Both on and off the pitch, the referee is key
Luciano Lopez brings his football referee skills with him to the workplace, in managing people and resolving conflict
YOU’D be surprised by how similar refereeing two teams of 22 football players and managing the academic leadership of a campus with about 15 staff and professors and close to 60 students is.
Before I moved to Singapore, I was a part-time referee for semi-professional football leagues in Switzerland, overseeing international friendlies that included teams from the Premier League, LaLiga, Primeira Liga, Süper Lig and, of course, the Swiss Super League. It was my job, alongside three others, to oversee the matches and make split-second judgements based on my observations. We had to be on top of our game in terms of fitness in order to keep up with the speed of the matches and to be in the best position to control and regulate match proceedings.
When tensions run high and emotions take over, conflicts are unavoidable. It was our job as the officiators to resolve them as well. Imagine the pressure on the field, having players on both teams as well as hundreds of passionate fans protest against our decisions!
In these moments, it was crucial for me to remain calm and objective on the pitch. Every word spoken and body language I project is decisive in diffusing the situation.
While the players might disagree with my decision to call a red card or award a penalty kick, one thing remains common among us despite our differences – we are all here for a good game. As a referee, it was important to remind them of the bigger picture – the spirit of the game, which is what drives our love for soccer and to become better sportsmen in the first place.
Mediating heated situations are tough, but when successfully managed and all players return to the game with a cool mind after shaking hands with one another - these are some of my most fulfilling moments in my career as a referee.
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This is the same in the workplace as well. Mistakes do happen and disagreements may arise. As leaders, how can we manage these difficult situations while motivating our employees to do better?
While I have left my career as a referee behind me, and soccer these days is relegated to friendly matches in the evenings with my friends at Kallang, I am often surprised at how much I fall back on some of the skills I learnt managing people on the pitch in my new role as the Dean of the first international campus of the world-renowned EHL Hospitality Business School.
While the games I officiated were not always the highest level, the teams consisted of highly motivated, professional and ambitious players who were used to, and expected, the highest level of refereeing.
This placed a lot of pressure on me to get things right and communicate effectively to manage different situations. I learnt how to keep my cool, to separate the action from the person, to always have an objective mindset and to explain my decisions in a clear and concise manner.
As the youngest person to have taken on the prestigious title within the university’s 129-year storied history, expectations are high. While there is a lot less running, the managerial and leadership qualities are very similar. I am surrounded by professors and experts who are at the top of their respective fields, not unlike the footballers I refereed. The students are highly motivated, smart and ambitious, ready to not only enter the world of work, but also to change their industries for the better.
The decisions I make can affect the entire campus, so I need to ensure I can explain my choices in a clear and rational manner, while managing diverse personalities on the team. I need to be able to guide students in the right direction without stifling their creativity or opinions and bring the best out of my staff and professors, so that we can achieve the same goal – to make EHL a better place to work and study in.
If there is one thing that I hope my students and team members takeaway from their time with me at EHL, it would be that we can be the referees of our own lives and become better people. Staying calm, objective and measured with a focus on the big picture, especially during high-pressure periods, is difficult but I am certain my days on the football fields in Switzerland helped built these skills in me.
Luciano Lopez, 33, is Dean of EHL Campus (Singapore)
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