Hi Reader
Last week I shared a framework with you that I’ve used on different occasions with clients.
And, in truth, on occasions there has been some pushback and it all hasn’t been straight-line success stories.
I’ve really enjoyed pulling together this week’s edition as it shows that a lot of what I share here is iterative and we’ve got to evolve and iterate for different contexts and situations.
Think of it this way…..you've identified the type of strategic opposition you're facing. You've applied the appropriate response strategy. Yet nothing has changed.
In fact, things might be getting worse.
Here's what's happening: You're dealing with multi-layered opposition. That is, different types of resistance are operating simultaneously, each reinforcing the others in ways that neutralise your individual interventions and best efforts.
Kinda like treating a patient with multiple conditions by addressing only one symptom. The other untreated conditions undermine any progress you make.
So, last week's resistance mapping framework was just the diagnostic phase. Today, you'll learn the intervention protocol that elite sports leaders use when facing the complex, interlocking opposition patterns that can destroy even the most brilliant strategic initiatives.
And here’s where it gets uncomfortable. If you're still applying single-solution thinking to multi-dimensional problems, you're operating at a sophistication level below what your position demands. You’re trying to win arguments rather than craft solutions.
Let’s unpack that……
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The Compounding Opposition Problem
Most strategic initiatives in sports clubs face multiple types of opposition operating in concert.
You might encounter sceptical opposition from performance staff who question your new methodology, combined with systemic opposition from process systems that make implementation difficult, layered with political opposition from stakeholders with competing priorities.
Address only the sceptical concerns with evidence, and the systemic barriers ensure failure. This then validates the sceptics' doubts and strengthens political opposition.
This isn't coincidence. It's how organisational/club ecosystems protect themselves from change.
The leaders who consistently succeed at the highest levels don't just diagnose multiple opposition types.
They understand the sequence in which to address them. Get the order wrong, and your intervention efforts actually strengthen the resistance they're meant to overcome.
The Fatal Sequencing Errors Most Leaders Make
After analysing complex resistance patterns across dozens of sports clubs, I've identified three critical sequencing errors that kill strategic initiatives:
Error 1: Addressing Symptoms Before Systems
What It Looks Like: You start by trying to convince sceptics or build political coalitions while systemic barriers remain in place.
Why It Backfires: When systemic obstacles cause predictable failures, they provide ammunition for sceptics and political opponents. Your early intervention efforts will, conversely, strengthen later resistance.
The Cost: A rugby performance director spent six months building support for new training protocols, only to watch implementation fail due to pitch/gym scheduling conflicts he hadn't addressed. This oversight gave ammunition to opponents who had been initially neutral.
Error 2: Fighting Politics Before Building Capability
What It Looks Like: You negotiate political agreements and compromises before ensuring people can actually deliver on them.
Why It Backfires: When capability gaps cause inevitable underperformance, political allies abandon ship to protect their own credibility. You lose both the initiative and your political capital.
The Cost: A Basketball Head of Performance secured board approval for advanced data analytics integration. But she hadn't invested in staff capability building. When implementation struggled, board members publicly distanced themselves from the initiative to avoid association with failure.
Error 3: Building Evidence But Ignoring Power Dynamics
What It Looks Like: You focus on data and logical arguments while political opposition builds momentum in the background.
Why It Backfires: Political opponents use the time you spend building evidence to construct coalitions and create alternative narratives. By the time you're ready to present your case, the political ground has shifted beneath you.
The Cost: One Super League (Switzerland) sporting director spent four months developing comprehensive next generation player development data to address sceptical opposition. Then he discovered that political opposition had convinced key board members that future player development wasn't a priority compared to immediate first-team needs.
In short these folks were not getting far enough upstream to identify pressure points with clarity (in one of our first issues we spoke about ‘getting upstream’ - it’s maybe worth another read?)
Your ‘Sequential Intervention Protocol’
Top sports leaders who consistently navigate complex opposition patterns (and we all do on most days, right?) follow a specific intervention sequence. The protocol isn't intuitive. And this is why most leaders get it wrong.
Phase 1: Systemic Foundation (Weeks 1-2)
The Principle: Address structural barriers before attempting any behavioural change. A bit like the world of tech…there’s little point in having wonderful software if the hardware is flawed.
The Action: Visualise and understand what success looks and feels like. Then identify and modify the systems, processes, and structural elements that would make your initiative difficult or impossible to implement, regardless of human factors.
Why First: Systems shape behaviour more powerfully than motivation or persuasion. Fix the systems, and resistance often dissolves naturally….you remove the golf ball from the hose and allow flow. Ignore them, and even your enthusiastic supporters will struggle to deliver results.
Real Application: Before launching a new player monitoring system, a Spanish handball team principal spent time designing data collection protocols and athlete & coach interfaces. This invisible groundwork made the subsequent rollout feel effortless to everyone involved, eliminating potential sources of resistance before they could emerge. (you would not believe the positive effect of small details like having athlete vests hanging up in the changing room. Honestly!)
Your Diagnostic: What structural elements need to change for your initiative to succeed, regardless of people's attitudes toward it?
Phase 2: Cognitive Enablement (Weeks 2-3)
The Principle: Build capability before demanding performance.
The Action: Ensure all key implementers possess the specific skills, knowledge, and resources required for successful execution.
Why Second: Once systems support your initiative, capability gaps become the primary barrier. People can't resist what they're genuinely equipped to do well.
Real Application: One club implementing new performance measurement protocols invested a week training staff on both the technical skills & processes and the interpretation frameworks before expecting any implementation. They didn’t practice with live ammo. Staff who might have been resistant became advocates because they felt fully competent rather than confused.
Your Diagnostic: What specific capabilities need to be developed before people can successfully implement your initiative?
Phase 3: Coalition Architecture (Weeks 3-4)
The Principle: Build political support after establishing operational viability.
The Action: Secure support from key stakeholders by demonstrating early proof-of-concept and addressing their specific concerns or interests.
Why Third: Political support is much easier to build when you can point to working systems and capable people. Stakeholder confidence grows when they see operational competence, not just strategic vision. Everyone likes to be associated with winning initiatives.
Real Application: A football (soccer) head of operations waited until his new scouting technology was operational and his scouts were trained before approaching team leadership for expanded budget allocation. The working demonstration and confident user feedback made the political case almost automatic.
Your Diagnostic: Which stakeholders need to be convinced, and what would constitute proof of operational viability for each one?
Phase 4: Evidence Amplification (Weeks 5-6)
The Principle: Address intellectual scepticism with proof, not promises.
The Action: Generate and present compelling evidence of your initiative's effectiveness, now that systems, capabilities, and political support are aligned.
Why Last: Evidence is most persuasive when sceptics can see that systemic barriers have been removed, people are capable of execution, and key stakeholders are supportive. Without these foundation elements, even compelling evidence can be dismissed as theoretical. Proof commands trust.
Real Application: A tennis performance director implementing new training methodologies presented results data only after ensuring facility availability, coach training, and player buy-in were established. The evidence was undeniable because the support infrastructure made success inevitable.
Your Diagnostic: What evidence would be most compelling to remaining sceptics, and how will you generate it systematically?
The Intervention Timing That Changes Everything
Most leaders try to address all opposition types simultaneously. This dilutes effort and creates unnecessary conflict between intervention strategies….you try to spin too many plates.
The Sequential Intervention Protocol (you’re taking small SIPs rather than drinking all in one go!) works because each phase creates the conditions for the next phase to succeed:
- Fixed systems make capability building easier
- Built capabilities make political support more achievable
- Political support makes evidence generation more credible
- Generated evidence makes systemic changes feel validated
This way you’re creating escape velocity and forward momentum and overcoming resistance drag.
Your Next Steps…
Look at your most challenging current initiative….ideally the one facing multiple types of resistance.
Run this diagnostic:
- Systems Audit: What structural barriers exist regardless of people's attitudes?
- Capability Gap Analysis: What skills or resources are missing for successful implementation?
- Political Landscape Mapping: Which stakeholders need to be convinced or outweighed?
- Evidence Requirements: What inarguable proof would convince remaining sceptics?
Then ask the critical question: In what sequence should you address these to maximise your chance of success?
The answer will likely be different from your current approach.
Why This Protocol Separates Elite Leaders
Clubs and organisations at the highest levels don't tolerate leaders who create unnecessary resistance through poor sequencing.
When you address opposition in the wrong order, you often strengthen the very resistance you're trying to overcome. This isn't just ineffective, it's counterproductive.
The leaders who sustain success in elite sports environments master the art of strategic sequencing. They understand that the order of operations in complex change initiatives is as important as the operations themselves.
As one Premier League CEO told me after implementing this protocol: "The difference isn't that we encounter less resistance. That’s still there but we've learned to address it in an order that makes each intervention more effective, not less."
It’s time to stop fighting harder and start fighting smarter.
Very last thing...I wonder if you could help me? This newsletter takes 4-5 hours to pull together. Could you take 10 seconds and send it to a colleague or friend who would be interested or could benefit? Thanks in advance.
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