Interim Leaders
We are all interim leaders. For each of us, there will come a day in which someone else sits in our chair. It may be many years down the road, but one day you will be the former leader.
To say we are currently being reminded of this reality is an understatement. In the past couple of weeks, legendary Super Bowl winning head coaches Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll were respectfully relieved of their duties. In addition, Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban suddenly retired.
This means arguably the greatest head coaches in both pro and college football history will currently not be on sidelines next year. The trend is not isolated to just American coaches.
A Shocking Resignation
Yesterday, we learned Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would be resigning at the end of this Premier League season. The following are a list of trophies he has won since being named the team’s manager in 2015:
- Champions League 2018/2019
- Super Cup 2019
- FIFA Club World Cup 2019
- Premier League 2019/2020
- Carabao Cup 2021/2022
- FA Cup 2021/2022
- Community Shield 2022
Klopp is one of my favorite leaders. Two books, Melissa Reddy’s Believe Us: How Jurgen Klopp transformed Liverpool into title winners and James Pearce, Simon Hughes, and Oliver Kay’s collaborative effort At the End of the Storm: Stories from Liverpool’s Historic Title Win, taught me as much about building a winning culture as much as anything I have read.
Below is the interview Klopp announced his decision:
Love Isn’t Enough
Something he said during this interview stood out to me.
Klopp said, “I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team, I love the staff. I love everything. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take. It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy. I have no problem now, obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.”
Klopp admitted that regardless of how much he loved the club, city, and its fans, he was running out of the energy needed to continue to lead.
The Most Important Thing A Leader Can Bring
Energy.
Energy is the most important thing a leader brings to an organization. How a leader walks, how a leader talks, the pace at which he/she moves, how he/she runs a meeting, the frequency and quality of the ideas generated, the level of anticipation and accountability. All of these are tied to the leader’s energy.
The speed of the leader will determine the speed of the team.
Energy Management
Because energy is so vital to your influence and the organization’s success, it is important for leaders to have good energy management practices.
In this article, Atlassian lists 15 ideas for recharging your energy levels for better workday performance:
- Get a healthy amount of sleep
- Incorporate movement into your day
- Eat a healthy and well-balanced diet
- Take breaks throughout the day
- Turn your phone on silent
- Focus on one task at a time
- Meditate / Pray
- Journal
- Get some fresh air
- Spend time with loved ones
- Read
- Write a gratitude list
- Do what you love more often
- Let in positivity
- Let go of negativity
What are two or three things from this list you can implement today to begin replenishing your energy.
Jurgen Klopp will be deeply missed. You will as well if you do not manage your energy levels properly.
For a deeper dive into Klopp’s amazing leadership, read 15 Amazing Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Liverpool FC’s Jurgen Klopp.
My latest eBook is available for download. The Top 65 Leadership Quotes Of 2022 Part 1 is a resource every leader should have. Great quotes bring clarity and put into words who we intuitively feel as leaders. They give us wisdom and insights which advance the mission and vision of our organizations. This eBook includes thoughts and insights from leaders like Warren Buffett, Nick Saban, James Clear, Dawn Staley, Jurgen Klopp, Jerry Seinfeld, and even Ted Lasso. This resource will take you about 10 minutes to read but a lifetime to apply. You will want to stop and ponder the implications of each quote. Click HERE or on the image provided for immediate download!