It’s World Cup Time! What do Leaders and Referees have in Common?

Safe

For the referee, safety begins before the match starts. This means inspecting the field, goals, corner flags, and surrounding areas to ensure they are free from hazards. If a hazard is found, the referee either corrects the problem or delays the start of the match until it has been eliminated or controlled. Common hazards include broken glass, dog waste, unsecured goals, and parents sitting too close to the touch line.

Referees also inspect players to ensure they are not wearing jewelry and that their equipment is appropriate and properly worn. Once play begins, they focus on both physical and psychological safety by ensuring coaches, staff, players, and substitutes adhere to the Laws of the Game.

Parallel Between Soccer and Safety Leadership

As leaders, we have a responsibility to inspect the workplace for hazards and ensure they are eliminated or controlled. Leaders also ensure employees have the necessary safety equipment and tools to complete their work safely.

Like soccer, organizations need a well-crafted and well-understood set of rules, policies, and procedures that establish the boundaries of acceptable behavior and conditions. Good leaders do not assume employees know all the rules, so they provide reminders through job safety briefings and ongoing communication.

Just as a referee observes behavior before, during, and after a match, leaders monitor whether people remain within established boundaries and provide support when they do not.

Fair

To be fair, referees must understand and consistently apply the 17 Laws of the Game. Most players and parents have a basic familiarity with the Laws, but many do not fully understand them. Coaches, especially at younger age levels, may also have limited knowledge.

Parents, coaches, and players are naturally biased. They often lose perspective regarding their own actions and focus primarily on perceived fouls against their team. Referees must work to ensure bias does not influence their decisions.

A good referee serves as a role model, mentor, and teacher. They are respectful and positive in their interactions while helping participants better understand the Laws of the Game. Referees use a variety of communication techniques and tools to communicate expectations, including:

• Talking with players and other participants respectfully.
• Blowing the whistle with varying intensity depending on the situation.
• Using designated hand and flag signals.
• Issuing yellow cards when behavior creates unnecessary risk or an unacceptable playing atmosphere.
• Issuing red cards when someone crosses the threshold of fair play, places others at serious risk, or engages in debasing behavior.

Parallel Between Soccer and Leading with Fairness

As leaders, we establish the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Through our actions, we communicate that putting ourselves or others at risk is unacceptable, that procedures must be followed, and that people are to be treated with dignity and respect.

Leaders, like referees, must focus on both physical and psychological safety. They have a variety of tools available when someone crosses the line of acceptable behavior, such as positive feedback, coaching, collaboration, and, when necessary, progressive discipline. Success as a leader means using those tools to help employees succeed.

Watch this webinar to learn more about Psychological Safety.

Another important aspect of leading with fairness is using advantage. One challenge for a referee is learning not to stop play for every foul. Instead, they assess the context, particularly whether stopping play would remove an advantage from the team in possession of the ball. The same principle applies to leadership through procedural justice. Distributive justice treats everyone the same regardless of context, like blowing the whistle for every infraction. Procedural justice focuses on the fairness of the decision-making process.

The Laws of the Game and company policies address most situations, but not all. Effective leaders consider context before determining how to enforce a rule, policy, or procedure.

Fun

In soccer, fun means different things to different participants. In the workplace, I often think of the term as ‘pleasant.’ People spend a sizable portion of their lives at work, and if the workplace is unpleasant, they either disengage or leave.

Parallel Between Soccer and Cultivating a Fun Workplace

The work itself may not always be pleasant, but leaders can create a culture where the atmosphere is. Leaders accomplish this by focusing on safety, treating people fairly, communicating openly, providing positive feedback, and ensuring everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Unlike the referee, leaders can go a step further by engaging employees in identifying ways to create a safer, fairer, and more pleasant work environment.

Keeping the Soccer Field and Workplace Safe, Fair, and Fun

Whether on a soccer field or in the workplace, people perform best when they feel safe, are treated fairly, and enjoy being part of the team. Referees help create that environment during a match, while leaders can build it every day. By focusing on safety, fairness, and creating a positive workplace experience, leaders can foster a culture where people are engaged, respected, and able to perform at their best.Read more about leading with safety in Tom Krause and Kristen Bell’s Book “7 Insights Into Safety Leadership.”