Mgmt Case Study - Brisbane Lions
Introduction
Successful leadership within a high performing organisation has parallel elements to the management of an elite sporting team (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). Much like organisations, a successful leader in a sporting team must exhibit strong leadership traits, plan and formulate strategies in advance, have competent human resource management (HRM) skills, and establish the appropriate organisational culture (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). Such an example of a successful sporting team would be the Brisbane Roar soccer team; their achievements during the 2010 - 2011 season were exemplary, where coach Postecoglou led the Roar to 36 consecutive wins including a victory at the grand final (Morton 2011). In order to achieve such a result, Postecoglou forced the Roar to undergo numerous changes in order to create the team as he had envisioned, in particular he made dramatic changes within organisational culture, strategy, and the team's competitive advantage (Schermerhorn et al 2014). Although Postecoglou's title was officially as a manager, he had a clear vision which he directed the team's efforts to achieve, and coupled with his strong leadership traits, an argument could be made that he also assumed the role of a leader (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). The following paper will highlight the examples of leadership, planning, strategy, HRM, and organisational culture theories that were applied by Postecoglou, and in addition identify the key changes he made during his time at the Roar during 2010 - 2011. Furthermore, the paper will reinforce the notion that Postecoglou assumed the role of a leader, through delineating the differences between management and leadership, and by highlighting the leadership principles that he exhibited.
Management Aspects
Most management theories are written from the perspective of a business or company manager, but the application of these theories are also evident in other context and settings, in particular an elite sporting team. Aspects of leadership, planning, strategy, human resource management and organisational culture can be observed in the case of Postecoglou’s management of Roar soccer team.
Team Leadership
Based on the information in the case, Postecoglou displays a number of relevant traits for good leadership. Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) identified several personal traits that help define a leader; such as drive, confidence, emotional intelligence and specialised knowledge. These traits can be critical for leadership; for example, without drive it is unlikely a leader will be able to pursue a task and gain expert or specialised knowledge in a chosen field, which may express itself as a lack of confidence and thus ability to lead (Kirkpatrick & Locke 1991). To further elaborate, Postecoglou's level of self confidence could be explained through his acquisition of specialised knowledge during his time as both player and coach in the past, and his personal passion and drive to succeed (Schermerhorn et al 2014). This level of self confidence enabled Postecoglou to maintain his drive and continue to pursue his goals even through initial failures and criticisms. Consequently he was able to achieve his long term goals and set a remarkable record and remained undefeated for the 2010-2011 season (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). Another leadership trait that was apparent with Postecoglou was his high degree of emotional intelligence, that was observable by his calm demeanour even during times of great pressure, specifically his maintenance of composure during the grand final (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). Self confidence and a high degree of emotional intelligence and control are vital in maintaining motivation, and confidence especially in times of pressure (Kirkpatrick & Locke 1991; Schermerhorn et al 2014). Postecoglou's control of emotions coupled with his self confidence
Planning & Strategy
In terms of planning and strategy, Postecoglou had a clearly defined, step by step checklist that outlined his goals and how he wanted to achieve them (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). His objective was to change the team's environment, to focus more on team cohesion rather than individual ability. (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). Much like many business planning process, Postecoglou applied the 'SMART' principle, where objectives were specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and timely (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). Specifically he was aiming for a high possession strategy that would be easily measurable through statistics such as possession percentage and number of goals scored. Furthermore, this was realistically achievable though more highly structured training sessions that replicated actual game play, and through the recruitment of players that he knew would accept his playing style and strategy (Schermerhorn et al. 2014) .