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Opinion

Four leadership lessons from England’s World Cup campaign

Laura Fink, people and culture director at HiBob, discusses four key leadership lessons inspired by England’s World Cup campaign.

Opinion
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Laura Fink
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England are two matches away from a World Cup final. Hope is building, expectations are rising and, once again, the nation is daring to believe that football might finally be coming home.

With that belief, however, comes immense pressure. Every decision is scrutinised. Every misplaced pass debated. Every substitution picked apart.

When the pressure is on, success is not just about talent. It is about how well a team adapts when the game changes – and that challenge isn’t unique to football. It is becoming the defining challenge for organisations everywhere.

Research from HiBob shows nearly six in 10 UK workers (58%) say pressure at work has increased over the past two years, while almost half (49%) feel they are expected to be constantly available. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the pace of change, reshaping roles, skills and ways of working faster than many organisations can adapt.

The old model of leadership – built around stability, predictable career paths and long planning cycle – is no longer enough. Today’s leaders aren’t simply managing performance. They are helping people navigate constant change.

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Here are four lessons business leaders can take from England’s campaign.

Give people clarity of purpose, not just a role

Every England player understands their position on the pitch. More importantly, they understand how their contribution supports the team’s wider game plan.

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That kind of clarity has never mattered more in business. As AI reshapes work, roles will continue to evolve, but purpose should not. People need to understand where they create value, how their work contributes to business outcomes and how they fit into a changing organisation.

The strongest organisations won’t be those with the most detailed job descriptions. They will be the ones where people understand the impact they are there to make.

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Adaptability is becoming a competitive advantage

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Football rewards teams that can adjust in real time. Managers change tactics, alter formations and make substitutions based on what is happening on the pitch – not on the plan they wrote before kick-off.

Organisations need to operate with the same agility. Too many organisations still treat adaptability as something reserved for periods of disruption. In reality, adaptation is becoming a core operating capability. As AI accelerates change, leaders need to continually realign people, priorities and skills – not once a year, but every day.

The organisations that thrive will not necessarily be those with the best technology. They’ll be those that can adapt the fastest.

Build capability, not just performance

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Winning a World Cup is not about producing one outstanding performance. It is about building a squad capable of responding to every challenge the tournament throws at them.

Leadership demands the same long-term mindset. AI is changing the unit of work itself, but technology alone won’t determine which organisations succeed. The real advantage will come from leaders who continuously develop new skills, unlock people’s potential and move talent to where it creates the greatest value.

In the AI era, capability – not just headcount – will increasingly define competitive advantage.

Trust is what enables teams to adapt

Pressure exposes culture.

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The teams that recover quickest from setbacks are not suddenly discovering resilience in difficult moments. They are relying on trust, communication and shared belief that have been built long before the pressure arrived.

That is equally true in businesses. Organisations that encourage open conversations, create psychological safety and equip managers to lead with confidence are far better placed to navigate uncertainty. Adaptability does not happen without trust.

England’s World Cup campaign is a reminder that the highest-performing teams do not succeed because the game stands still. They succeed because they adapt faster than the opposition.

The same is becoming true in business. AI is not replacing people, but it is changing work faster than many organisations are prepared for. The organisations that thrive won’t simply adopt new technology. They will build workforces that can continuously adapt.

That is what leadership looks like in the AI era.

Laura Fink is people and culture director at HiBob

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