Football, (call it Soccer, if you prefer the American pronunciation) remains the most popular sport in the world. As we all know, this year, the FIFA World Cup in currently going on in Brazil. Yes, football is a big game for entertainment, but it’s by no means a small business considering that according to a Forbes’s article, bringing the World Cup to Brazil cost the host country $11.63 billion dollars, that is roughly 61% of the country’s education budget. So what actually can any entrepreneur learn from the world cup tournament itself? A lot. Here are three of them:
1. Team Work
Like a lot of sports, team work plays a vital rule for success in football. No single player in the world cup can win the game without the help of
his team mates. Excellent stickers need their midfielders and defenders. Meanwhile, a goalkeeper can rarely score any goal to bring home the cup.
So if you’re an entrepreneur, it’s vital to create an atmosphere where teamwork thrives. The USA team was an underdogs in the so-called “group of death”, but they came out alive at second place behind Germany to move to the next stage partly because, I think they played pretty well as a team.
2. Tactical Execution
Despite the Ghana Black star’s favorable position, individual skills and standing in their group, they truly had a very poor tactical execution on the field resulting in their loss against team USA.
Big ideas and strategies all sounds very good, but in the end, most businesses, fail not for lack of plans or ideas but for weak and ineffective tactical execution. In football, it’ s all about putting that ball in the net. I challenge you to master execution of all your strategic objectives in business and you will be amazed about the results you will achieve in the end.
3. Timely Strategy
In business, timing matters lot. Jumping in too early or waiting too long on the field can cost you. And until it is over, it is never over. If you watched USA-Portugal face off, you will understand that even 30 seconds can make a difference. That is exactly what caused team USA to draw with Portugal and prevent them from ridding on to meet Germany with confidence that they had already qualified for the next round.
As a business, you need to be monitoring the time and season of your industry very closely. Technology is constantly changing and so should your response to the market place in order to serve your customers.
It’s my hope that the next time you watch a football (soccer) match, your will open your eyes widely as a coach and take a closer look at your teamwork, tactical execution and timely strategy to send your team to the finishing line with victory.
