PERSPECTIVE
The Open Trade Secret : Part Two !
By Joseph Lunani
It is evident that we cannot do business by ourselves only . It is also important to find the right fit of people to form a winning team . The team needs leadership to perform efficiently and effectively . Each member of the team is unique and therefore their best performance has to be harnessed .
Remember the team members are human and as such they will have shortcomings . They will run late sometimes . They will fall ill . They will have emergencies to attend to or important events at times . This is the humbling fact about life . You also need to realize early that you will also fall short just like them . Are you prepared when those times come ?
A team is as good as its best players but the greatness of a team is pegged on the least of their players . Twenty-five years ago , in the 1996 Olympic Football Finals the Nigerian team upset mighty Argentina in the finals . The Super Eagles win was a surprise in the wake of world best teams like Mexico , Brazil and Argentina at that time .
The Eagles like many startups had a ton of issues to contend with . First , the political assassination of Saro Wiwa in November 1995 had caused an uproar from the Commonwealth of African Nations and saw them banned from the Africa Cup of Nations . Yet they were the defending champions having lifted the trophy in 1994 . They had also escaped narrowly with a win against a charged Harambee Stars to qualify for the 1996 Atlanta Georgia Olympics .
The political situation in their country had created a disorganization within the Sports Ministry and that meant the allowances of the team were uncertain . Their coach was doubling up roles as the ball boy , nurse , counsellor and remained their only unifying factor . The team performed dismally in their ensuing
The team has to buy into your cause : Let the business have a cause bigger than the cumulative issues in the team or their individual challenges . It is true the economic environment is a problem nationally and worldwide . Government policy is not encouraging either but don ’ t use these as excuses to underperform . Get your team rallied unto the greater good . friendly matches and their football federation fired their coach .
In a most bizarre move , the players rallied behind their coach and dared the federation to reinstate him or they find new players for the tournament . The team did not even have an official bus allocated to them for the trips to and from the training grounds . The players had to pay for their bus tickets and hotel using their credit cards .
The players had their own issues amongst themselves and on their own . Amokachi and Kanu were scouting for new opportunities given their tough runs at their respective clubs in Europe . Others had family issues , financial challenges and altercations amongst themselves . Their coach too was not spared . Having to double up and that without pay was no mean feat . To add pain to injury the hotel staff refused to launder their clothes from a convoluted propaganda that they could contract HIV-AIDS from the team !
The cumulative pressure of their issues had one way out . Each of them knew the sacrifice to be made . They believed and , on the pitch , played like a precision machine . They aced their first match with a magical goal from Nkwako Kanu against a dazzled Hungary . In their game against Japan , Babangida Tijani missiled a cross that cluelessly passed their keeper . Jay Jay Okocha made it two with a banana curved penalty kick . Brazil came up next with a glitzy lineup of Ronaldo , Bebeto , Juninho , Carlos and other worthy players . Even with their lone goal from Ronaldo famed as O Fenomeno , Super Eagles
40 MAL41 / 21 ISSUE