Given that I'm supposed to be writing a book, I've watched far too
much football today. But perhaps it was meant to be, because Sky's
two live Premiership matches proved a valuable business lesson
(honest boss).
Without wanting to be a football bore, Birmingham's 2-1 victory
over neighbours Wolves and Chelsea's 2-0 defeat of London rivals
Arsenal came courtesy of winning braces from two of the game's
greatest goalscorers, Kevin Phillips and Didier Drogba
respectively.
In both games, the losing sides were far from inferior in every
respect but the crucial one of putting the ball in the back of the
net. They were equal in the battle, had possession, created chances
- but for all their hard work there was no end product, no goals.
And as pundits like to remind us, goals win games.
While goals win games, goalscorers get goals. Kevin Phillips and
Didier Drogba are proven goalscorers. Phillips has 221 league goals
in 416 starts, Drogba 123 in 227. They've proven strikers with
track records for doing what matters most: hitting the
target.
In contrast, Wolves' top striker on the pitch has hit 68 goals in
his career to date while Arsenal's just 28. In Arsenal's case
especially, there was no shortage of talent or skill on display
and, as always from a side so pleasing on the eye, bags of
potential. Crucially, though, there was no end product.
A couple of thoughts: how many proven goalscorers has your business
got? Have you got people with a track record for hitting goals time
and time again? Or are you working with people who make the right
noises, show potential but ultimately don't deliver?
To complete the analogy, it's probably worth acknowledging that
natural goalscorers are both hard to find and command the highest
fees and wages. Now you'd like to think a top end sales person
would cost you slightly less than the £24million Chelsea paid for
Didier Drogba but you should expect to pay for quality individuals
- but that's because they're worth it.
Given that I'm supposed to be writing a book, I've watched far
too much football today. But perhaps it was meant to be, because
Sky's two live Premiership matches proved a valuable business
lesson. (Honest boss.)
Without wanting to be a football bore, Birmingham's 2-1 victory
over neighbours Wolves and Chelsea's 2-0 defeat of London rivals
Arsenal came courtesy of winning braces from two of the game's true
proven goalscorers, Kevin Phillips and Didier Drogba
respectively.
In both games, the losing sides were far from inferior in every
respect but the crucial one of putting the ball in the back of the
net. They were equal in the battle, in containing possession and
created chances - but for all their hard work there was no end
product, no goals. And as pundits like to remind us, goals win
games.
While goals win games, goalscorers get goals. Kevin Phillips and
Didier Drogba are proven goalscorers. Phillips has 221 league goals
in 416 starts, Drogba 123 in 227. They have track records for doing
what matters most: hitting the target.
In contrast, Wolves' top striker on the pitch has hit 68 goals
in his career to date at a far worse ratio, while Arsenal's, with
just 28, was a midfielder. In Arsenal's case especially, there was
no shortage of talent or skill on display today and, as always from
a side so pleasing on the eye, bags of potential. Potential is just
that though and it can flatter to deceive.
A couple of thoughts: how many proven goalscorers has your
business got? Have you got people with a track record for hitting
goals time and time again? Or are you working with people who make
the right noises, show potential even, but ultimately don't
deliver?
To complete the analogy, it's probably worth acknowledging that
natural goalscorers are hard to find and command the highest fees
and wages.
Now you'd like to think a top end sales person would cost you
slightly less than the £24million Chelsea paid for Didier Drogba,
but you should expect to pay top whack for quality individuals -
but that's because they're worth it.