In Focus: City Football Leadership Institute - Bringing A New Perspective To Executive Education
City Football Leadership Institute is a unique and innovative initiative in education with programmes offering invaluable insight, bespoke education, and unrivalled access for those aspiring to excel within the sport industry and beyond.
Whilst traditional executive education focuses on training programmes specifically designed for senior executives and managers in the business world, City Football Leadership Institute’s (CFLI) programmes aim to provide learners with the necessary skills, knowledge and tools to effectively navigate their way through today’s complex and rapidly changing sports business environment.
With the continuous evolution of technology and the global economy, it is important for those either looking to take their first steps into the industry or seasoned professionals to proactively develop their skills and adapt to its new challenges.
This year, CFLI, a partnership between City Football Group and BrandEd, will deliver several courses and programmes aimed at providing delegates with the opportunity to learn about the latest trends, techniques and methodologies in the world of sport and business, and to network with their peers and industry experts.
The programmes are designed to challenge delegates and help them to develop their knowledge and leadership abilities through interactive and immersive teaching methods and provide opportunities for delegates to practice and apply the concepts and techniques they have learned. Additionally, the programmes will include personal coaching and mentoring, which can help them to gain insight into their own strengths and weaknesses as leaders.
Aimed at three specific audiences – young people wanting to enter the industry after education (16-24 year olds); young/early years professionals including career changers and athletes transitioning into business; and established/senior executives – CFLI Director, Jenny Morris, believes the new programmes will help advance the football industry at all levels.
“For those that want to come into the industry it’s about demystifying it and helping them understand the opportunities that exist,” she explained. “They want to work in sport but they don’t want to coach or teach sport – those are the traditional assumptions around what working in sport entails. We want to teach them how sport organisations and football clubs operate in the industry and the opportunities that are there as a result.
“For those that are in the industry, but early in their career, we’re helping them to build their networks and understand the pathways they can take to develop their careers. With the last group, they’re senior leaders who are looking to recruit talent and develop their teams. For them it’s about gaining a fresh perspective about the industry they’ve probably been in for many years – what is it that they don’t know and are they still doing things in the most productive way?
“We want to help them understand the things that have never been part of the industry before like the Metaverse, or NFTs and virtual reality, as well as new trends in leadership. It’s about helping them get to grips with the stuff that they may feel a bit removed from. That’s the purpose of CFLI.”
Helping to broaden perspectives and develop a global mindset is important for people to understand the challenges and new opportunities that exist in the game. By accessing the collective knowledge of City Football Group’s network of clubs, CFLI’s programmes will give delegates the opportunity to learn about different cultures, business practices and market conditions.
Morris adds: “City Football Group has 12 clubs at all different levels of the game. They all have different business strategies but fall under a consistent philosophy when it comes to how the game is played and the principles around performance development, management of teams and staff, etc.
“What’s exciting from a City Football Group perspective is we’re opening the door to everything we know from across these 12 clubs but also creating a network so that there’s further industry knowledge sharing.
“Fundamentally, we believe there shouldn’t be a behind closed doors attitude and we shouldn’t be keeping this knowledge to ourselves, especially when it comes to key issues such as tackling equality, diversity and inclusion, or looking at how the game as a whole can contribute to things like climate change. That’s not something that any one club, organisation or group is going to sort themselves so it’s about bringing people together.”
Tapping into a wide pool of executive experience from across the City Football Group will see the likes of Ferran Soriano (Chief Executive Officer), Nuria Tarre (Chief Marketing & Fan Experience Officer), Esteve Calzada (Chief Commercial Officer) and Simon Timpson (Performance Director, Manchester City FC) share their knowledge with delegates across its programmes.
In addition, CFLI have brought together an advisory board to guide the development of the programmes which includes Geoff Thompson, Chair of the Operational Board of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Michele Centenaro, former General Secretary of the European Club Association and former England and Manchester City Women’s Football Club Goalkeeper and now Special Projects Officer for Manchester City Women, Karen Bardsley.
As a member of the Manchester FA Board, Chair of Greater Manchester Women’s Football Board as well as featuring as a commentator for the BBC and Sky networks, Bardsley is using her current personal experience of transitioning into the business side of the game, to help guide the development of CFLI’s programmes and products for those making that transition in the game.
“Early on in my career I suffered with a lot of injuries. I learnt quickly that you cannot take playing professional football for granted because it can be gone overnight,” she explained to fcbusiness. “With that in the back of my mind constantly I made sure I had the insurance of being able to fall back on to something else. That’s stayed with me throughout my career.”
Bardsley completed a university Masters degree but is aware of the different ways in which people learn and that a traditional academic environment might not be suitable to everyone.
“People seem to learn best when they’re immersed in the specific environment. One of the things we’ve been discussing is how do we make CFLI as immersive and as realistic as possible because that’s what will set it apart.
“What CFLI are doing is really interesting because there’s a range of courses for a variety of different people. I think sometimes when you hear ‘Executive Education’ it’s really limited to a certain type of person or certain type of role, but CFLI are opening it up to young adults that want to take an interest in, and understand more about, how the business of professional sport works.
“CFLI are right at the cutting edge of what’s going on in the world of football. They’re talking about the impact of climate change or how to use football as a vehicle to address a range of different issues.”
That’s a sentiment that is echoed by Morris who concludes: “I want people to think of us as the destination for cutting edge knowledge. They need to come to City Football Leadership Institute, join our speaker series, online discussions, or in-person courses and networking events to gain that knowledge. It’s about providing fresh perspectives, new ideas and learning about the things they don’t know yet. We want to be recognised for providing that.”
CITY FOOTBALL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE COURSES
THE EXECUTIVE ACCELERATOR
An immersive five days at the Etihad Stadium, focusing on leadership development through self-assessments, bespoke personal coaching, and in-depth industry exploration with a faculty that includes CFG’s top executives and other esteemed industry leaders.
THE BUSINESS OF FOOTBALL
Two days that provide an educational grounding in the football business ecosystem, exploring everything from the economic forces to value creation, and how new phenomena alongside existing trends contribute to one of the world’s biggest sports.
THE FUTURE OF FAN ENGAGEMENT
Two days looking at why fan or customer engagement is critical in many sectors and covers a scale that reaches from local to global.
LEADING ELITE PERFORMANCE
Two days that will examine how the principles that are established for performance in elite sport can transcend and deliver real impact within any industry.
To find out more about City Football Leadership Institute and what course might be good for you, visit: www.cityfootball-leadership.com
