The Klopp Factor

Why do people go through fire for great leaders?

I love to bring sports and leadership together. You see the successes of outstanding leadership instantly, through media coverage and live broadcasting, and you can witness it so closely.

There is a beautiful anecdote about Jürgen Klopp – now with Liverpool Football Club - from his time as manager for Borussia Dortmund.

Eric Durm, a young lad then, just got pulled from the reserve team into the main squad. A few months into his career, his phone rang one morning with Jürgen Klopp on the other side, asking how he was doing. Durm replied that he was well and currently standing in line at a bakery shop. Klopp responded that he was glad to hear that, told him he was standing on the training ground and asked if he wanted to join him. Eric Durm blew the training session! It would have been easy for Klopp to discipline and even crush the young player – we all know this old-school grumpy coaching style. Instead, he was generous and took this one-time event with humor. Due to a great season, Eric Durm made the German squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and became a World Champion.

With humor and generosity, Jürgen Klopp manages to keep the feeling of relatability from a young player to a successful team. People often wonder how Klopp gets entire teams to believe in themselves and make miracles possible, such as Liverpool’s 4:0 win against Barcelona after a 0:3 loss in Camp Nou that led them to the Champions League finals. With so many comeback miracles in Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool it can't be just by chance. There is no 5-step recipe to learn this kind of leadership, but you can learn and reflect on your style through anecdotes like this.

Which anecdotes of outstanding leadership in sports do you know?