I love September... spring is in the air, the days are getting longer and it's the "business end" of the footy season. The perfect time to share one of my favourite stories of leadership, creating a vision, putting the flag on the hill and unrelenting believing and striving towards that goal.
Picture: AFL Photos
It's 2010 and the AFL Richmond Tigers:
- have not won a premiership flag in 30 years,
- have 30k members; and
- have $4 mil in debt.
The new CEO, Brendon Gale sets an ambitious 10-year vision and goes on The Footy Show to unapologetically back his plan.
3 flags by 2020 (3 finals appearances by 2014)
$0 Debt
75k members
Here is a short 50 seconds grab of the interview, and for those interested, here is the link to Gale's full inspirational speech "Winning Together" which kicked off this era...
Picture: AFL Photos
Here are my top three observations on the synergies between Gales' vision for the Tigers and successful vision implementation in the corporate world.
Be Simple
The simplicity of Gale's 3 - 0 - 75 vision is not to be underestimated. When I reflect on my favourite leaders, their ability to consistently project simple and repeatable narrative is at the centre of their success. The vision needs to be shared by all within the organisation. Years later, I can still hear their words like it was yesterday, such is the power of repeating and embedding a simple and powerful vision.
Be Specific & Measurable
3 - 0 - 75. Gale's vision included very specific and measurable targets.
3 - making finals footy and achieving 3 premiership flags by 2020.
0 - increasing the commercial strength of the club and retiring debt.
75 - have the strongest support base in the nation, and enjoy the strongest emotional connection with our members and fans.
Be Ambitious & Inspirational
Great leaders are not afraid of ambition..."I make no apologies for the fact we want to be the best footy club..." They show honesty and transparency, it's OK to admit mistakes of the past, present an inspiring vision and plan and collectively own their future success.
So, what happened next for the Tigers...
3 Flags: 2017, 2019, 2020
75K Members: 100k Members (2020)
$0 Debt: $16 mil in cash reserves (2020)
The glory of Brendon Gale and the entire Tigers team being able to watch this video back and smile at their naysayers; priceless.
It starts with a vision...
About the Author
Katrina Lee
Katrina is energetic and passionate about value creation for business, utilising her ‘Swiss Army Knife” of capabilities developed over a 20-year financial services career, across a wide variety of business lines and disciplines. From strategic and operational partnering, culture, capability and leadership, product management, and transformational change, Katrina thrives on making connections to minimise waste,
leveraging valuable resources with tactical intelligence.
“Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied”. Dale Carnegie Katrina is inspired to help leaders appreciate, most of us don’t need to know more, we just need to implement more of what we already know.