Learning from the “regrettable” actions of Sam Allardyce

Posted - September 30, 2016

Regardless of whether or not you follow football, you’ve probably heard that the recently appointed England manager, Sam Allardyce, lost his position due to inappropriate conduct.

Integrity – the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Integrity in the workplace is of the utmost importance, especially in management. This means integrity in things directly related to work and things outside of work hours.

While this is a fairly unique case in the realm of management, it does translate into almost every managerial position. Ultimately the FA decided to let him go, and we’ve put together a few lessons that we can learn from his mistakes.

WHAT SAM ALLARDYCE DID WRONG

1.Bending the rules of the game

• Allardyce negotiated a £400,000 deal and was giving advice on how to “get around” FA Rules on player transfers. He was explaining how to bypass third-party player ownership rules. The FA banned TPO in 2008 and FIFA followed suit last year.

2. Insulting his predecessors

• Allardyce made a derogatory comment involving Roy Hodgeson’s speech impediment.

3.Insulting his team

• Allardyce claimed that the England team have a “psychological barrier” and that they “psychologically can’t cope”.

4.Insulting the FA

• Allardyce stated that the FA “stupidly spent £870 million on Wembley” and that “they’re all about making money”.

HOW THIS TRANSLATES TO THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

1.Bending the rules

• Allardyce was as high up in the ranks as he could get. At this stage you need to set an example to those who aspire to be in your position. Bending the rules to negatively impact your company shows a lack of commitment and also apathy towards their cause and the bigger picture. If you don’t respect your company, nobody else will either.

2. Insulting your predecessors

• Insulting those that came before you will create the attitude that it is acceptable to talk negatively about management. This will breed gossip in the workplace and destroy trust in the chain of command.

3. Insulting your team

• Talking negatively about your team to strangers makes it clear than you do not have faith in the people you have employed. This gives a negative impression of your organisation to the public. Also, as you have no idea who these people are (Big Sam’s ultimate downfall), you don’t know if this will get back to your team. If they hear about this they will feel downtrodden and lack motivation.

4. Insulting your boss

• Insulting your boss completely undermines their authority and your own. As written about in our previous article on ‘How to be a good manager’, this will give your employees free reign to bad-mouth you to each other and make them think negatively about the organisation for which they work.

The FA undoubtedly made the correct decision. The majority of boys (and many girls) above the age of 14 will know who the England Manager is and to keep someone on who shows such a lack of integrity would be setting an awful example to adults and children alike. They stated that the manager should “show respect for the integrity of the game at all times” which was clearly not the case for Allardyce.

If you want more advice on how to be a good manager, read this article.

If you think you’d have done a better job as England Manager we have many senior roles on our job board – go and have a look!

*Disclaimer – we aren’t actually recruiting for the New England Manager*