By Obinna Kalu
On May 15, 2022, 63-year old Portuguese, Jose Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, was officially appointed as the manager/head coach of the Nigerian national football team, fondly called the Super Eagles. Today, as millions of Nigerians and the world at large applaud and commend the Super Eagles on their superlative performance at the just concluded CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023, it would be necessary to highlight and discuss some of the managerial leadership styles of Coach Peseiro, which largely contributed to the success story of the team.
1. Criticisms should encourage rather than discourage you
In the pursuit of our individual and collective goals and aspirations in life, we should never allow negative and unhelpful criticism to derail our focus. Criticism should be accepted by managers and leaders as a normal occurrence that heralds accomplishment. So, rather than allow disparagement to distract your vision and focus, you should keep going and doing the right thing without showing signs of weakness.
Remember that before the commencement of the tournament, Peseiro was heavily criticized, condemned and vilified by fans and the media. Almost all his moves and decisions were roundly condemned. From the accusation of tactlessness to wrong selection of players, the campaign of calumny and wrong alarms continued till the Eagles won their first group stage match against Ivory Coast on January 18. It is ludicrous to recall that even the inclusion of goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, the star boy and surprise hero of the tournament, in the final AFCON list caused uproar in some sections of the media. In fact, enormous pressure was mounted on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to part ways with him after the expiration of his initial contract in July 2023. However, Peseiro never allowed the public condemnation to impede his set targets and professional objectives. While reacting on the avalanche of criticisms against him, he was reported to have declared: “I have taken enough vaccine against criticisms”.
2. Don’t be in a hurry to please people and become “Mr. Popular”
If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. In other words, no matter the pressure, as a leader and manager, you need to have the capacity to say ‘no’ to strategies or options you know will not work well, if you want to achieve your goals. You should not hurriedly succumb to people’s unproductive wishes and opinions just to make them happy and also acquire the illusory title of ‘Mr. Popular’. Never fall into the temptation of taking decisions or departing from your result-driven personal convictions just to escape being maligned or called names.
So many people were displeased with the 3-4-3 tactical formation introduced by Peseiro on the ground that the team was not creating enough opportunities and scoring many goals from open play. This bunch of soccer pundits and pressure groups were quick to forget that in football what matters most is to win, irrespective of the number of goals scored. It is instructive to note that the Portuguese manager refused to change his tactics just because some people clamored for a change. He boldly told the press that he had the obligation to do what was right for his team by adopting the right formation.
3. Prioritise quality over quantity in team selection
It is usually more productive for a manager to build and work with a compact number of personnel that he can conveniently and effectively manage, rather than recruiting a bloated team that he may not be able to manage well. The guiding philosophy should be quality delivery of service and mission-focused. Even though the Super Eagles coach had the window to take up to 27 players to the tournament, he opted and preferred to take only 25 so as to enhance focus and effective team management.
4. Sometimes it is better to choose service over instant monetary considerations
It is not all the time that the volume of financial reward should be the major determining factor before one accepts an offer to undertake a given project or assignment. If you have a passion for any project or business, especially one that might potentially announce you to the world, go ahead and execute it as per the set target, not minding the amount of fees you were offered because, in the long run, the cumulative rewards that might accrue from the successful execution of the project could be greater than the initial financial offer or package.
In the new contract he signed shortly before the commencement of the tournament, Peseiro agreed to a pay cut from a monthly salary of $70,000 to $50,000 following the inability NFF to continue to afford his monthly salary of $70,000. Many people would have considered the coach irrational for accepting the salary cut at that time, but the reality today is that the financial and other career benefits, which are likely to follow his AFCON 2023 accomplishments will by far outweigh the said salary loss from his new contract.
5. Do not compromise ethics and team discipline
As a leader, you should never compromise professional ethics, code of conduct and team discipline. Peseiro took strong exception to acts of indiscipline and warned the players that punishment would be meted out to violators of camp rules and regulations. Thus, he was able to set and effectively enforce rules relating to punctuality to team engagements, answering phone calls, adherence to camp itinerary, ban on receiving female visitors and many others.
6. Turn setbacks into comebacks and resilience
Despite the setback you might have encountered as a leader or manager, let the experience serve as a boost and not a hindrance on your way to achieving your goals. Strategically review your past steps and come up with better alternatives.
Before the tournament, Super Eagles under Coach Peseiro was a very weak and wobbling team. However, in the course of the competition, he was able to work out resilient and appropriate formations, which enabled him to turn the pre-AFCON 2023 tactical setbacks into comebacks.
7. Praise your team in public and criticize in private
Although it is a double-edged sword for managers, generally, public criticisms for mistakes made by your team members can dampen enthusiasm and create unnecessary loss of confidence and morale as well as breakdown of relationship with them. On the other hand, public praise and private criticisms create congenial atmosphere for the whole team to learn.
Despite the glaring goalkeeping blunders made by Francis Uzoho during his outings for the Super Eagles prior to the tournament, the coach often defended him in public and even sometimes vicariously accepted responsibility for the keeper’s blunders. It didn’t mean he was not aware of Uzoho’s mistakes, but he chose to correct and criticise him in private so that the player’s goalkeeping confidence would not be dampened. Peseiro never joined the public to attack the goalkeeper. Despite the loss of his position as the first-choice keeper, Uzoho never felt alienated from his mates due to the persuasive managerial style of the Portuguese tactician. What’s more, even when fans and the press roasted the team generally for poor performance prior to the tournament, the coach declared confidence in the players and often defended them in public.
8. Embrace strategic planning and structured team management approach
In the pursuit of set goals, leaders and managers are expected to embrace strategic planning, which will guide and provide the enabling framework and team direction in decision-making so as to cope with the dynamics of change and effectively maximise opportunities for goal attainment. Peseiro devoted a lot of efforts and time reviewing and building tactical strategies and formations. His ability to choose and deploy appropriate tactical formation before and during each match was key to the team’s success.
9. Have a mentor to push you up the ladder of your career
As a leader, you should have a mentor with whom you will share experience so as to acquire knowledge and skills required for the attainment of set goals in career and other lifelong endeavours. Peseiro benefitted immensely from his mentor, Carlos Queiroz, who also facilitated his move from CD Nacional to become Real Madrid’s assistant manager in the 2003/2004 La Liga season.
10. Build a friendly and enjoyable team
A team is not just a collection of people who work together but a group of happy people who enjoy working together. In order to achieve shared goals, a leader should always be interested in building a happy team where love, communication, mutual respect and trust are not compromised. One of the greatest achievements of Peseiro was his ability to build a friendly and united team devoid of visible divisions and cabals. Throughout the tournament, the players were seen together singing, praying, dancing and exchanging good-nurtured banter.
Congratulations to Super Eagles and Nigeria!
•Dr. Obinna Kalu is the general counsel/company secretary, The Sun Publishing Ltd.