I like to tell different stories and use my imagination. But generally, it is about our expectations. (Sir Alex Ferguson)
With my broken words and limited abilities, I am looking forward to narrating the story of a legend who possessed an expansive knowledge and unlimited abilities in a hope to match with the reader's expectations. The contributions and inspirations of this legend have affected almost every next player around the globe and have the potential to act as a beacon for humans related to any aspect of life. From his professional career to authoring books and retirement, let's have a look at his major commandments and see what we (as writers, readers, entrepreneurs, and betting masters) could/have acquired from them.
Bronze statue of Sir Alex Image Source
1. Try & Take Risks if that works for you:
You learn more from defeats than you do from victories.
This attitude of Sir Alex comes far back from his childhood when he used to jump over the walls of his neighborhood and he named some of the dangerous ones after the King and Queen. Later, Sir Alex was running a pub and he was fed up of the banging glasses and when he got the opportunity to be a manager he said: “I’m going to win here”. Even his marriage life started with love at first sight. Many people would say that he had an impulsive attitude but for him, it was a way of exploration and foreseeing. He would take a risk by cutting-off even the best players from the team if they were suspected to bring any kind of negativity to the club or other players. So, how did it benefit? It helped him explore more options, more scenarios where he could improve the team and their performance and rather focus on them. In fact, it also constantly provided Man Utd. a diversity, variable outcomes and awareness of their best-suited formats and strategies, which made their game-play rather less boring, unexpected and made him stand out from the crowd.
Image Source
2. Discipline & Dedication even when the flood is high:
Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success.
These seem to be a very regular cat poster type terms but, when it comes to practice we hardly find any person better than Sir Alex, who mastered these terms. In one of his interviews, he mentioned about the fact that he had a number of notes and had kept all of them, in fact, if it was possible he would keep records of his daily routines and would take 30 minutes to sit down and write about them, every day. This is the same commandment that motivated him to serve a 26 years long tenure in Man Utd. and brought him the title of the most successful manager of all times. And, also the one, which elevated Manchester united to the top in the shelves of football history.
We can take a glimpse of this from the fact that he only missed three club matches in his entire career because of :
- watch the performance of David de Gea who was then recruited to the club
- wedding of His son
- funeral of his brother’s wife (mentioned later in his book)
Records of his legendary leadership Image Source
3. Leadership is about the right control and attitude:
You can’t always come in shouting and screaming. No one likes to get criticized. But in the football dressing room, it’s necessary that you point out your players’ mistakes.
A load of calm nerves and patience was no doubt the key to bringing a better team together. Many a time the players would mess up something but, he would hold himself and would go to advise them back in the dressing room. The word ‘advise’ here is not simple and does not mean he was a very relaxing person, he was known for his fearsome reputation and he considered this as a necessary part of leadership. According to him, fear was not an enemy but a mere tool to motivate the team and players however, it should come with an optimum balance. In one of his famous controversial feuds, he got angry at Beckham and kicked a shoe which landed on the forehead of the known right-winger. That was not it, his attitude extended to many of the opposing team managers and even extended towards the channel BBC. But, it showed how much sense of control he practiced in almost every aspect of his career that it seemed to be either his way or the highway.
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Hope this summary was beneficial for you and I would love to know:
The commandments that drive your life pattern?
