Villas-Boas on coach-to-president switch: “More authoritarian early on” | OneFootball

In one of the most recent episodes of the podcast Primeiro Toque, released this Friday, André Villas-Boas spoke about leadership and explained how his approach has changed from his days as a coach to taking over the presidency of FC Porto.

“The coach I was in England was very hard to shape. At first, I thought a leader had to be just one thing, with the same values, and that others had to adapt to my leadership. That was the biggest transformation I underwent as a leader. A leader has to be able to motivate their athletes, staff, or co-workers,” stressed the top figure of the blue-and-whites.

“And for that to happen, we have to create the conditions for those people to be able to put all their talent to use. We, as leaders, are the ones who have to adapt to what those people want to hear, to what makes them go beyond themselves, and to what motivates them in carrying out their roles, while following specific rules within an organization so that the overall vision is fulfilled,” added Villas-Boas, before admitting that he was more “authoritarian” at the start of his career.

“I was a much more authoritarian leader at the start of my career, which was supported by the FC Porto structure. I was a coach-member, a coach-supporter. My experience in England opened me up to a new reality, which I then successfully applied in the rest of my career. I am a competitive animal, and I was one as a coach. I had a 15-year career and won seven titles. I would have liked to win 15 out of 15, but I look back with pride at what I did,” he highlighted.

“What the presidency took away from me was writing. I loved writing, I loved philosophizing about different subjects. Now I hardly read at all, which is very bad for me. Different leaders inspire me; I have always been fascinated by trying to understand the minds of the best in the world – Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Phil Jackson, Pep Guardiola…,” also said the Dragons’ president in the .

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.