Winning After Winning

Sarina Wiegman is perhaps best known for winning Euro 2022 with England.

However, that was her second triumph as a coach at the tournament, having also guided her native Holland to success in the 2017 edition.

In her autobiography, Wiegman writes a chapter detailing the aftermath of Holland’s success, including what — and who — changed.

“People were already predicting we’d become the next world champions. They didn’t have a clue,” she writes.

By her own admission, the Netherlands came from nowhere to win Euro 2017, so the impact on her team was double. They were managing the rapid acceleration of women’s football, as well as the team’s newfound success.

Here’s what Wiegman noticed:

• The players suddenly became household names in the Netherlands.

• Everyone suddenly had an opinion about ‘Leeuwinnen’ (Lionesses in Dutch).

• The media suddenly became interested in women’s football, and became more critical of the team’s performances.

“Some players handled it well,” Wiegman notes, “Others struggled."

Despite being European champions, Holland were required to qualify through the group stage for the World Cup.

“Everyone had the upcoming World Cup on their minds, including the marketing and communications department, who were busy preparing the campaign for the tournament,” Wiegman recalls.

The players weren’t the only ones who’d struggled to navigate the newfound success. The whole organization had gotten ahead of themselves. And it showed on the pitch.

Even as European champions, Holland were unable to win their qualifying group, having to endure a mini knockout tournament to reach the World Cup proper.

Before the playoff qualifiers, Leeuwinnen had a soul-searching meeting where, as Wiegman writes, “several players took responsibility for their shortcomings.” Here’s what those players identified in the meeting:

• Hadn’t been doing enough of the right things in preparation.

• Hadn’t been interacting enough with others on the team.

• Hadn’t communicated enough when things got tough, causing rifts.

• Hadn’t been giving their all.

The meeting was a turning point for the team. They went from barely scraping into the World Cup, to making the final — eventually losing to Team USA.

While Wiegman was also learning about how to respond to her own newfound stature in the game, she managed to skillfully help the team (and the Dutch FA) navigate winning after winning.

Cody’s Notes

• Most organizations have a plan to win, but they don’t have a plan to win after winning. The behaviours above — from lack of effort to an overly-excited marketing department — are entirely predictable, and can be planned for with solid strategy work.

• Similarly, more can be done to help prepare female coaches for the new world they are entering. As the (long overdue) money pours into the women’s game, it comes with added expectations, harsher scrutiny, and intense pressure. We can get ahead of it, if we want, or we can let women’s coaches learn the hard way, like we’ve done with the men.

• Whether you experience new levels of success, or new levels of failure, you need to recognize that it touches every corner of your organization. Your social media team can put undue pressure on your players before a big game, just like your commercial department can fumble the bag by becoming arrogant with sponsors. These are important elements for coaches to recognize as they have a bearing on the team’s ability to perform. Don’t beat yourself before you’ve even stepped foot on the park.

• I spoke before Dr. Kate Hays at an event for The FA back in 2022. She is Wiegman’s psychologist with England, and one of the most impressive thinkers to emerge in elite sport over the last couple of years. Hays is releasing her own book, titled How To Win, and Wiegman’s cover quote is the perfect way to conclude this post: “Kate and I share the same vision for how people can succeed sustainably.”

• The way to win is to plan for it. The way to win after winning is to plan for it.