Peter Martin: Meanwhile, back at the cricket…

If you are feeling a little short of sporting inspiration to pep up your teams now that Gareth Southgate’s men have departed the arena, you might want to take a look at the more parochial cricket scene for a story to enliven your business thinking.

Much has already been written and broadcast about Southgate’s leadership style, his calmness, meticulous planning and attention to detail, his unstinting support for his players.

The England football boss has shown humility and confidence in his charges, encouraging players to take responsibility on the pitch and making sure all the squad and back-room staff get credit for the team’s successes. He’s not afraid to take tough decisions either, and has shown astute political awareness in the taking-the-knee controversy, I would argue.

What’s not to admire? But in truth there’s also little more to say, even though the team didn’t quite have enough firepower, or luck, to come away with the big Euro prize. There’s plenty of material already out there for business leaders to get their teeth into and refresh their own management thinking. The Southgate way is worth studying.

Oh yes, I mentioned cricket.

For those bosses already moving into a post-football stage, and wanting even more ideas from the sports world to super charge their operational performance, a look at what’s been going on with England’s one-day cricket squad might prove instructive.

At the start of July and within days of the first match, England were forced to name an inexperienced 18-man replacement squad for their ODI series with Pakistan after a number of players and staff in the original squad tested positive for Covid-19 and the whole party were then required to self isolate.

The new squad, featuring nine uncapped players but luckily led by cricketing hero Ben Stokes who was returning from injury, then went on (and against all expectations) to win the next two games, and the series with a game to go*, relatively easily – and with some outstanding performances from the newcomers.

It doesn’t take a business genius to work out the obvious lessons from this tale. In adversity, the cricketing authorities could have called the whole thing off, but instead acted swiftly, decisively and with flexibility to ensure the show carried on.

It was perhaps not that surprising that England did so well in that they are the reigning one-day world champions and have strength in depth. But the fact that second-string players did perform so strongly should prompt any business leader to wonder if they too have talent in their wider teams that have yet been given the chance to flower.

That’s not to say you should replace all your top teams and see what happens, but is it the time to shuffle the pack just a little? There will be obvious reluctance to upset a settled workplace environment, especially with the current labour shortages, made worse by track and trace. But when front-line teams are being depleted, who is stepping up and shining? Now is the time to go talent spotting within your own side.

Despite the pressures, being too cautious in maintaining the status quo in employment can be dangerous too. Perfectly competent people are likely to stay put, which could be a good thing, unless it prompts better, younger talent to leave because they feel they are being overlooked. What is your best line-up?

Now is the hardest time to run businesses, with decision-making at its trickiest – and being brave is not without risk. But there is an opportunity to take a fresh look at everything you do, and assess whether what went before really is relevant in the new trading environment.

For cricket fans, it will be fascinating to see how many of those second-string heroes now make it into the senior squad full-time, not to mention how Gareth Southgate prepares his next footballing squad for the World Cup. How hospitality businesses shape-up will be no less intriguing.

Looking to our sporting leaders for inspiration is no bad thing. Infact, searching out new ways of working anywhere is always a positive. We will see how the results turn out.

*England won the last game in the ODI series by three wickets