LOST IN THE POST

It has been a strange couple of weeks.

Firstly there was the hugely damaging announcement from the government that the personal details of 25 million people in the UK had been transferred onto two CDs before being lost in the post, thereby leaving 7.25 million families at risk of mass identity fraud.

Then there was the end of England’s torrid qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 that saw our “Golden Age” prodigies once again fall woefully short of their potential.

In both cases it has raised many questions but the message is the same. If you don’t have the right talent in your team you won’t win. And even if there is talent, the wrong leader at the helm can be fatal.

The Treasury and the England football team have had problems for years - fundamental issues that have been slowly eroding at the structures of both organisations. In Labour’s case they had Tony Blair at the helm to cover the cracks.

For all his faults, Blair was a great leader and an exceptional communicator. Perfect he was not but he conveyed his vision with a confidence and honesty that gave him authenticity. People believed that he would do the right thing.

Sven too papered over the cracks for England. It was obvious that the England squad was full of individual talent but lacked team cohesion. But nobody doubted we would qualify for major tournaments and instead moaned that his lack of visible passion must be responsible for the sometimes lacklustre performances on the pitch.

But since Blair and Eriksson have gone the wheels have quite literally fallen off. The Treasury and Labour Government have lurched from one crisis to the next and have done nothing to raise confidence in times of difficulty.

As for McClaren’s men, England have failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and suddenly the whole footballing structure of this country is being questioned and ridiculed.

In both cases, the more you look into the problems, the less comfortable you feel.

There is an inherent characteristic in Britain to play not to lose instead of playing to win.

When Alistair Darling announced the data leaks to the House Of Commons he should have been brave, confident and honestly opened up the situation that the government found themselves in. Instead Labour sat on the information, covered their tracks and blamed a junior minister. It was playing not to lose.

McClaren DID shoulder the blame for England’s defeat but he should never have been in that situation. He was appointed when the first choice ruled himself out and always seemed he was chosen as the “easy” choice. After all the public was baying for an English coach and McClaren was part of the set up that had led England to three successive quarter final appearances in major tournaments.

But how could appointing him be playing to win? The England manager’s job is amongst the most prestigious in the world but is now seen as a poison chalice. How has it come so far that genuinely world class coaches refuse to take the job?

The answer is all about perception. Again we are playing not to lose by having the likes of Brian Barwick deciding on the England manager’s appointment. We need people that can sell the role, cajole the best talent into considering the “dream job” and playing up to their egos of turning around the sleeping giant of international football.

We should not be listening to the ill-informed that say he should be English, or those that side with the appointment of completely untried and tested former players like Alan Shearer.

We should be looking for the best. Playing to win means changing a mentality where mediocre is good enough and where losing gloriously is almost as good as winning.

It is something that Labour should take heed of because they are in trouble. It is not good enough to fire fight constantly and continually save face when things go wrong. They need to be setting the agenda and forcing the pace and making it very clear that any errors along the way are a “blip” and not the norm.

No longer do they have the big hitters and big names on the front bench. Brown was a great Chancellor because his dour persona and plodding diligence made him authentic and trusworthy within The Treasury. But as a national figurehead there is simply no room for sparkle and creativity in his government.

On the other side the Tories have a leader who has learnt from Tony Blair’s success and has a vibrant, young team that is taking the fight to the establishment as New Labour once did.

They, like us, are just waiting for the next catastrophe and blunder to pounce on.
It is a time when once again leadership is in the spotlight and it comes back to the old conundrum – are leaders born or made?

In times of crisis, leaders are found.

Jose Mourniho is the man to lead England back from the footballing wilderness but looking at the government’s front bench we may well need an election to solve that particular problem.

In both Brown’s and McClaren’s case they were great when second in command but have struggled to make the transition to becoming number one.

It’s a phenomenon that’s seen time and again in all walks of life and will be seen forever more; Robin very rarely becomes Batman.