A dozen years ago, back in 2011, we decided that the knowledge generated at Barça through data, GPS, statistics, medical and educational data and training reports scouting They had to stay in the Club so that they belonged to its digital intelligence. What we now call Artificial Intelligence was still far away and that all segments related to football (sports, medical, educational, psychological) worked under the same parameters, under the same umbrella, under the same systems, all compatible, and that we could cross them without issues. We also did not know very well what we could find, although we did have the conviction that we could generate knowledge that could help us in the decision process; and that this knowledge would allow us to contribute ideas, perhaps even solutions, to the difficult task of training. In addition, every coach had to assume from the moment he agreed to occupy a bench – for those of us who were involved in what we called Barça professional and which included the first team, Barça B and youth under-19 -, to take charge of the decisions that that entailed.
This week he reminded me of Raúl Peláez, who under the direction of Albert Valentín was in charge of this part (let's call him innovative, let's call him wise, let's call him discreet about Barça, since those were times when not even the negotiations were broadcast, much less the knowledge), that the condition that I set for this process was to develop elements that only had to meet one condition: “Generate trust.” That is to say, each of the elements and all of them crossed with each other only made sense if we were able to ensure that all that information helped the coach to be accompanied in his decisions; and that all the conclusions drawn only made sense if they helped us develop that trust in our leaders, our Board of Directors, so that they knew that each decision had its basis and its criteria.
Generating trust has always seemed to me and in all the clubs where I have worked to be a fundamental element above egos and tactical wars, positions and trenches. But, basically, generate trust within, towards those who work with you. Or, rather, those you work for.
What someone defined as our internal and main client.
Trust from our coach so that he knew and felt that everything we were working on and generating was intended to make his life and decision-making easier, knowing that nothing produced was to be used against him. Knowing and trusting, also, that everything we were capable of generating was going to be treated as one more element in the decision-making process of our technical team, leaving egos aside and knowing that we were all looking for the best for the Club. and, therefore, of each one of us.
A football club is not, I am sorry to put an end to this myth that you, dear reader, already imagined, a club of friends who play football but rather a set of diverse interests put together with the aim of achieving the best for the group. As an example, I already told you what Johan Cruyff always said about the true friend being the one who demands of you and helps you to be better and not the one who only consoles you and reaffirms your conviction that the world conspires against you. But everything is based on that delicate element of trust, that no one does anything to harm anyone but to help everyone grow and be better.
And that element of trust has a lot to do with discretion, with privacy, with keeping difficult conversations within the scope that allows things to be done and not known before they have been done. And the leak wars and counterfiltration It is usually one of those intangible “data” that to me speaks of lost trust and battles of egos, those that undo and destroy projects from within while, absurdly, the enemy is sought outside.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Build #trust