Jurgen Klopp: More Than a Manager, A Personal Hero
Lessons from Klopp: Honesty, Delegation, and Team Building
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Today (19th May, 2024) marks Jurgen Klopp’s final game as the manager of Liverpool. For those unfamiliar, Klopp has been the manager of Liverpool Football Club for the past 9 years. This post is my reflection on his tenure at Liverpool, focusing more on Klopp the manager rather than Klopp the football genius. I have written about him previously.
It’s hard to believe that when he joined Liverpool, I was just a teenager. Now, I’m in my late 20s. Time certainly flies. I can clearly recall the day he was appointed. At that time, I was deeply engrossed in Beatlemania during my college years. October 9th was Lennon’s birthday. I woke up around 5 AM Indian time to complete my Engineering drawing assignments and saw the news: Jurgen Klopp was the new Liverpool manager.
As I listened to Beatles songs and finished my assignments, I remember reading live tweets about his press conference on my way to college on the WBSTC bus. He introduced himself as the “Normal One” and famously said, “We need to change from doubters to believers.” I felt a sense of happiness. I had lassi on my way back from college, humming “She Loves You” throughout the day.
Over the past nine years, Jurgen has won everything as Liverpool’s manager. However, I’ve grown to appreciate Jurgen the manager more than Jurgen the football genius. He provided me with a perspective on how to handle or make sense of various situations in life and work.
In my first company, I had a meeting with one of the CXOs and a department head within 45 days of joining. I was tasked with presenting a model and was extremely nervous, especially as a fresher. I remember my manager reassuring me, saying, “If the model is garbage, then it’s on me. Don’t worry, just present the facts and how it works.” I recall thinking to myself, “That’s such a Klopp thing to say!” This was the impact Klopp had on me.
One of the first positive things I learned from Klopp was his honesty and comfort in his own skin, and his willingness to accept his shortcomings. In Indian society, especially among men, admitting “I don’t know” or “I am weak in this” is often seen as a sign of weakness. But I came to appreciate the honesty Jurgen brought with him. Whenever I saw a senior manager or a peer admit their shortcomings, my respect for them increased. It’s easier said than done, and it takes confidence to admit, “I am weak in this.” I have also grown to be more upfront about my weaknesses.
Klopp has emphasized the importance of delegation and building a smart team through his press conferences over the years. This is something I have found to be quite important. It’s crucial to know what you’re good at, but even more so, to know what you’re really bad at. You need to fill these gaps if you want to succeed as a team. Klopp intelligently identified those gaps and filled them successfully with a “smart” group of trainers and coaches. He has repeatedly stated that he delegates a lot of work!
While my passion for football may not be as strong as it was nine years ago when Klopp first joined, the official announcement of his departure on January 26th left me with a profound sense of loss. It felt as though an era had officially come to an end, leaving behind a void that echoed with the memories of the past.
In his first press conference, he said, “It’s not important what people think when you come in, it’s much more important what people think when you leave.”
Liverpool will not be the same without him.
Thank you for everything, Jurgen. You’ll never walk alone.
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