During 2010 and 2011, Ange Postecoglou led the Brisbane Roar football (soccer) team to 36 consecutive matches without a loss — along the way winning consecutive grand finals and breaking the record for the longest unbeaten streak at the top level of any football code in Australian history. The previous record for unbeaten matches had been set way back in the 1930s in rugby league. Postecoglou was the manager (the term more commonly used in soccer to describe a coach) of the Roar team. Although set in a sporting context, examining how Postecoglou and his Roar team achieved this feat provides many parallels and potential lessons for business. Concepts of team leadership, planning, strategy, human resource management and organisational culture change were all evident in this extraordinary sporting success story.1 The Brisbane Roar was a founding member of the premier Australian A-League soccer competition in 2005. The team achieved moderate success in the early years of this elite competition, highlighted by qualifying for the finals series in the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons, although they subsequently lost in the preliminary finals in both cases. Shortly after the 2009–10 season started, then–manager Frank Farina (a high-profile former Australian 'Socceroo' national team manager) was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and suspended from the club. His contract was subsequently terminated less than a week later.2 Like any company with an embarrassing change of CEO, a crisis loomed. Ange Postecoglou, the former Australian under-20 national team manager for six years, was recruited to take over. Unforgettably, Postecoglou's first season in charge in 2009–10 ended as the worst in the club's history, with the Brisbane Roar finishing the season in second-last place. However, the 2010–11 season saw a complete turnaround, with the Roar winning the A-League grand final against the Central Coast Mariners in front of a record crowd of more than 50 000. In the following season, the team repeated its grand final success, defeating the Perth Glory and in the process becoming the first team to ever achieve this 'back-to-back' feat in the highly competitive A-League.3 Leading a project group within a high-performing organisation has some similarities to the management and coaching of an elite sporting team. A professional soccer team such as the Brisbane Roar is a manager-led team within a larger organisation, with the manager responsible for managing goals and processes, including selecting team members and interfacing with the organisation.4 But a manager-led team is also cross-functional, as team members have to be skilled in their individual roles within the team as well as in related roles in order to operate interactively and productively.5 This type of high-performance team is common in organisations, and includes factory assembly teams, surgery teams and military teams. Teams like these have life cycles. Of course, Postecoglou did not have to develop his team from the ground up, although he did quickly make some significant changes to the team's membership. The opportunity to re-make the Roar also came at the right stage of Postecoglou's professional life. He had wide soccer experience, both as a player and manager, and had gradually developed detailed ideas about the sort of team he wanted to create. He was determined to change the Roar's style of play, and knew that recruiting the right type of player was crucial to achieving his vision. He needed players who could both Copyright John Wiley & Sons. Not for reproduction or distribution.474 management play the style of game he wanted and, most importantly, to 'buy into' that style of team (rather than individual) play. Short-term results were not as important to Postecoglou as the bigger picture of long-term success.6 When he took over at the Roar just after the start of the 2009–10 season, Postecoglou had a clear step-by-step checklist of what he wanted to do. He wanted to change how the players thought about the game, and how they trained. He didn't target players individually, but he did immediately make changes to the team's environment. For example, he made training into a 'full-time' task with a morning and an afternoon session each day instead of one brief early-morning session. Four players who lived in a nearby city soon decided they had to leave because of the incursion into their 'free time' and the extra driving involved. When the team sank to finish a lowly ninth on the ladder (after having made the finals in the previous two seasons) during Postecoglou's first season in charge, supporters were disappointed and the media was damning in its criticism. But Postecoglou persisted, because he believed it would take time to get his vision of change into shape — and he firmly believed his vision would deliver long-term results, even if it meant some short-term pain. He didn't want competitors to know what he was aiming at, but he kept the club's board informed about what they could look forward to. As the record books now show, that was to be grand final victories in the following two seasons. By the end of the 2009–10 season, only 8 players of the original squad of 20 that he had inherited remained.7 Several high-profile players had departed, many citing unhappiness with Postecoglou as a manager and the changes he was making, including then–Roar captain and two-time World Cup 'Socceroo' squad member Craig Moore.8 Many of these high-profile players were subsequently replaced by players of a lower profile, but whom Postecoglou had personally scouted and recruited as being the types of players who would both 'buy into' and play to his desired style. Several of these new players were also from outside of Australia, with Postecoglou signing largely unheralded players from countries such as Germany and Albania.9 In simple terms, Postecoglou's desired style of play for the Roar was to be forward looking and attacking, based on a 'high-possession' strategy where team members 'short pass' to other team members much more often than other teams typically do. This style of play relies less on individual brilliance and more on team coherence. To achieve this, the Roar training sessions under Postecoglou were highly structured to replicate a game situation playing to this disciplined and highly mobile style. Postecoglou's faith in the Roar's training methods, style of play and team philosophy was evident in his behaviour during a game. A strong believer in meticulous preparation and trust, unlike many sporting managers or coaches he was never animated on the sideline. He believed that his work was done in the preparation, and that game day was for the players to execute his strategy. His calmness under pressure was never more evident than during the two Roar grand final wins during his tenure. The first, against the Central Coast Mariners, was decided on a penalty shoot-out after the Roar had miraculously scored twice in the last four minutes of extra time to level the scores. The second was just as dramatic, with the Roar scoring twice in the last ten minutes of regulation time in the match Former Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou led the team to win 36 consecutive matches. Copyright John Wiley & Sons. Not for reproduction or distribution to claim a tense 2–1 victory over Perth Glory. On each occasion, Postecoglou remained remarkably calm on the sidelines as the drama unfolded before his eyes. At the Brisbane Roar under Postecoglou, there was a clear distinction between leadership and management. Postecoglou's role was leadership, as evidenced by his focus on communicating a distinctive vision and strategy. Other staff at the Brisbane Roar — such as assistant coaches, the sport science group and administrative staff — fulfilled their roles of managing the implementation of the vision and strategy. In the language of business management, there are clear distinctions yet interdependencies between operational and support functions. Postecoglou learnt to rely on these others in the team and the organisation to fulfil their roles. He also installed a leadership group of five players within the team, with new players inducted by a player in the leadership group. The Roar leadership group under Postecoglou had players of different ages and personality types, because the team had different types of players (for example, several new recruits from overseas). In addition, at least one member of the leadership group acted as a 'buddy' for each team member. As a manager, Postecoglou dealt with the Roar stakeholders like the club's owners, its sponsors and the media. He didn't want his team to play to empty stadiums, so he also ensured that players spent time after games meeting spectators and signing autographs, and that at least two players attended junior sign-on days at local soccer clubs. For Postecoglou, winning a particular game was not the goal; his aim was to raise the bar for soccer in Australia and in the Brisbane region as whole — 'something beyond the weekend game'. He wanted the Brisbane Roar to be considered the equal of teams from the more 'traditional' football codes in the city, like the Brisbane Broncos (rugby league), the Queensland Reds (rugby union) and the Brisbane Lions (AFL). A weekend game will not be remembered in a few years' time, but the goal of a new style of soccer that he shared with the team would, he felt, stand the test of time. After winning his second consecutive grand final with the Roar in 2011–12, Postecoglou left to take up a lucrative offer to manage rival team the Melbourne Victory for the 2012–13 season — a team that had finished third last in the previous A-League season. In perhaps a stark reminder of both what he had built at the Roar and the challenges he was taking on in his new role with the Melbourne Victory, in the first encounter between the two clubs early in the 2012–13 season, the Roar thrashed the Victory 5–0.10 However, much like in the business world, the challenge for the Roar in the future will be continuing to adapt, innovate and improve to stay ahead of their competition. The team's successful style of play has inevitably been highly scrutinised by opposing teams, who are increasingly coming up with strategies and tactics to combat them. Team members will also come and go from season to season, such is the nature of professional sport. Questions 1. Identify the key aspects of team leadership, planning, strategy, human resource management and organisational culture outlined in this case. 2. Applying this sporting case example to a business team context, what do you think are key elements of change management? 3. Postecoglou seemed to set up a smoothly running and successful operation during his time at the Roar. His job title was that of manager, although the case argues that he was more of a leader. Do you agree with that assessment? Why or why not, and what is the difference between the two?