He won’t be the last either. But as a headhunter, I can’t help but sympathise with the FA’s board as they look to replace him.
The departing England manager resembles a great FD-turned-CEO, a stabilising force who built a great team out of a group of high performing individuals, but who lacked strategic flair or the personality to take it to the next level.
The conundrum that I’ve helped businesses work through for the best part of two decades is how to succeed such a leader.
You could just look for someone who had all the strengths the last CEO – or England manager – didn’t have. Strategic flair, fresh thinking, audacity. Someone who will go for growth and take some chances.
But it isn’t as straightforward as that. First, there’s no guarantee that this very different type of leader will be able to hold onto the precious things their predecessor left behind – in Southgate’s case, a team that works well together.
Radical, entrepreneurial leaders can deliver amazing results, but not on their own. There is a danger for the board in hiring them, that they will not be able to keep all the great people around the table.
The second danger is that leaders who go for growth invariably do so by taking bigger risks, but part of a board’s job is to mitigate risk. They want better results (football coming home in 2026?) but they also don’t want to be responsible for a disaster.
Getting it right requires some soul-searching, and a willingness to accept that there is no risk-free option, if slow and steady won’t bring home the prize. It doesn’t hurt to get creative in the search for a game-changing candidate who can also bring the team with them.
The FA can take solace that going for a riskier solution this time is potentially mitigated by the ‘once in generations’ talent on the England bench: the manager’s job is surely to unleash their capabilities. Flair and Audacity maybe just what it takes…
I wish Debbie Hewitt and the FA board every success in finding someone who can realise England’s ambitions, and congratulate Southgate on a job well done.
