Neymars shall be Neymars, irrespective of the field of excellence!

The buzz can’t get any louder! 

Finally he showed up in Paris to declare his changed loyalties and will sport the NO. 10 Jersey of PSG for the next 5 years!

Barca’s loss and PSG’s gain!

Big game, big money and hence big names on transfer portal every year — a solid business model that stands on sheer talent and their potential owners. 

As a keen soccer guy, who watches this space of talent migration every year during the months of July/August, I could not resist the temptation of reflecting over what I did in corporates for three decades while trying to spot Corporate Neymars and retain them with the organization as long as possible.

Corporates or for that matter any business entity is always hungry for talent which is hugely valued, aggressively hunted and nurtured with soft gloves. But if everything possible seems to be done to meet their needs, why does talent walk out of the organization? 

Maybe we need to understand the psyche of such a special breed a bit more. Here are some I could think of, be it from the sporting world or from the corporate world.

In the world of sport, one needs to be better than the yesterday’s best. They know that, the more they get to play, greater are the chances of building a brand and awe around them. The greater the awe and aura, higher will be the price tag at the transfer gate. The equation is as simple as that. The maximum potential value is when you are under 30 but fit enough to run with the younger guys. Technically, you have the best price tag, somewhere between 20 and 25, not when you are 17s or in 30s. Neymars knew it too well. 

Back at the corporate houses, we witness the frenzy associated with hiring the best breed of talent, and their over drive to showcase a promising career lines them over the next two to three years. The belief is that the younger the talent, greater is the possibility of developing and bonding them emotionally with the organization. In a way, if a corporate is able to nurture and groom a great talent for more than say three to four years, it must be given its credit for the same. Such is the nature of the world of Neymars! Fast and furious and always curious to break new grounds seem to the unwritten DNA of the top order talent!

Like the old saying, “there can be only one lion in a forest”, in the world of sports too, too many lions in one forest are not desirable! Each icon would want his/her identity to stand out and not marginalized by the presence of another. The dreaded trio of MSN (Messi-Saures-Neymar) for sure had its own aura in the soccer arena. But then the fact that Messi’s perceived value is always greater than the other two is bound to cause some disruption to the flow and proceedings. This is how the lion when he sits alone may start thinking. Neymar Jr. just did that reflection during the transfer window and took his call. So, despite the phenomenal camaraderie shown in front of the TV when a goal is scored, the independent thinking of the icon is clearly evident when he made his move to PSG.

Neymar’s migration to PSG also tells us that it’s very difficult to gauge the “thinking process of ‘an icon’”. Playing for Barca or Real Madrid is deemed as the ultimate in soccer. So it’s quite natural for one to expect that the player once listed in one of these famed clubs will finish his playing career and focus on the next best alternative as a “Manager” as done by so many including Zidane. But Neymar Jr. felt that his best was yet to come and found a new home in PSG and chose to exit despite having signed a 5 year renewal deal just a few months back. When Neymar Jr. signed the new five year deal in October 2016, there was great joy and celebration at the camp. For sure, the Board would have assumed that they don’t have to worry about Neymar’s loyalty to Barca for another five years.

Back at corporates, once we put your top talent on a twelve month signature leadership program, we assume that talent is tied to the organization and will run on auto pilot. It will be a revelation to most corporates if one compares the number of young leaders hired from Ivy League schools and their progression, growth and retention over the four to five year period. How many of the hires have really shown patience to wait and grow into leadership roles in the same organization as destined by the Signature Theme?

Poor judgment indeed despite the intent being so noble! But why do such things happen?

In my view, there are two possibilities for this gap. Firstly, most corporates would see a leadership development process as a bi-partite arrangement between the hi-potentials and the organization. But the hi-potentials actually may make it a tri-partite deal — that is between the self, organization and market opportunities, and use this reference point to make a call as did Neymar Jr. Secondly, there can be a possibility of a change in the hi-potential’s career goals which an organization may be oblivious of. In the case of Neymar, the stated reason for change was that he felt a need for a larger and different canvas and there’s no way the leaders at Barca would have figured out this change of direction! How many times do corporate leaders and the HR Heads have listened to these statements during their retention pitch to a hi-potential? 

Theories of Motivation suggest that many a times, the type of goals one sets for oneself can be a great source of motivation. Mother Theresa’s goal to serve the downtrodden, Gandhi’s goal to secure freedom through Ahimsa and a soldier’s goal to defend the motherland are great examples of the power of goals as a source of motivation. In the sporting arena, to be known as the best in the field gives one the ultimate high. After all, personalities like Jesse Owens, Karl Lewis, Phelps, Usain Bolt, Tendulkar etc. are rare sightings indeed. They will be revered forever, since they have reached their maximum potential performance in their chosen fields and embraced glory. 

Ballon d’Or  or the “Golden ball “ is the ultimate individual triumph in the game of soccer, given to the best in the world in that year, selected through voting by leading and respected sports journalists. The virtual lease of this title between Messi and CR7 is well known and seemingly difficult for any aspiring player to break in to this league. Neymar Jr. perhaps, had set his eyes on this ultimate award and also knew for sure that he has to stand out clearly from these two. This means, being a lion in the newer forest offers him the maximum chance to increase his goal scoring opportunities thereby help him in achieving his goal to win the Golden Ball. PSG, the cash-rich state-owned club that has solid clout in sporting bodies offered him the perfect pitch.

We are most likely to see Neymar Jr.’s name in the list of nominations for the Golden Ball in 2018.

When a top order performer approached his boss to say that he wants to move on to pursue his passion of coaching in sports, the boss had to gulp the tea to grasp the message. Obviously stumped, the mid-forty leader had very clear plans of growth for this hi-potential in the sales organization and has been touting him as the ‘next big thing’ in his team. In his straight thinking style, the hi-potential’s decision to leave a super job to pursue his passion with zero return is a clear blasphemy and at its worst “an emotional decision”. But the hi-potential, stood the ground, took his bag, and walked his way.  The power of his goal to take to sport coaching was so inspiring to him that he took such a big, bold decision. The leader, like many, was clearly caught off guard by the change of heart of his junior.

Through the above limited drill down, I distilled a few common threads that may seem to fit when we try and define Neymars in any field. 

At times, the evidence of the presence of any of the aspects given below can be strong, or it may be just too light to get noticed. 

• They know their competency levels and don’t bask on laurels of the past
• They show a burning desire to learn from others and put great efforts
• They have the shortest learning curves and tend to look for newer goals to conquer 
• Most of them are level-headed, and know and capitalize on opportunities
• They focus on their core strengths than working on their observed gaps
• Have a view as to how they prefer to lead their lives, both personal and in corporate
• Difficult to penetrate in to their “deeper, softer inside” most times
• Not all that rationale as they profess and value sentiments 
• Tasks help them to scale newer milestones
• Being nice to others does not mean they like what they do
• They are far more professionals in their make up and do not ‘revise’ their decisions that easily
• They always know that there is a “market” out there for them and use it perfectly

A transfer sum of approximately Rs. 1700 crores is a mind boggling figure and not many listed mid-sized companies in India have such turn overs. But that is the price for Neymar Jr. which PSG paid to Barca. Ridiculously absurd at one level, but authentic at the other — all in the space for war for talent!!

In the ultimate rat race for talent, it’s just too difficult to gauge the nexus between “Actions and Outcomes” of your towering icons. Organizations leave no stones unturned to keep Neymars happy and yet, Neymars shall be Neymars ever!

Yes, Neymars in any field need to be watched, engaged and responded to continuously; and managing them cannot be left in the hands of the few, including the organizations’ punching bags viz. Human Resources function. 

Finally, it is not just good enough to hire Neymars! The whole organizational ecosystem, such as culture, ethics and values, leadership caliber and depth, reward for performance, scope to upskill and learn, sense of fair play, adoption of contemporary practices and many more go a long way to instill pride in Neymars and help them continue to stay.

Even as organizations burn the midnight oil to establish world class ecosystems, knowing the bizarre and independent nature of thinking styles most Neymars display, organizations will be better served if they constantly scout for more Neymars as a part of the succession plan to ensure the flow of performance.