“There’s something that the Kop want you to know. The best in the world is Bobby Firmino!” – Liverpool fans serenading Roberto Firmino on March 5, 2023
There are some titles of articles which immediately grab my attention from a leadership perspective. Such an article was Mark Carey’s March 8, 2023 post in The Athletic entitled “Roberto Firmino has been a transformative player for Liverpool – this is why.” If you are not familiar with Firmino, the Brazilian is in the final season of an eight-year run as Liverpool’s centre-forward. The superstar player has been a critical component to the team’s success under manager Jurgen Klopp.
I knew I had to read the article and break down the components of what makes Firmino such a transformational player. The following is what I discovered. The implications are far-reaching and should matter to every leader wanting to make a difference in the lives of others regardless of your profession.
7 Things You Must Do To Become A Transformational Leader
Transformational Leaders Must First Be Transformed Themselves
Let’s start here. You cannot take people where you have not been yourself. To be a transformational leader, you must first be transformed yourself. Below is a video of Roberto Firmino being baptized by teammate Alisson Becker after accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. If you want to become a transformational leader, a great first step would be to do likewise and accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior if you have no done so already.
Transformational Leaders Add Value To Others
Klopp made a creative comparison when it came to the construction of his team. He said in 2020, “A football team is like an orchestra, to play we need to have people for different instruments. Some of them are louder, some of them are not that loud, but they are all important for the rhythm.”
Transformational Leaders Are Versatile
One of the ways you can become indispensable to your team is to be versatile, to be able to help in a number of areas. Versatile individuals fill in gaps and step in when their teammates are missing or struggling. Klopp added, “Bobby is incredibly important, he plays like 12 instruments in our orchestra, he is incredibly important for our rhythm.”
Transformational Leaders Are Consistent
Since the 2019-2020 season, Firmino has ranked eighth out of all Premier League centre forwards with 19.3 touches per shot. Watch the video below to see the consistent excellence in which he played his position.
Transformational Leaders Have Transformational Attitudes
John Maxwell teaches that your attitude will determine your altitude. Your attitude determines how high you go not only in your organization, but in life as well. As you can see from the video above, Roberto Firmino has reach unimaginable heights as a soccer player. Why? Professor Sumpter added, “His attitude was what made him my favourite player but when a sporting director said ‘you can’t measure attitude’ with analytics.” His attitude is his uniqueness as a player.
Transformational Leaders Change How Way We See The World
Firmino has the skills required to be a great goal-scorer, but that is not where he added the most value in Klopp’s symphony. David Sumpter, professor of applied mathematics at the University of Uppsala, and the author of Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game, said, “Firmino completely changed my view of how we had to work when it came to evaluating players with data… we made a set of ‘space-opening’ metrics, and even I was surprised to see how he was so dominant in them.”
In essence, analytics experts created a new measurement because of how Firmino plays the game. Klopp said, “When he finishes playing people will write books about the way he interpreted the false-nine position.”
Transformational Leaders Sacrifice For The Good Of Others
Firmino is unselfish and doesn’t have to score because he relishes the opportunity to make others successful. Firmino disrupts the plans of opposing teams by “dragging” players across the field which opens up space for his teammates. Carey writes, “Quite simply, his world-class appreciation of space makes room for other — perhaps more goal-hungry — forwards to receive the ball in dangerous areas.”
That is what transformational leaders do. They remove the barriers which prevent their teammates from being successful. Their success is found in the success of others.
Conclusion
Adding value to others, versatility, consistency, attitude, sacrifice, changing how we see the world, and being transformed yourself. Do these seven things and you too have a chance to become a transformational leader.
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