The thing that stood out to me the most in this podcast is that in leadership the person that is the face of the organization, or on the “podium”, is not the person that they perceive to be. They are not the person that runs the company single-handedly or holds the organization together. Sometimes this may be the case, but often it is not. The truth is that there are hundreds of people behind that figurehead how to perform important functions and show leadership daily that are unnamed. The other thing that stood out to me was the idea of change. Change requires good leadership and the ability to ask the right questions. Making the right decisions based upon the information that is available. There is a good example that occurred recently that incorporates both these concepts.
Recently in Europe, there was development among the most wealthy soccer clubs to establish a soccer league called the “Super League”. It would have consisted of only 12 teams from only three of the dozens of nations in Europe. This was devised by the billionaire owners of these soccer teams to make more money. The proposed league would end the current structure of soccer in Europe and destroy the sport. However, fans from across Europe and the World spoke up with significant uproar. Former players and current managers like Gary Neville and Pep Guardiola, who have been or are employed by these major clubs spoke up against the proposal. In less than two days, 10 of the original 12 teams backed out of the proposal and put an end to the proposed “Superleague”. This relates to podcasts because the owners of the clubs, although pretending to understand the sport and the fans, were completely out of touch. The proposed change to the sport was met with heavy resistance led by former and current players and managers with millions of fans around the world. There were hundreds of people working at these clubs that will go unnamed. However, they were largely the reason why the clubs decided to pull out. They may the owners listen to the fans of the sport and pull back the proposition. This goes to show that the head of the company is not always understanding its workers or its clientele. And that unnamed leadership and advocacy are essential to creating real change to benefit all.