Every four years, otherwise rational adults convince themselves that football is finally coming home.
I know because I am one of them.
As a lifelong England supporter, I have experienced the full spectrum of tournament football: impossible optimism, crushing disappointment, penalty shootout heartbreak and the extraordinary ability of millions of supporters to emotionally unravel over the actions of eleven strangers on a football pitch.
I've watched England's so-called Golden Generation fall short despite possessing some of the greatest footballing talent in the world. I've witnessed the national despair that follows missed penalties, the endless search for someone to blame and the remarkable resilience of supporters who somehow convince themselves the next tournament will be different.
What fascinates me is that the emotions displayed by football supporters are often remarkably similar to those seen in workplaces around the world.
When things go well, confidence soars. When results disappoint, blame emerges quickly. When pressure increases, emotions intensify, and when expectations collide with reality, people's true character is often revealed.
Perhaps that is why the FIFA World Cup offers us one of the most powerful leadership lessons.
Beneath the drama, the passion and the tribalism, this event compresses leadership into its most visible form.
Years of preparation are reduced to a handful of moments. Decisions are scrutinised by millions. Cultures are tested under pressure. Performance becomes undeniable.
The teams that succeed are rarely those with the biggest reputations or the most talented individuals.
They are the teams that make the right decisions, build the strongest cultures and execute when the pressure is at its highest.
For business leaders, there is a lesson in that.
Because whether on the pitch or in the boardroom, performance is not theoretical. It is observed, judged and often defined by moments.
Talent does not guarantee success
England's "Golden Generation" remains perhaps football's greatest leadership paradox.
David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole.
On paper, England possessed enough talent to dominate international football for a decade. Individually, many were considered among the best players in the world. Collectively, they never reached a World Cup Final.
Years later, England teams with arguably less individual talent have achieved more.
Why? Because leadership is not the accumulation of talent.
It is the alignment of talent.
Organisations often fall into the same trap. They assume enough capable people will naturally produce exceptional results. Yet high-performing teams are rarely created by talent alone.
They are created through role clarity, trust, communication, accountability and a shared commitment to a common objective.
The lesson is both confronting and critical. The most talented team does not always win. The team that functions best together often does.
Team selection is both strategy and a signal
Every World Cup squad announcement sparks debate.
Supporters question selections. Journalists scrutinise omissions. Entire nations become convinced that one player left at home will determine the outcome of a tournament, and this year, us English supporters are puzzled as to how we can possibly succeed without selecting a pair of superstars in Phil Foden and Cole Palmer.
Yet leadership is often revealed through the decisions that attract the most criticism.
Few managers understood this better than Gareth Southgate.
Throughout his tenure as England manager, Southgate repeatedly resisted public pressure to select players based solely on reputation. He prioritised team balance, character, role suitability and cultural fit over celebrity status and media popularity.
The criticism was relentless. Until the results arrived.
Southgate understood something many leaders overlook. Every selection decision sends a signal.
It communicates what is valued, what is rewarded and what standards matter most.
Who gets promoted? Who receives opportunities? Who is trusted with responsibility? Who remains in the team despite declining performance?
Leadership is revealed through these decisions.
Many leaders default to familiarity, loyalty or historical success.
High-performing leaders make choices based on what the situation requires today, not what somebody achieved yesterday.
Past performance earns opportunity. It should never guarantee immunity.
Culture changes before results
One of Gareth Southgate's greatest achievements may not be England's tournament performances.
It may be the culture he created.
When Southgate inherited the England team, he inherited decades of disappointment, fear, media scrutiny and psychological baggage.
England's relationship with tournament football had become defined by pressure and expectation.
Supporters expected failure. Players feared making mistakes. For many England supporters, tournament disappointment had become an expectation rather than a possibility.
The environment was often characterised by tension rather than confidence.
Rather than focusing exclusively on tactics, Southgate focused on culture.
He encouraged vulnerability. He promoted open conversations.
He integrated sports psychology into preparation.
He developed leadership groups within the squad.
He deliberately created an environment where players could perform rather than simply survive.
The result was not immediate silverware.
What emerged first was something more important.
Consistency. Resilience. Belief.
The lesson is simple: culture changed before the results did.
Many organisations often attempt the exact opposite. They focus on outcomes, targets and performance metrics while ignoring the environment responsible for producing them.
Yet sustainable performance rarely emerges from pressure alone.
It emerges from culture.
World Cups are decided in moments
Every World Cup produces moments that override years of preparation.
Götze's extra-time winner in the 2014 Final. Mbappé's explosive arrival on the world stage in 2018. Messi's defining performances in Qatar in 2022.
Years of preparation created the opportunity. Execution created the legacy.
Perhaps no player illustrates this better than Lionel Messi.
By 2022, Messi had already won almost everything football could offer. Yet for many, the debate about his greatness remained unfinished.
Seven matches later, that debate largely disappeared.
His legacy changed not because of what he achieved over fifteen years. It changed because of what he delivered when the world was watching.
Preparation matters, but performance is ultimately realised through execution.
The same principle applies to leadership in business.
Strategic plans matter. Capability development matters. Frameworks matter.
However, organisations succeed or fail in moments.
A difficult conversation. A major presentation. A critical negotiation. A strategic decision.
Leadership is not ultimately measured by what was planned. It is measured by what happens when that crucial moment arrives.
Pressure exposes what already exists
One of the greatest myths in both sport and leadership is that pressure creates performance.
The reality is that pressure exposes it and this has never been clearer than in the 2006 World Cup Final.
Zinedine Zidane was one of the greatest footballers the world had ever seen. Yet in the final match of his professional career, under the scrutiny of the world's biggest sporting stage, he headbutted Marco Materazzi and was sent off.
The image remains one of the most famous moments in football history.
Pressure did not create that reaction. Pressure exposed it.
The same principle applies in business.
Leaders do not suddenly become calm, resilient or decisive during a crisis.
They reveal whether those qualities were genuinely developed beforehand.
Similarly, teams do not suddenly become collaborative, accountable or adaptable when conditions become difficult.
They reveal whether those characteristics were embedded long before the challenge emerged.
Pressure is not a creator. It is an amplifier. It magnifies whatever already exists.
The leadership takeaway
Every World Cup reminds us that leadership is ultimately tested in public.
Plans matter. Preparation matters. Talent matters.
But when the pressure arrives, none of those things are enough on their own.
The leaders who succeed are those who make difficult decisions, build cultures that withstand scrutiny, maintain belief when others lose it and help people perform when the moment arrives.
As England supporters know all too well, hope is never enough.
Whether on the pitch or in the boardroom, performance is what remains when the excuses disappear.
And if football does somehow come home this year, please don't contact this author for leadership advice, performance coaching or strategic planning.
After decades of heartbreak, missed penalties and crushed expectations, I'll be far too busy celebrating.
Our team at Aveling has supported Western Australian leaders and organisations for almost three decades, delivering evidence-based training and development across leadership, management, communication and safety.
To learn more about our approach to building a performance edge for your workforce, visit aveling.com.au or phone 08 9379 9999.
