{"id":9554,"date":"2024-07-24T10:03:40","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T10:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/?post_type=insight&p=9554"},"modified":"2024-07-24T10:32:15","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T10:32:15","slug":"southgates-leadership-lessons-for-starmer","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/southgates-leadership-lessons-for-starmer\/","title":{"rendered":"Southgate\u2019s leadership lessons for Starmer\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The question facing Sir Keir Starmer is the one that Gareth Southgate never quite answered: how do you get the most out of the Number 10 role?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parallels with the political situation Starmer has inherited and that faced by Southgate 8 years ago don\u2019t stop there.

How do you reverse the countrys\u2019 fortunes, recover national pride and get the people behind your team? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reset the relationship with the media<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on in his tenure, Gareth Southgate understood that he needed to reconnect the institution of the England national team and the players with the country and supporters \u2013 he understood that positive energy from fans would boost the team and motivate the players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew he would need the media\u2019s help, so he instituted a radical change in culture inside the England camp, making his players far more accessible to journalists and giving the media a sense that they were part of the journey and important stakeholders \u2013 rather than simply a troublesome distraction to be managed.

The term \u2018face the media\u2019 was banned in the England training camp. The players and the manager also penned candid and vulnerable open letters laying bare their own struggles and demons \u2013 dissuading us from the notion that they were simply overpaid pampered pros \u2013 and reminding us of their human qualities that we could all connect to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early days, but Starmer has already held two press conferences within his first two weeks in charge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not yet evidence of a change in approach, but it is certainly encouraging for journalists keen to hold the government to account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any honeymoon period Sir Keir may be enjoying with Conservative-supporting media is likely to be short lived, so his strategy towards the more sceptical and even hostile outlets will be interesting to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change in tone and language<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as bringing the media in and winning them over \u2013 Southgate\u2019s appointment marked a change in tone and language of leadership that was counter cultural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gone was the dismissive \u201cI don\u2019t see the need to call players personally\u201d approach to squad selection from his predecessor Roy Hodgson, replaced by a more paternal style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was epitomised early on, after a training ground fight between two players when Southgate defended them saying: \u201dI love all of my players. We are like a family and all family have disagreements.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly here was an England manager who was espousing \u2018softer\u2019 qualities \u2013 kindness, generosity and empathy –  backing players publicly while perhaps punishing privately – balancing loyalty to trusted lieutenants with the wellbeing of the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Graham who wote the play \u201cDear England\u201d dedicated to Southgate and his team said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was everything we didn\u2019t have in our politics at that time: a long-term plan, a genuine desire to unite people around a particular project, rather than divide people and cause upset and pain and toxicity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could Labour\u2019s landslide defeat be a watershed moment for the tone and tenor of political debate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rishi Sunak has been gracious in defeat, congratulating Sir Keir Starmer on the victory and wishing him well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his response to the King’s Speech \u2013 Starmer remarked that his predecessor had \u201cgone well beyond the usual standards of generosity\u201d and thanked him for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those exchanges, plus the sight of Sunak, Starmer and their deputies Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner sharing a joke on the floor of the House of Commons are a far cry from the divisive vitriol heard at dispatch box in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Westminster watchers may observe that while it\u2019s not unheard of for harmony to break out in politics, it rarely lasts long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tune out the noise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gareth Southgate may seem nice \u2013 but he had to be ruthless to prevail in his role for as long as he did.\u00a0 He developed a clear plan and stayed resolute in the face of public opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, when the beers rained down on him from a stand of angry England fans \u2013 he walked towards it, looked them in the eye and expressed his disappointment publicly afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mentality was transmitted to his players too. Penalties \u2013 the thing\u00a0<\/strong>England fans\u00a0were traumatised by for being routinely terrible at suddenly became\u00a0the side’s\u00a0specialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And who can forget the public outcry when he dropped a trio of popular left wingers? In this case Rashford, Sterling, Grealish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starmer has less to learn here. He acted swiftly to suspend seven Labour MPs from the left of the party who\u2019d voted against the government on scrapping the two-child benefit cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While silverware remains elusive and the Gareth Southgate era has ended \u2013 there are already signs that his legacy of leadership will last way beyond the sting of defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more <\/em>Insights & News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The question facing Sir Keir Starmer is the one that Gareth Southgate never quite answered: how do you get the most out of the Number 10 role? The parallels with the political situation Starmer has inherited and that faced by Southgate 8 years ago don\u2019t stop there. How do you reverse the countrys\u2019 fortunes, recover national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9558,"menu_order":0,"template":"","services":[28],"sectors":[],"class_list":["post-9554","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","services-leadership-coaching"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nSouthgate\u2019s leadership lessons for Starmer\u00a0 - Headland International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The question facing Sir Keir Starmer is the one that Gareth Southgate never quite answered: how do you get the most out of the\u00a0Number 10 role?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southgate\u2019s leadership lessons for Starmer\u00a0 - Headland International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The question facing Sir Keir Starmer is the one that Gareth Southgate never quite answered: how do you get the most out of the\u00a0Number 10 role?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/southgates-leadership-lessons-for-starmer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Headland International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-24T10:32:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2206661545-resized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"779\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/southgates-leadership-lessons-for-starmer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/southgates-leadership-lessons-for-starmer\/\",\"name\":\"Southgate\u2019s leadership lessons for Starmer\u00a0 - 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