Marcela Bielsa has a reputation as a non conformist manager some one who goes against the trend and makes the rest of us question are definition of success . Some one who has a very clear idea of the way things should be done and is not prepared to change or even bend. This approach may well cost him his job.
One of his beliefs is giving youth a chance. Most of us would rather have a team member who believes in what we are trying to do than a more experienced colleague who is cynical about new ways of doing things but how many of us will take the risk when the stakes are so high. Marcela is a deep thinker and an idealist at a time when the profession is dominated by pragmatic managers doing what has to be done, concerned only with results. But success can’t be just based on position in the league table or most of us would be failures. Marcelo is some one who influences other managers. He is an Argentinian who has worked in Europe making his reputation in Italy before coming to the North of England.
Something happen recently that marked him out as a very special manager. A player was on the ground injured and his team mates, expecting the opposition to follow normal practice and put the ball into touch, stopped playing. They didn’t. Instead they carried on and scored. There was out rage. Marcelo’s response was to insist his players allow the opposition to score unopposed. His management philosophy is that it is not just about winning but about how you play the game. A philosophy which I think can be applied to other areas of management.
Blair Mcpherson former Director, author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
