Business and the Beautiful Game: How You Can Apply the Skills and Passion of Football to be a Winner in Business - Softcover

"The use of business practice in the world of soccer is both innovative and exciting. This book provides the insight and is a great read." Keith Edelman, Managing Director of Arsenal Football Club "What a great read! This will inspire not only those in business but in sport too. Want to motivate your staff? Give them a copy today!" Martin Edwards, Former Chairman of Manchester United Football Club "They say in football that when one door closes, another one slams in your face! In this book Messrs Theobald and Cooper illustrate clearly just how much businessmen can learn from the study of football. Competition, strategy, tactics, leadership, management and teamwork, are carefully analysed. The book is striking and evocative. It will appeal to all practitioners and students of commerce and especially those with a love of the beautiful game. Business, like football, may be simple but as one illustrious manager once said, the problem is making it look simple." Keith Harris, Executive Chairman of Seymour Pierce and former Chairman of The Football League "Theobald and Cooper confirm what many people have suspected for some time - leadership and management in football and business are variations of the same theme. Very readable and relevant for all those interested in business management." Alan Murray, CEO of Hansons PLC "I am indebted to the authors for writing this book. I now feel fully justified in my habit of peppering my management talks with sporting analogies. Just when I was beginning to think I'd overdone it, I now find countless examples in here, and I can't wait to introduce them into my talks, oblivious to the pleading looks from my audience. In sport, you see competition in its purest form. There's no grey, no amount of management speak can gloss over the result. There are lots of lessons, I believe, for managers to see what really matters when the pressure is on." Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco "A host of experts have contributed to Business and the Beautiful Game, which takes the tactics of football and applies them to the workplace." Newcastle Upon Tyne Evening Chronicle (Series) "Forget Donald Trump and Alan Sugar, for a leg-up the corporate ladder, look to the men who earn their seven-figure salaries at the chalk board rather than in the boardroom...touchline tips from managers past and present that can be learned and used at work. And so sage is some of the advice that it can apply outside the office." GQ "Examines technical, tactical and practical elements of football which can be applied in industry and commerce at both personal and corporate level." The Guardian "At the end of the day, when the chips are down, readers are more likely to be over the moon than sick as parrots." Business Life "Makes useful observations without taking the business world too seriously." Business Executive "What distinguishes this book from its many rivals is the lively and entertaining way it's been written. The authors cleverly combine humour with wisdom to produce a framework for a fresh way of thinking about business." Professional Manager "This lively addition to the genre makes some useful links without taking itself too seriously." People Management "The authors bravely explore such issues as ambition, coaching, captaincy, management, discipline and skill, as well as passion and their relationship to corporate life." Independent on Sunday "Bursts of additional learning are incorporated in a collection of training tips." People Management "The first half describes all the winning attributes successful businesses need including skills, ambition, passion and discipline but as in most games of football it is the second half that provides the most entertainment." Liverpool Echo "Looks at which of your silky soccer skills can be applied to the boardroom, and which should definitely remain on the pitch." Business Edge "Passion is energy, drive, fire and aggression and if channelled in the right way it can be a force for good," says Theo Theobald, co-author of Business and the Beautiful Game, a book which looks at how you can apply the skills and passion of football to be a winner in business." Making Money "Provides a framework for a fresh way of thinking about business, helping readers to remember what's important, on and off the pitch and in and out of the workplace...makes useful observations without taking the business world too seriously." European Foundation for Management Development, Volume 49