We Get Upset For A Reason
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There’s a debate raging at the moment around the football club I support (Arsenal) as you whether they should replace the club’s manager of the last couple of years, Unai Emery.
Emery, for those who don’t know, replaced a club legend, Arsene Wenger, who managed the team for 22 years and brought us the greatest period in our history. He not only transformed the club but he transformed English football, in general.
In other words, a tough act to follow.
Emery started off reasonably strongly but results over the last several months have been terrible. The prospects for the rest of the season don’t look great at the moment either, with morale low, talk of player dissent and audible fan discontent.
In fact, a sizable portion of the fan base want to see a new manager brought in before it’s too late to salvage this season. And with every game we lose, this discontent has grown, not only in the stadium during games but off the field, on fan forums and across social media.
In response, the club leadership felt compelled to put out a communication proclaiming their support for Emery, for the goals they’ve put in place and - publicly at least - committing to giving him the time he needs to sort things out. While that communication was bound to divide the fan base, there was one phrase in what they said that ignited something of an uproar, and that was that they would not be swayed by the “external noise” around the club.
That struck many across the Arsenal community - including me - as tone deaf.
Football clubs, like any other sporting or, frankly, social or commercial entity, become successful when commerce is effectively mixed with passion and commitment. And to be really successful, that passion has to come from ALL of your stakeholders - those within the organization but also those who support it, who feed it, who buy from it.
And for Arsenal, that prime stakeholder is the fan base. Those of us who’ve supported the club all our lives. Those who’ve had their share of bad days just because the club didn’t win a key game. Those who look forward to the launch of the new kit and follow the clubs movements every single day. (I often tell my wife, who I’ve known for 32 years, that my relationship with Arsenal is the most committed one I’ve ever been in.)
So, referring to the fans as “noise” doesn’t go down well because it suggests that the prime audience - the customer, if you will - is not why we’re doing what we’re doing. The reality, on the contrary, is that that’s the prime reason why we do what we do. Of course, we need to - as management - do what we believe is right. That’s why we’ve been brought in to do this job - for our expertise, knowledge and judgement. We also have a duty to our employees as well as our shareholders. No question about that.
But those duties are always best served when the ultimate stakeholder - the customer - is best served. And when your point of view differs from what they’re saying, then absolutely hold fast and do what you think is right. But then you need to manage what you say and how you say it, making sure they feel that they’ve been heard, that their voice has meaning, that it has value.
To paraphrase the most popular and influential Arsenal fan site, Arseblog, the thing we have to remember is that fans don’t get emotional or pissed off because they don’t care. They do it because they do care. And they care deeply. So you have to acknowledge that passion, you have to nurture it, and you have to treasure it.
That’s the case in football, in commerce and in life. And the minute we lose that, we’ve lost everything.
(A quick note: if you like podcasts, I’ve relaunched mine and there will be a new one out tomorrow. If you’re a subscriber to the blog, you’ll be notified when it comes out. You can also check out the last episode on the Voice tab of this website or directly on Apple Podcasts by going here. I’d love your feedback. Thanks for giving it a listen.)
