LEADERSHIP AND MINDSET
5 Leadership lessons by Luis de la Fuente
What can we learn from Spain’s intriguing and effective trainer?
1.- Focus on the vision.
Ever since the start of the tournament Luis de la Fuente made it clear — ”We came here to win the trophy”
Along the way, there were doubters. Some journalists and sports pundits said they will not perform against Italy, Croatia.
They will lose against Germany, France. They said Luis was crazy. He’s not a big name like Guardiola, Klopp, Mourinho. He will crumble under pressure at some point. But he didn’t.
2.-Trust and believe in your team.
Luis de la Fuente repeatedly said “In my opinion my players are the best”.
He never assumed others should believe the same, and it’s fine if another coach says the same about his players (as it should be, to increase morale).
He came under fire in some press conferences because in our hypersensitive society you are not supposed to claim anyone is better than anyone.
But he kept saying: “Again, this is just my belief, that my players are the best. And this is very different from saying that I claimed we are better than the German team”.
3.- Have strong, unwavering values.
On another occasion, a journalist looking to provoke an indirect response from him asked whether he identifies as “Spanish (as in patriotic), Catholic, and bullfight-loving” to which he responded “yes, and very proudly”.
You might not agree, you might in fact feel very disappointed with his values, or at least one of them. But one truth is that great leaders have strong values. Whether these values align with yours or not is a different question.
Pick a set of values that you strongly believe in and stick with them. This will help you stay on track more easily.
4.- Remove all ego within the team.
The team cannot win with ego. And when things are not going right. When they score against you or when you miss all the shots, the last thing you want is to know someone from your team is blaming you.
With ego, the one who is being blamed loses. The one who is blaming loses. The only one who is winning is the ego, which works against achievements. The ego is the devil.
Luis de la Fuente managed to put together an incredible team of professionals by first and foremost removing all the ego and creating a productive atmosphere, a safe space for everyone to perform.
From oldest to youngest, from Jesús Navas to Lamine Yamal, everyone respected each other’s position and talents, and worked together to create magic on the pitch.
5.- Figure of authority.
Nowadays, authority is perceived as something bad. Flat hierarchies should be promoted and nobody should try to be above others.
This goes against human nature. We like to be led whether we admit it or not. We like to have an authority that protects us from external pressures so we can do our best work.
This doesn’t mean the person authoring us is better. If you have a dog, you wouldn’t say you are better than your dog. Yet your dog sees you as an authority.
They love to follow you and admire who you are, just as you admire the place they fulfill in your life and how skilled they are at running, protecting and hunting.
Luis de la Fuente made it clear to the players that he is the leader and must be respected as such. Sure, his dominant physical appearance helped. But what is more important than that is how you communicate your messages, which should be full of confidence, trust and determination.
In one of the last scenes of the tournament, while receiving the winning medals, the youngest player, Yamal, went on stage first. He soon realized that it was his boss, Luis, that should be the first to receive a medal. De la Fuente gave a clear signal with his hands to rush Yamal off the stage, and Yamal didn’t toy around.
He was not told off, and it just made some members of the team laugh about the incident. Which shows that the team feels that perfect balance of love and fear (for the lack of better terms) called respect. Too much of either love or fear will undo the balance and cause harm in the team dynamics.
Conclusion
This has been 5 leadership lessons from Luis de la Fuente, Spain soccer/football national team’s head coach, who played a crucial role in the EURO 2024 victory. The 5 lessons are focus on the vision, have faith in your team, have strong values, remove all ego within the team and be a figure of authority.
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