about everything from inspiring excellence, to developing new talent from within an organization.
For instance, he writes of a 2001 match against Tottenham, when United fell behind 3-0 by halftime. In the locker room, Ferguson told the players they were in a “royal mess,” but instead of imploring them to score four times in the next 45 minutes, he said, “Score the next goal and let’s see where that takes us.” In doing so, he gave the squad a manageable goal. United scored five times and won 5-3.
Last week in New York, Ferguson, who lectures at the Harvard Business School, discussed elements of his management philosophy, the reason Chelsea has struggled this season, and why he’d like to have dinner with John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln.
Edited excerpts below.
WSJ: When did you realize you were more than a coach?
Ferguson: In my early years I tried to do it all myself, but you are older and you try to understand how you can keep your energy, I delegated far better…At that point I realized my presence, my experience and my leadership were qualities that people recognized.
WSJ: Was it always was your goal to become a manager with a big club?
Ferguson: My main sight was just to survive…I realized I was good at developing young people. Eventually I started to believe in young people. I think when you give a young person an opportunity, he always believes who gave him his first chance. You create a loyalty that lasts a lifetime. There is more longevity to your planning when you have young people coming through all the time.
WSJ: If you started today at Manchester United would you have been given the time to develop the team that you received?
Ferguson: The first two and a half years, the first squad wasn’t doing great but the foundation of the club was getting better and better, and that gave me the time and the trust from the board I was doing the right thing.
WSJ: Do you think there is too much short-term management in elite soccer today?
Ferguson: Short term-ism doesn’t work. There is no evidence that changing your managers repeatedly leads to success, but there is evidence at Manchester United, I was managing there for 26 years I won 38 trophies. There’s evidence in Brian Clough at Nottingham Forrest. There’s evidence with Arsène Wenger at Arsenal…You see Liverpool sack the manager after eight games. If you didn’t believe in him, why not make the change during the summer. Why wait eight weeks into the season.
WSJ: If you could have dinner with leaders from history, who would they be?
Ferguson: JFK would have been interesting. In that period from 1960-63, you deal with the Cuban crisis, the Bay of Pigs, the Cold War, Vietnam, segregation, Medicare. I wonder if any president since then had to deal with so many issues. For a young man that is quite a task and he had a personality, a wonderful appearance, a good-looking guy, and of course he came from a celebrity-based family, so I think he was very interesting.
I’ve read the great book on Lincoln’s Team of Rivals, and I thought it was fantastic that when he won the presidency, he kept his opponents in his government so he knew where they were. I don’t know anyone who would attempt to do that. I would not want them near me.
WSJ: You are a Civil War buff. Did you make war references in your talks with players?
Ferguson: I used to use a lot of things like geese, geese flying. They fly in two Vs. The ones in the front fly and the ones in the back rest and then they change over. They fly four and five thousand miles for warmth…I remember going to watch [Andrea] Bocelli. His orchestra, the timing, the rhythm, syncopation. I went into the gymnasium the next morning. I told them about the orchestra and I said that is exactly what I expect of you. Rhythm, timing, tempo. And they looked at me like I had three heads.
WSJ: You’ve said you managed your team in four-year cycles. Why?
Ferguson: Chelsea won the league last season. Twice we won it three times but we couldn’t win it a fourth time.
WSJ: Why is Chelsea struggling with virtually the same team that won the league last year?
Ferguson: There was a goalkeeper getting injured. John Terry has lost a little bit in his performance and he has been left out. That definitely is a difference because he is a leader. He has been captain for what, 12 years? He’s slowing down…They will come back. The manager is too good. He is a good manager, and he will be hunting right now.
WSJ: Do English teams struggle in Europe because the competition is too tough at home?
Ferguson: We played in Rome on a Wednesday night seven years ago, and we got a terrific result but we got a lunchtime game Saturday at Stamford Bridge. So what we did instead of flying back to Manchester and train down to London Friday, we stayed overnight in Rome. Beautiful set-up great training ground to prepare. Thought we were doing the right things, but for a good thing like that we needed 72 hours. We lost the game 2-1
WSJ: Do you miss managing?
Ferguson: I miss the team, I miss the players, I miss the staff, but I think I picked the right time. It was time for me to go. It was time for me to spend more time with my wife. I’m not saying I do spend more time with my wife, because she would throw me out of the house, but we have breakfast together. I never did.
WSJ: Who wins a World Cup first, the U.S. or England?
Ferguson: The U.S. is growing, it’s growing fast. They have started academy systems. Kansas has a good academy system. The stadiums are very good…There is an energy in the U.S., that always drives people on and I think in 12 years time you will see a big improvement.
Source:myjoyonline.com
