Off the ball

Down here in AFL-mad Melbourne, the election limelight has been stolen by one of the biggest footy stories of the year.

Yesterday, AFL club the Western Bulldogs sacked star forward Jason Akermanis for what it called a repeated pattern of behaviour.

Aker, you might remember, made a major idiot of himself in May when he claimed that any AFL player who was gay should stay in the closet, because the footy community was not ready to accept a gay player.

He was rightly slammed for the remarks, and dropped from the Bulldogs team. After what the club claims was a series of further transgressions – including leaking supposedly sensitive information about the team and its players – Akermanis was finally sacked.

What makes this story interesting from a business point of view is what Akermanis claims was the manner of his sacking.

He claims that prior to having his contract terminated, he was forced to sit in front of the club’s entire playing group and asked to explain his actions. Akermanis also believes a push from the players was the main reason he lost his job.

This raises some great questions about the way teams operate and how leadership fits in with that.

All football clubs have leadership groups, essentially made up of senior employees. Like many organisations, football clubs like the idea that their employees are responsible and accountable to each other. It is up to the employee body to set the rules and culture of the group – the idea is that leadership is not just the responsibility of senior management, but of everyone.

Nice idea, but how far should it be taken? How much power should the “group” have?

In this case, it does appear clear that regardless of what Akermanis says, the employees and executives of the club appear to have been at one about the decision to sack him.

But think about the power of the “group” in your organisation. Yes, it’s clearly important they demonstrate leadership and help to set your company’s culture, but it is also clear that putting too much power in the hands of the group can be dangerous.

Does your group support different ideas and different ways of working? Does it recognise the importance of diversity and variety? It is too political? Is it dominated and influenced by a few, or do all have the chance to have their voice heard?

Football clubs are obviously very different to businesses, but the lesson here is that while a strong culture is crucial, putting the power to enforce that culture in the hands of the group is something that needs to be approached with caution.