featuring every club employee’s story. In 2015, there was an art/dance piece, called ‘Strength through Diversity’. One year later, the club performed a modern dance interpretation of Swan Lake at the city’s local theatre on the main square, Storsjö. Maria Nilsson Waller, the choreographer, described dance to them as ‘movement of the soul’.
In rehearsals, the players began with nervous giggles as they divided into pairs and lifted each other up. But their inhibitions quickly left them as Waller’s drills had them moving in harmony. The rehearsals were like training sessions, a safe area for learning (and making mistakes), and peppered with positive feedback and support structure. Everyone was out of their comfort zone and helping each other. In football parlance, it was a real leveller. The power of touch in the dance also brought an intimacy to the group.
Psychologists have shown that sporting teams win more if they touch each other as a way of establishing bonds of trust. One study of NBA teams found that those who touched more (defined by a fist-bump, high-five or a hug) won more games.17 The smallest touch is a bonding tool of support. You are not alone on the field. Someone has your back (literally, in this dance). We will discuss the importance of tactility in the methodology of one of football’s most intriguing managers in Chapter 2.
And so, to show-time. There were 450 people in the venue, mostly theatre-going types. Midfielder Monday Samuel opened up with a graceful solo, before his team-mates joined him. The movements were elegant, the dances polished and, most of all, the focus was intense. This was not a joke for the players. Potter also performed a solo: lying on his stomach, legs bent at 90 degrees, on the gold confetti-covered stage. He slowly lifted his head and neck, but not his shoulders, and looked around him. There was a refined dignity, a stillness, to his movement. It was excellent. Afterwards assistant coach Billy Reid sang The Drifters’ ‘Saturday Night’ and the mood turned joyous as the whole team danced around him. They were back in their comfort zone.
Once mocked for its cultural projects, ÖFK was now having its performances reviewed by Stockholm’s high-culture media. ‘It was beautiful,’ Sverige Radio’s cultural expert Gunnar Bolin tells me. ‘The sincerity and power of expression made it extremely moving.’ Two theatres in Stockholm asked ÖFK to perform Swan Lake at their venues. The team declined. Bolin had noted that it was not just the players who were dancing, but all the club employees. ‘Even the ones who were not quite so flexible as the younger players,’ he smiles.
‘The cultural theme allows us to be more open, to be braver, to improve decision-making,’ Kindberg says. ‘It helps the group come together. When we look at players, people look at qualities like physics, technology and understanding of the game. But we believe the mental part is the most important. By allowing players to venture into situations they do not know, and challenge their own fears, they grow as individuals. By extension, that gives them greater courage on the pitch.’
Potter agrees. ‘The environment we have established means everyone is prepared to trust the process, but it’s definitely a challenge and by no means comfortable for any of us out there. You have to overcome some inner demons and insecurities to get out there and do it.’ Potter found his Swan Lake solo particularly tough. ‘We had just got promoted to the Allsvenskan [Swedish first division] and there was a huge buzz around the performance. It was very difficult to do, and I felt a right wally at times.’
Potter understands the positive effect of the coach showing his nerves and vulnerabilities to the group. ‘Culturally, everyone thinks a leader needs to only show strength and be this macho figure, but it doesn’t have to be like that.’ Potter was not scared of his team seeing his weaknesses. Sometimes giving them that glimpse can be transformative.
The time spent working on the dance also taught a valuable lesson. Time is important. Things don’t happen straightaway. The players in the squad are used to instant gratification: being able to watch TV on demand, order things online and even meet partners instantly on smartphones. But it takes patience to write a book, to put on an art show, to learn a dance. It can be arduous and punishing, but ultimately it is worth it. The lesson that ÖFK players took in from Swan Lake was not just about cohesion; it was also about self-confidence, job fulfilment and patience.
Management has changed from the days when Potter was a player. Millennials will no longer put up with always being told what to do. ‘It just won’t work any more,’ he says. ‘If you rely on your position of power, or control over the group, it’s only a short-term solution. You need to be authentic in the relationships you have, show the qualities you want to inspire in the group, and sometimes it’s about not having all the answers. As long as you are dedicated to improving yourself and those around you, are able to adapt and make good decisions, then you can manage. It helps to have some self-awareness, as if you understand yourself then you can understand others. That’s how you can build relationships that withstand the pressures of losing games.’
This was also apparent in the preparation for ÖFK’s 2017 cultural project: an investigation into the Sami culture, to culminate in an exhibition comprising photo, film, crafts, music, song and speech. Known in English as Laplanders, the indigenous Sami live in the Arctic area of Sápmi, which encompasses parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The whole club has learned about the Sami’s language, faith and narrative tradition, with help from Maxida Märak, a hip-hop artist, activist and Sami expert. One lesson was about reindeer husbandry and, in the absence of a real reindeer, Potter wore fake horns and challenged striker Alhaji Gero to lasso him. So he did.
Potter’s studies at the Open University, Hull and Leeds reinforced his interest in self-reflection and forced him to think about what kind of leader he wanted to be. He did not want to repeat the patterns he saw from his own playing career. So, what type of leader is he? ‘I value people and I value relationships and I am as authentic as I can be. My job is to understand the person first and foremost, and help them improve. For me, this role is not about winning matches or winning leagues, it’s simply about whether you can affect someone’s life in a positive way.’
Potter is convinced the cultural projects can work in another environment, though he warned against going from doing nothing to performing Swan Lake. ‘It was a gradual process,’ he says. ‘But the fundamentals are the same across industries: if you have people who are very good at doing something, whatever that is, and you want to explore a new way to challenge them, or develop the team, or find out about themselves, this is a way to do it. Lots of professional life is about coping with the struggles and attitude to that. In football it’s a misplaced pass or a lost game – or an angry fan. In another environment it might be a grumpy client or a difficult moment. But being comfortable in uncomfortable situations is a way of teaching people in a new way.’
The cultural work is not just crystallised into the performances. Kindberg sees the whole process as one of self-improvement. ‘We want to show that our football is more than football. We are happy, we are open, we are braver than the normal standards, and we use this to challenge people by taking them out of their comfort zone.’
This is where Wahlén comes in again. As well as collaborating with Kindberg on the cultural projects, she organises regular workshops for the team. The players are encouraged to make emotional connections with each other. She remembers the conversations that followed the Privilege Walk, when the whole squad stood in a line in the middle of the room and were asked a series of questions:
If you are a white male take one step forward.
If there have been times in your life when you skipped a meal because there was no food in the house take one step backward.
If you have visible or invisible disabilities take one step backward.
