5 Lessons in Leadership

The Arsene Wenger Edition

How many people do you know who have spent more than 20 years in a single organisation? If any, I’m guessing you can count them on one hand.

Such loyalists are few and far between, and Arsene Wenger is one of them.

Wenger spent a whopping 22 years as Manager of Arsenal Football Club, leaving behind a two-part legacy.

Wenger’s first decade at Arsenal was truly successful; he made numerous invaluable player signings, led the club to three Premier League championships and went a record 49 consecutive games undefeated; the infamous Invincible era.

But his later years at Arsenal were far less fruitful. The club saw prolonged periods of trophy droughts and whilst they won the FA Cup on a few occasions, they never really came close to winning the much more prestigious Premier League championship.

From 2010 onwards, fans became increasingly disgruntled and the ‘Wenger Out’ movement steadily strengthened. Finally resigning in 2018, Wenger’s final few years at the club were relatively awkward to say the least.

Nonetheless, one thing stays true — Wenger was an exemplary leader.

Here’s how…

Wenger empowered his team.

Despite his bias for the ol’ 4 4 2 formation, Wenger’s people management style was far from traditional. Adopting a free thinking philosophy, he encouraged the players to use their initiative on the ball, and when mistakes were inevitably made, he didn’t berate them nor lose trust in their abilities. In theory, Wenger’s laissez-faire leadership made good sense. After all, football is considered an art form and creative folk tend to perform at their best in autonomous, innovation-invoking environments. Thierry Henry’s goal portfolio proves this.

Unfortunately, we can’t all be Henry. Wenger’s approach admittedly didn’t pan out well for every player under his 22 year management. But whether or not he induced their best performance, players had Wenger’s unwavering vote of confidence, and they knew it. The likes of former Arsenal players Kanu and Henry have gone on to describe Wenger as akin to a father figure, with Keown going as far as to state that Wenger made him feel like superman.

Wenger was an optimist.

Wenger’s outlook was innately positive.

The 2002/03 season was off to a promising start for Arsenal. So much so, that Wenger publicly hypothesised that the team could go the whole season undefeated. Whilst the public and journalists responded with scepticism and ridicule, Wenger’s words would soon be redeemed.

Arsenal went unbeaten the following season, winning the Premier League and earning the legendary nickname, the Invincibles. A record-breaking success. To this day, there are few sounds sweeter to the ears of Arsenal supporters than “49 49 undefeated”.

Wenger’s optimistic nature also shone through in his later years at the club as he resiliently stayed on amidst the growing ‘Wenger Out’ unrest.

Irrespective of your view on the latter, optimism is inspiring, particularly when practiced in the face of adversity.

Wenger was data-driven.

Performance analytics are all the rage and in 2012, Arsenal became one of the first football clubs to meaningfully quantify the beautiful game when they bought US sports performance analytics firm, StatDNA. StatDNA became the club’s very own internal analytics department, providing measurable insight to inform everything from tactic development to talent strategies.

With a masters degree in Economics, it’s hardly surprising that Wenger was a data advocate. But far from a prosaic mind, Wenger was savvy enough to abstain from sole reliance on statistics in his decision-making. Rather, he acknowledged the deceptive properties of data i.e. what is statistically significant, is not always practically significant.

Here’s a direct quote from the man himself on the matter:

Stats can cheat you because for example if a player has scored three goals you could think he’s a world-class player — but perhaps he’s just played against a poor centre back on the day.

Wenger’s intellectual horsepower positioned him as a supremely capable leader. His intelligence was quickly recognised and held in such high esteem by the public that he acquired the befitting nickname, ‘Le Professeur’ shortly after joining the club in the mid 90s.

Robot-driven redundancy? I think not.

Wenger fostered a meritocratic environment.

It’s no secret that football is an extraordinarily profitable sport. Consequently, fame and fortune are a default part of the professional footballer package and in the player market, the most expensive players are usually the most popular and in demand.

It’s all rather political.

Rather than submitting to the popularity politics, Wenger remained adamant that success simply cannot be bought. Whilst his approach was oftentimes a point of contention amongst Arsenal supporters, Wenger is known for investing in young talent and nurturing them to greatness. Take Fabregas. Fabregas was just 16 years old at the time of his Arsenal debut. Under Wenger, he established a reputation as one of the finest midfielders in the game and his trophy laden career has only flourished since.

In a way, Wenger’s hiring strategy was ahead of its time. Outside of the football world, many organisations are only now shifting their talent acquisition approach to one that looks beyond the resume to an individual’s personality and potential.

Wenger was disruptive.

The OG of lifestyle influencers, some may say.

Prior to joining Arsenal, Wenger managed Nagoya Grampus Eight, a team in the Japanese league. Thus, when he landed at Arsenal, taking inspiration from the healthy ‘Japanese way’, he shifted the player’s dietary habits away from meat and sugar, to fish, vegetables and vitamin supplements. The team’s training regime saw the introduction of isometrics and the club’s first osteopath and acupuncturist were hired; all moves that were considered to be progressive for their time.

Examples of Wenger’s innovative efforts beyond wellbeing are littered throughout this article. In daring to act outside the box, his scope of influence transcended Arsenal to modern football on the whole. In 2019, Wenger’s accomplishments were suitably commemorated by the industry when he received the well-deserved Legends of Football award.

Arsene Wenger is unquestionably a model leader, and a pretty revolutionary one at that. His natural tendencies personify the company culture that many organisations strive for. In fact, several renowned business books, including the likes of Work Rules and Radical Candor, encourage people managers to emulate the very leadership behaviours that Wenger is fluent in.

And we’ll soon hear from him first-hand. Wenger’s autobiography ‘My Life in Red and White’ will be released in October this year and is expected to cater to football fans and business leaders alike.

Merci Arsene!