“We're a team, not a family.. We're like a pro sports team..”
Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix
I came across Reed Hastings’ view on running a company like a sports team in his book with Erin Myer `No Rules Rules`, about Netflix’s unique culture.
Netflix’s culture
Before elaborating on the sports analogy, I’ll share some more context on Netflix’s culture.
Netflix takes pride in hiring only the top talent & working on retaining them by maintaining the talent density, paying them the top dollar. They believe in radical candor & honest feedback - being able to tell your honest thought to everyone without having to worry about repercussions. They have all the freedom with expectation to exercise it with responsibility - sure you can go on a 3 week break just make sure to do the committed work. They have reduced controls - less bureaucratic processes ? They have a culture of transparency in terms of sharing the vision, data, strategy while also encouraging taking risks without the worry of failure.
A sports team has clear objectives
Taking the analogy of a premier league football team, every team has its own set of objectives. And the entire season they strive to win and also meet those objectives.
Example -
A top team like City would want to win the Premier League, while United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham would fight for Champions League football.
A newly promoted team’s first & foremost job is to not relegated
A financially weak team would want to strengthen their books by making profits via player sales, merchandise and match day income
A team that is struggling like United or Chelsea might be setting themselves up for a “project”, expecting success not right away but in near term by doing the right things now
Objectives are different for different companies. Some aim to cement their positioning in the industry, some aim to be more profitable than before, some want to retain their top status while some may just want to continue to exist.
Clear objectives followed by clear strategy
A well-run team is ruthless in its execution, consistently striving to meet its objectives. Yet, even with the best intentions and significant resources, few teams are truly well-managed—and even fewer emerge as consistent winners. Take Manchester City, for instance: while they have near-unlimited financial resources, their success comes from smart management, a clear vision, and a commitment to long-term planning. They consistently set clear objectives—dominating both domestic and European football—and pursue them relentlessly.
In contrast, clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United have deep pockets but most of the times fail to maximize their investments. Both clubs have spent vast sums on players, but inconsistent strategies and managerial changes have led to mixed results, highlighting the importance of execution over mere financial clout. It’s not that they haven’t tried being ruthless, both the clubs frequently change their managers, United frequently gets a great player every transfer season while Chelsea’s current squad could be composed of 3 average mid table premier league squad.
On the other hand, clubs like Liverpool, Brighton, and Brentford, despite operating on much smaller budgets, are examples of how smart management, clear objectives, and cohesive strategies can lead to overperformance. Liverpool, under Jurgen Klopp, combined a clear vision with effective execution, leading them to Premier League and Champions League triumphs. Meanwhile, Brighton and Brentford, despite their limited resources, have carved out their place in the Premier League by making shrewd decisions, taking calculated risks in recruitment, and sticking to their footballing philosophies.
There’s no one formula for success, what matters is taking calculated risks, course correcting when stumbling upon failures & striving towards your objectives
Calculated risks
Two seasons before, Burnley under Vincent Kompany played attacking, beautiful football. They won the Championship amidst flurry of goals. Kompany continued to play Burnley in that way in the next season in Premier League. It didn’t work out as intended and they went back to Championship. Kompany is now at Bayern. Was this risk worth it?
Not all risks pay off, as seen in Burnley’s failure to adapt their playing style to the Premier League. On the other hand, when Chelsea was handed transfer ban in 2019-20 they had to leverage their youth talent. Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James came into the team and Lampard guided them to Champions League position and a FA Cup final. Some risks pay off, some don’t.
Ruthlessness
Teams that end up being nice, more often than not tend to be and stay mediocre. While it seems easy to prune your plants in your nicely maintained garden, because you help the plant with a better structure, or prevent the spread of disease or just encourage growth. But when it comes to humans - we hardly can do it well, pruning in the corporate world isn’t as straightforward. Dealing with people adds layers of emotional complexity, yet it’s just as necessary to ensure long-term health and progress.
There are cases when some individuals at every level are not suited or aligned to where a company is to be headed. I have seen individuals corrupt everyone around them with how the project is and instead of progressing towards the objectives of the company they directly or indirectly tend to sabotage it. How many teams do you believe have the heart that allows them to part ways with employees?
Jeff Bezos apparently had a “pay to quit” programme in Amazon - they paid employees to quit. In a shareholder letter, Bezos wrote, "The goal is to encourage folks to take a moment and think about what they really want. In the long run, an employee staying somewhere they don't want to be isn't healthy for the employee or the company," affirming the program's aim to benefit both the employee's well-being and the company's overall health.
Premier League is filled with ruthlessly firing and resigning and holding players & managers to high standards. Lampard was fired mid season and Tuchel came in and won them a Champions League. Antonio Conte, in the typical Conte fashion was sacked from Tottenham after his last eruption where he throwed every player under the bus. Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba, Jadon Sancho, Romelu Lukaku are infamous for the dressing room disruptions, demonstrating how damaging a few misaligned individuals can be to a team’s culture. Harry Maguire’s turnaround proves that pruning all the times isn’t really the only solution.
While a team or a company can choose to be “human” and can’t let go of either the toxic indivudials or the individuals who don’t have a role to play in company’s objectives, they do major disservice to themselves and the rest of the people who are working towards the objectives. Being ruthless, however, doesn’t mean being cold or cutthroat. It’s about making tough decisions for the long-term benefit of the team or company. Leaders need to balance this ruthlessness with empathy, ensuring they support their team’s growth while maintaining high standards.
Emotional Intelligence in Decision-Making
While I would want a professional sports team and a company to be ruthless, I would also prefer if my sports team had Emotional Intelligence as well.
Emotional intelligence is often the difference between a team that is ruthless and a team that implodes. While leaders like José Mourinho or Antonio Conte are famous for their ruthlessness, their inability to balance that with emotional intelligence has often led to breakdowns with players. While you get the results you do sign up for, you also get a squad that’s entirely broken and quite beyond repair at the end of their stint.
On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have demonstrated that emotional intelligence—knowing when to push and when to support—can sustain team unity while still pursuing success relentlessly. Under Klopp, everyone’s held at a high standard. Every season there’s a rumor that Salah is not happy, and every season Salah goes on to have a great season with Klopp playing him week in week out.
Pep in the last few years have had exits of Eric Garcia, Sterling, (briefly) Gündoğan, Alvarez, every one of them gave City record profits. When a player leaves Manchester United, they either leave at the end of their contract, or leave at a heavy discounts - more often than not both due to the fact that the board & manager don’t get along well with the players. Pogba, Lingard, Martial, David de Gea are few examples.
A happy player also does best on the field. A stressed but talented player more often than not struggles. The maturity and emotional intelligence needed from the manager in their relationship with their player is underrated. I always believed that I performed and do my best when I am my most relaxed and happy. Management & the company should invest in fostering a culture that makes people bring their best.
Long-Term Vision vs. Short-Term Gains
Ruthlessness must always serve the long-term vision, not just short-term gains. Clubs like Manchester United or Chelsea have sometimes suffered from short-term thinking, making reactive managerial changes in pursuit of instant results. On the other hand, Arteta’s Arsenal has slowly become season on season a favourite to be a contender for Top 2 in the Premier League. Arsenal have just won a FA Cup in Arteta’s 5 years. But in the 2024 season some expect them to lift the Premier League. Chelsea. United under Ole were in countless semi finals or finals, never won anything; with Erik ten Hag have already won 2 cups. Nobody takes them seriously for the top spot in the Premier League, and every season ten Hag seems to be on his way out.
Short term gains & wins are needed for momentum and progress but shouldn’t come at the cost of longer term vision. This is true for me as well. I came across a tweet (everything is on X now) which said something along the lines of “would you continue on a nice bus ride leading you to the wrong destination or stop there and make way towards the destination” - I sometimes do things & put work in that reward me in short term but I know it doesn’t get me to my longer term goals. And that must be true for all things - be it me, a professional sports team or a company.
Cohesive team
In both professional sports and business, there's often a temptation to build a team of superstars and expect instant success. But as many football clubs and companies have learned the hard way, a collection of individual talents doesn't automatically translate into a high-performing team.
A cohesive team isn’t necessarily a ‘family.’ While a company doesn’t need to create familial bonds, it should still foster a strong sense of unity and professionalism. Football teams like Klopp’s Liverpool and Guardiola’s City succeed because, even without relying on family-like connections, they cultivate camaraderie and clear roles. Their cohesion stems from shared goals and mutual respect, just like a high-functioning corporate team. The comraderie and unity is visible in how they are on field and off field.
Too much football, what’s my takeaway?
So while I say I want my team to be ruthless, work towards common objectives it isn’t just about that or being cut throat. It’s also about accountability, freedom for personal expression and most importantly working towards an environment of high performance, clear accountability, and shared purpose.
It's about being professionals - committed, skilled, and always pushing for excellence. Just like a great sports team.