EXCLUSIVE: Ramon Vega: What makes a good leader?

What makes a good leader? It is a question that I have often come across in both the worlds of football and corporate finance.

I believe you get different types of leaders- some excel in working in a one-on-one environment, while others specialise in inspiring collective responsibility.

One shared characteristic that seems to apply to the best leaders I have encountered is a deep awareness of one’s own strengths and weaknesses and then the ability to use that self-analysis to delegate to the right people.

Another is in dealing with egos. There may be no ‘I’ in team but there is an ‘E’ and in my experience that stands for ‘Ego’! In both the dressing-room and the boardroom you tend to get a lot of egos and often they are talented people. The greatest challenge for a manager or CEO is to harness those talents for the greater good of achieving the team’s common goal.

As an international football captain- effectively the manager’s representative on the pitch, or in business terms the MD to the manager’s CEO – I saw there were different ways of doing this. Sometimes it would require the ‘tough love’ approach, at other times it would require a more subtle and sensitive technique. The key was to adapt the style to the demands of the particular situation and player.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who has a book coming out next month which will specifically explore the topic of leadership, was of course in the popular mindset associated more closely with the ‘hair dryer’ rather than the ‘hand over the shoulder’ approach.

I remember one time we were playing at Old Trafford when I was at Spurs under Gerry Francis. It was 1-1 at half-time and Manchester United had not been playing too badly. In the dressing-room we suddenly heard this booming Scottish voice echoing out from down the corridor. At United the home-changing rooms are quite far away from the visitors’, so it wasn’t like we were next door to each other! We all looked at each other as he was obviously tearing strips off his players. His plan worked as they came out for the second half and absolutely smashed us!

Other football leaders I most admire include the legendary German manager Omar Hitzfeld, who I played under at Grasshoppers in Zurich.

He was known as the ‘General’ as he had a real skill for rousing his troops and inspiring the group. His speciality was in perfecting an overall team blend, picking players who complemented each other even if that meant leaving out others who were technically more gifted.

I worked with Roy Hodgson when he was the Switzerland coach and he is another manager I look up to for his leadership skills. He was great with the individual but also possessed the wider strategic foresight to build and develop a young team.

[Ramon Vega: Time for players to have their say in the running of the game]

I know the England job comes with its own particular demands and challenges but I have no doubt Roy is the right man for the role. You can already see how he has overseen a period of transition with the team as the old guard leave the scene and a new generation of young players are given international experience. I even think England could be one of the dark horses for Euro 2016 in France.

The Premier League football season is only a few days old and already the focus on the managers’ leadership qualities is an intense one - especially when it comes to Jose Mourinho!

The ‘Special One’ has been in the news after his swipe at the Chelsea medical staff following last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Swansea and I have to say I was quite surprised by his comments. Usually he does all he can to put himself in the spotlight in order to deflect attention away from his players and staff. Everything tends to be calculated and well-thought through to achieve that so it was a bit strange to see him question the judgement of his personnel so openly.

Irrespective of this, Mourinho, Ferguson and Hitzfeld are the kind of leaders who would build a successful team around them no matter what industry they worked in. They inspire belief and loyalty and ensure they are fully aware of the bigger picture so they can make the best possible decision at crucial moments.

In a corporate context, Warren Buffett is a business leader who I admire hugely for his ability to handle such a diverse range of investments. He obviously has the precious knack of choosing the right people to head up his portfolio and giving them the adequate levels of responsibility.

It comes back to that paradox- being a good leader often actually means delegating leadership in the most effective manner possible. Given that, and the global nature of his operations, dealing with different cultures and characters, Buffett would probably make a great 21^st century football manager too!

Ramon Vega is a versatile high flying executive with a comprehensive track record of driving commercial success in finance, property and football with national, international and World Cup experience as Captain of the Swiss National Team in 1994. Proven experience in managing $billion funds in the asset management industry as well as a turnaround specialist who combines financial and business acumen, Ramon has a flair for inspiring others to exceed their own expectations. (http://frompitchtoboardroom.com)