Why Is Jose Mourinho So Successful?
Why is Jose Mourinho So Successful?
By Mark Wager
Chelsea are the reigning English Premier League Champions and at the head is their Manager Jose Mourinho. He is now widely regarded as the best football manager in the world and one of the all time greatest. To put Jose Mourinho's achievements into context he has now won the league in four different countries. Twice in his native country, Portugal with FC Porto, twice in his first spell with Chelsea in England, twice with inter Milan in Italy and once in Spain with Real Madrid before coming back to Chelsea to win the championship again. It's his eighth national championship and his third in England and all at an age of 52 the same age that Alex Ferguson won his first title with Manchester United. All this and two European Champions League winners medals. So what does he do that the others don't? In this article we explore what makes Jose Mourinho such a good leader.
⭐️Belief: the foundation of success
"Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European Champion and I think I'm a special one" - Jose Mourinho
If you what to be a successful leader then you need to believe in your ability to lead. It is essential that your team has enough faith in your ability in order to follow you and this will never occur if they see you have self-doubt. Belief is the foundation of all success so don't be shy about reminding yourself of your achievements that have convinced people to give you an opportunity to lead. Never allow self doubt to take that opportunity away.
⭐️Focus on the present: tomorrow's success is defined by what you do today.
"My medals are somewhere at home. I don't know where they are. The most important game of my career is the next one" - Jose Mourinho
Your past is important as it has defined who you are today but your past will never be as important as your future. Jose Mourinho knows that success is not faithful to any one person and in order to continue to be successful you need to focus on what you need to do today in order to succeed tomorrow. Living in the past means the only glories you will experience are past ones.
⭐️The team comes first: no individual is more important than the team's mission.
"I hate to speak about individuals. Players don't win trophies, teams win trophies, squads win trophies" - Jose Mourinho
This may seem obvious but what separates Jose Mourinho is how much this thinking and philosophy is engrained into his leadership style. Whenever he starts at a new club he writes to all the players informing them that football is a collective effort and he expects every player to align their personal ambition to the teams mission and every decision he makes will be in the best interest of the team. No player will ever be more important than the team, there was no better example than when Jose sold Juan Mata to Manchester United, a player who had been voted player of the year for the previous two seasons. The team mission came first and Juan Mata didn't fit within the philosophy that was in place for the mission to succeed, so he was sold.
⭐️Don't care what people think: success is its own reward
"Envy is the biggest tribute that the shadows do to the man. Our situation is good. It's better than anybody else's. Everyone would love to be in our position." - Jose Mourinho
One of the records that Jose Mourinho achieved when he won the most recent English Premier League, was that it was only the second time in the history of the Premier League that he won the championship without winning a single Manager of the month award. The only other time this happened was when Jose Mourinho had his first spell with Chelsea. Winners will never be universally popular because when people look at winners they see qualities in those people that they don't see in themselves and that can be difficult to come to terms with.
Jose Mourinho is the best football manager in the world, someone who's been successful at the highest level in four different countries. It's his philosophy of success that translates across borders cultures and nationalities. It's also a philosophy that can be translated into different industries and we can take these lessons and like Jose,become a "special one".
About the Author:
Mark Wager is an expert in Leadership Psychology. Mark specialises in turning smart, driven people into quality leaders through a series of ongoing coaching sessions. Contact Mark today for a FREE 20 minute strategy session to see how you can achieve your goals.
Posted: Monday 10 August 2015