Hi Reader

The crowd says play it safe.

But the crowd is very often wrong.

How often do you see leaders & their teams make decisions their rivals call "career suicide" or even "competitive malpractice."?

Those same rivals quite quickly then quietly model those exact approaches.

This isn't about being different for show. It's about having the courage to see what others miss.

Because here's the truth most won't admit: In sports leadership, following best practices guarantees you'll never be best.

The Hidden Cost of Consensus

Remember when Arsenal F.C. coach Mikel Arteta first removed his captain from the squad, pundits called it "career suicide."

A few seasons later and despite not having a bursting trophy cabinet (yet), their team culture ranks among the strongest in the Premier League.

We feel safe following proven paths. Our brains crave the comfort of agreement.

But isn't there a high chance that this safety creates a blind spot? When everyone looks in the same direction, nobody sees what's coming from the side.

It's easy to be a blind follower, seduced by pithy online videos & highlight reels. Or falling foul to the fact that it's prevalent now for solid speaking and rhetorical skills to be a proxy for expertise and effectiveness.

It's not easy to swim the opposite way to the crowd. It takes courage. Especially now when you are exposed to online critiquing constantly. Even if it's from anonymous avatars it can still play on your mind and influence your actions.

What if you were a bit more contrarian? Don't people who achieve extraordinary outcomes behave in a non-ordinary fashion?

Just go with me....check out these moves that run counter to the crowd.....

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The Contrarian's Edge: Five Counter Moves

Here are five contrarian leadership approaches that I've witnessed first-hand as being effective either for myself or for the sports leaders I coach. At first glance you might not agree with them. That's fine. But just be open-minded. Read them, consider them and pick out some elements that you think might work for you.

1. Coach Less, Not More

A high-performance director I worked with faced a team in crisis. Every expert told him to increase coaching, add more video sessions, and extend practice time.

He did the opposite. He cut sessions by 30%, simplified messaging to three key points, and created more recovery time.

The result? Performance improved within two weeks. Players reported feeling "like they could think clearly again."

In crisis, less input often beats more. Information overload creates mental fatigue that masquerades as physical fatigue.

Application: Identify one area where you're pushing harder for results. Scale back by 25% for one week as an experiment. Replace that time with targeted recovery, reflection or something that runs a little counterintuitive to your present practice.

2. Deliberately Create Conflict, Don't Avoid It

A Scottish Premier League coach I worked with noticed his polite, conflict-free culture was producing mediocre results. Everything was, well, 'nice'.

Instead of pushing for more harmony, he took the opposite approach. He paired his most opposing personalities on projects, rewarded constructive disagreement, and openly challenged 'sacred' team traditions & rituals.

Admittedly, the first month was chaos. But in month two his team began having the honest conversations they'd avoided for years. By season's end, they'd moved up positions in the standings over and above expectations.

I saw first-hand that artificial harmony kills innovation. Managed conflict and injecting some tension can, counter to what we'd be normally led to believe, break entrenched thinking patterns that hold teams back.

Application: Identify your team's "undiscussable" topic - the elephant in the room. Put it on the agenda; but with clear debate & conversation rules. Persist through the tension and don't end the meeting until real perspectives emerge. Watch what happens when people finally say what they actually think. (A good reference point is from years back in Irish Rugby when one of the younger squad players surfaced the underlying tensions between Munster and Leinster players and how he believed this was stifling the national team. Players from that team still reference that moment.)

3. Stop Motivating, Start Unsettling

In my own career I with noticed with one team that the players responded less and less to motivational tactics. Instead of finding new ways to inspire them, I ran into the bullets and did something radical. I began questioning, in a positive tone, whether they were genuinely top players or just pretending to be.

I removed motivational quotes from changing rooms and the gym. I stopped pre-match pep talks. And I started asking uncomfortable questions like: "If today's performance was all I knew about you, what would I think about your potential?"

It was tough going. Initially, players were quite furious. Then something shifted. They stopped seeking external motivation and found something more powerful - we began to explore our 'Cause' a little bit more and from that grew the desire to prove their own identity to themselves.

I learned that constant motivation creates dependency.

Strategic unsettling forces self-directed drive.

Application: For one week, stop all motivational communication. No pep talks. No inspiring messages. Instead, ask challenging questions about identity and standards. "Is this who we really are?" "Would a championship team accept this standard?" Then stay silent. Stay silent for as long as it takes and let the discomfort begin to do its work.

4. Ignore Feedback, Trust Your Vision

You're told to constantly seek feedback and adapt our approach. I even do it sometimes in this newsletter!

But, I've seen this create leaders who react to opinions rather than driving toward clear vision. We must remember that the greatest innovations were initially met with negative feedback.

Application: Select one strategic initiative you deeply believe in. Announce you're suspending all feedback on it for 90 days to protect its development. Push forward regardless of opinion. After 90 days, evaluate results, not reactions.

Case in point. When Jurgen Klopp implemented his pressing system at Liverpool, critics called it unsustainable. Injuries went through the roof owing to a dramatic increase in training and playing intensity. Had he listened to online and media experts he would have modified the approach based on early, knee-jerk feedback. And very likely he would never have created the winning machine that emerged.

5. Expose Failures Publicly, Don't Hide Them

Most teams and clubs hide failures, creating the illusion of constant success. They crave external approval.

This prevents learning, increases impostor syndrome, and builds cultures of fear and image management.

Application: Create a "Failure Wall". It's simply a place where players post their biggest mistakes and what they learned (simple Post-It notes do the trick or an online app or group chat. Regardless, make it easy to engage with).

You go first. Be brutally honest. As a leader, the more graphic your failure admission should be. Make hiding failure more painful than admitting it. This is simple, but far from easy. Go with it though.

A UK Basketball team I engaged with implemented a version of this practice. Players who made mistakes had to explain them to the entire team - but in a culture where psychological safety was demanded and guaranteed. Yes, it injected tension and discomfort. But that was the players pushing the edges of their comfort zone. Over time these genuine admissions became a badge of courage, not shame.

The Price of Contrarian Thinking

I would be remiss of me not to shine a light on this.

Being contrarian isn't free. It costs something.

You'll face resistance. You might look foolish if you're wrong. You'll need to explain your thinking more than others do.

But consider the alternative. Being a dead fish that is carried by the tide?

The path to mediocrity is paved with popular wisdom.

Your Experiment

Start small. Pick one area where conventional wisdom just doesn't feel right to you.

Again, ask: "What if the opposite approach is actually correct?"

Then run a small, low-risk test of that opposite approach.

Document what happens. Learn from it. Adjust.

Then run a slightly bigger test.

The contrarian path isn't about being difficult or different for its own sake. It's about finding hidden truths that others miss because they're too busy agreeing with each other.

What conventional wisdom could you challenge this week?

Interested in more leadership strategies, insights & frameworks to help you perform better?

Have you had a look at my online Leadership Course where we focused on 6 proven principles that will help you stand out as a leader - you can get more detail here and use 'Leader33' discount code for your exclusive community discount.

Also check out my YouTube channel: Paul Clarke - The Leaders Coach.

Let’s connect: On X and Linkedin

Another Newsletter you might find useful....

Science-Backed Leadership Tips You’ll Actually Use Practical Perspectives: A Monthly Newsletter by Angela Justice, PhD Surprisingly simple, science-backed leadership strategies to help you win at work. Your ultimate field guide to success, crafted by an award-winning expert. Subscribe​

A Master's Voice....

Worth noting that this type of work often commences with a level of excitement and a bias to jump straight to a solution. That’s rarely rewarding. Start slow. take your time and start by asking questions and considering all alternatives. From the outset, always assume that there is more to learn. It's rarely unrewarding to ask the most basic question of all: Why?

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Thank you for being part of the Leaders Coach community. The work on how to lead better is something you have to do alone. But you don't have to do it on your own. Onward and Upward, Paul Clarke

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