Jurgen Klopp and the art of leadership

Charismatic football manager, Jurgen Klopp, has led Liverpool to its first title in 30 years; Klopp's leadership style also inspires businessmen and politicians today

The Klopp mantra is in the spotlight after Liverpool FC’s recent Premier League victory after a three-decade-long wait

“I’m the normal one,” beamed Jurgen Klopp, in his first press conference as manager of Liverpool FC in October 2015. In the four-and-a-half years since, Klopp’s tenure at one of the biggest clubs in the world has proven that the charismatic German is anything but.

Animated by high-octane performances and Klopp’s characteristic “heavy metal” football, Liverpool have not just been galvanised by their leader, but also shaped into a winning machine that combines the physical, visceral and cerebral aspects of the beautiful game to perfection. Champions of Europe last May, club champions of the world last December, and now, after three decades of agony, champions of England – Klopp has masterminded a glorious revolution at Liverpool, with his comprehensive management emerging as a testament to consummate leadership, both on and off the pitch.

Setting the stage

The first thing Klopp did on arriving at Melwood, Liverpool’s training facility, in 2015 was to memorise the names of each member of the backroom staff, everyone from the kitman to the chefs to the janitor. Shortly afterwards, he scribbled the words “TERRIBLE” on the board at his first meeting with the players, adding with impish humour, “This is how teams will feel after facing us.” Even before he had taken charge of his inaugural game, Klopp had been out to a local pub, buying drinks for all the twenty Liverpool fans present there. It was clear from the start that the Klopp leadership mantra was based on cultivating relationships, bonds nurtured through humour, compassion, and the eagerness to help.

“I have this helping syndrome, I really care about people and feel responsible for pretty much everything”, was how Klopp described his gregarious nature in an interview to The Guardian in 2018. At Liverpool, there was a lot to be responsible for. Since the beginning of the Premier League era, the Merseysiders had seen all the other elite teams of England lay claim to the league championship without managing a single title themselves, coming painstakingly close in 2009 and 2014. Be it the larger than life aura of Kenny Dalglish, the mercurial pragmatism of Rafa Benitez, the soft-spoken gentility of Roy Hodgson, or the impulsive intensity of Brendan Rodgers, no managerial style, it seemed, could quite catalyse the triumphant mentality at Anfield.

But Klopp, who had turned the unheralded Mainz into one of Germany’s great underdogs before converting Borussia Dortmund into a household name across the globe, brought a compelling array of attributes that was soon to be epitomised by his revamped Liverpool unit. Relentlessness tempered with humility, passion mingled with professionalism, and a spirit of empathy reflected in sharing each other’s successes and failures were infused within Liverpool. The famous “Klopp hug” – distributed indiscriminately to players, support staff, and even to a journalist – encapsulated Klopp’s value system. Be it victory or defeat, promise or pain, there was the leader embracing his troops, absorbing their experiences into his own.

The results soon demonstrated the Klopp effect. Liverpool made it to three finals under Klopp between 2016 and 2018, including a Champions League showpiece clash with Real Madrid in Kiev.

After the Reds lost out to Real and the entire squad had plunged into dismay, Klopp insisted on partying all night long, recognising how far they had come, before taking stock of how far they had to go. There was to be no brooding pessimism with Klopp around, his leadership was about making people happy, even on the most heartbreaking of occasions.

Seizing the moment

“If Klopp wanted to run for German president, he would get elected. He would bring people together, lead the way,” believes Martin Quast, a German sportswriter. Unlike Jose Mourinho, who has thrived in the twin Machiavellian avatars of being loved and feared, or Pep Guardiola, whose obsession with his footballing principles has been both an ace and his Achilles’ heel, Klopp never lets his personality or his philosophy take precedence over his players. A darling of the media for his pithy observations and perennial smiles, Klopp is a rare leader who leads from the front without basking in the spotlight.

The need to “have strong people around you with a better knowledge in different departments than yourself” is something Klopp has regularly acknowledged, stressing that a manager cannot “act like you know everything.” The caution against over-centralisation even as he indulges in micro-management lets Klopp create a formidable network of associates, whom he trusts, listens to, and, who, in turn, do not hesitate to challenge him. A brilliant example of this is Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards’ insistence to sign Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah from AS Roma in 2017, a move which Klopp did not agree with initially, but got around to approve, eventually. Salah proved Edwards right, netting 44 times in an incredible debut season for Liverpool.

The fact that Liverpool overcame the might of Barcelona in the semi-final of last year’s Champions League in what is arguably the greatest comeback in modern football, stems in large part to the never die attitude that Klopp has instilled among his ranks. A barely believable victory over Barcelona was followed by a clinical display against Tottenham in Madrid, clinching a sixth European Cup for Liverpool, who had rediscovered how to own the big moments under Klopp.

But where most leaders might have been content to rest on their laurels, Klopp drove his juggernaut forward, with Liverpool trouncing all before them to seize this season’s Premier League. From having the nous to adapt his tactics throughout the season – especially with respect to the role of skipper Jordan Henderson – to keeping his “boys” motivated to retain their standards of excellence across a pandemic-ravaged campaign, Klopp ensured that Liverpool paid homage to their gilded history as one of England’s most decorated clubs by refusing to wilt under its weight.

Carving a legacy

To lead in any sphere of life is no easy task. But to guide Liverpool – who are as much an international brand as they are a transcendental emotion – at a time when every single aspect of a leader is under scrutiny, requires resolve, resilience, even ruthlessness. It is arguably Klopp’s greatest strength that in being resolute, resilient, and ruthless, he has only come across as more likeable, more human.

In 1993, Sir Alex Ferguson won the first of his 13 Premier League titles for Manchester United, the first domestic championship for the club in 26 years. Liverpool’s Premier League coronation, their first top flight trophy since 1990, is, unquestionably, of equal significance, if not greater. To suggest that Klopp can match Ferguson’s legacy is, at this stage, wishful thinking, but there should be no doubt that the German has what it takes to build a dynasty of his own.

A dynasty that, unlike Ferguson’s, is not governed by an imperious manager, but is helmed by a leader who knows how to be in control by making everyone around him feel powerful. Mutual empowerment, after all, is what Klopp is all about, and given the state of the world right now, that is perhaps the best way to lead.

(Priyam Marik is a freelance journalist writing on politics, culture, and sport. He is also a published poet who can be found sampling new cuisines, debating and cheering for FC Barcelona when he's not writing)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.