Managing people: Sam Allardyce
Getting the best out of people by treating them as individuals with the former England manager, Sam Allardyce.
Getting the best out of people by treating them as individuals with the former England manager, Sam Allardyce.
Sam has had a long and successful career in football, first as a player and then as a manager. Many players who were managed by Sam have spoken fondly of his ability to create an enjoyable environment for them, most notably the team he created at Bolton. He surprised many people by luring World Cup winners and genuine megastars to the club in the early 2000s. Sam was ahead of his time at Bolton, using sports scientists, analysts and psychologists well before that became the norm elsewhere.
When it comes to managing people, Sam talks about the importance of getting in front of people where possible, and not simply relying on data and second hand information. He talks about the danger of being labelled, something he felt happened to him early in his managerial career, as well as his longstanding meditation habit, playing pranks on Sir Alex Ferguson and dealing with the emotional impact of losing the England job after just one match, following a newspaper sting.
