I’m always fascinated by big managerial changes in any industry – after all, businesses are only as good as those leading them in times of both success and failure.

True business figureheads must know the way and show the way, earning respect, and getting loyalty in return from their workforce – it’s that simple.

However, let’s not kid ourselves. While the measure of success is clear and straightforward, how to achieve it and maintain it is not.

Those at the very top tend to have a shelf life, and in the last few days, we’ve seen major managerial changes at Asda, Samsung, and Burberry, to name just a few.

If you consider footballing figureheads in particular, then nobody is safe. Even great leaders like Alex Ferguson eventually reach the end and recognise that change is to be embraced.

Closer to home though, it’s the managerial changes around Ibrox way that have caught my attention of late. Now, I’m certainly not a big football fan, but Rangers FC’s dismissal of its 17^th manager was headline news for even the most hardened of Scots hermits.

With the axing of Pedro Caixinha after just eight months, we saw another ignoble chapter in the modern day Rangers story – but can any business learnings be applied as they look to get back among the silverware?

In my experience, it is vital for business leaders to have a clear sense of identity. Caixinha left too many confused, tying himself up in metaphors, and blaming himself for poor performances one day, then blaming the players the next. That just doesn’t wash in any industry.

Nor does attacking the people who have been there long before you. Entrenched naysayers must be reasoned with on a one-to-one basis and converted to the cause. In football, as in other walks of life, divided teams have to be unified at all costs.

Popular players with strong track records should be deployed and not sidelined, giving the fans what they want to an extent. After all, you don’t see new people coming into Apple and telling them to get rid of the iPhone.

Another key lesson is that clichéd, pandering statements to the fans – football’s key stakeholders – just don’t work. Caixinha’s ‘I’m blue inside’ comment failed to buy the goodwill that it was so transparently intended to engender. Similarly, new CEOs must earn the trust of their workforce with decisive action, not empty sentiment.

To my mind, the stereotypically aggressive boss who dominates everything no longer works, either in business or football. Instead, aggression must be focused and honed. It should never get the better of you, as we saw happening too often with Caixinha and his players.

Despite the failures of the Portuguese management team, international diversity should continue to be embraced at Ibrox. Like Paul le Guen before him, Caixinha may not have fully integrated his dressing room, but that’s not to say that the club should now close its doors to progressive external influences. Enterprise thrives on them.

Ultimately, the club has to apply no nonsense business acumen to what essentially remains a hugely viable concern with a massive customer base. Rangers must maximise revenue streams off the field, and not make any sudden kneejerk moves on it, while harnessing their best existing assets and getting the most from them.

Rangers fans must also see the club for what it is – a company whose fortunes can be revived through patient, consistent rebuilding and sound fiscal management. I wouldn’t expect a struggling business to immediately get back to profit-making, and neither should Rangers supporters expect a sudden return to trophy-winning ways.

And the best business lesson of all? The players on the park must enjoy what they do, be handed a specific role, and told to thrive in it. Just like the most productive companies, the new manager at Ibrox must encourage his team to simply have fun, turning success into an infectious by-product.

Only then will Rangers start their ascent back to the upper echelons of Scottish football.

 

SIDE

The sales of vinyl records over the past year have been an unexpected success story and there’s now more good news for music fans.

Sainsbury’s has just revealed plans to launch a line of own-brand LPs, starting with a couple of compilations that will test the water.

The supermarket claimed in June of last year that it was one of the largest vinyl sellers in Britain, selling approximately one every 20 seconds, so it is now wisely taking advantage of the boom in sales by developing its own label.

The resurgence of vinyl has opened a door for Sainsbury’s, and its partnering with big music industry hitters like Warner Music and Universal is a major statement of intent.

Music fans will know all about the downfall of records and the subsequent rise of CDs, MP3s and streaming services, but the sudden resurgence in retro record sales has been nothing short of remarkable.

It’s not often that we regress to old formats, and it says much that the last time vinyl was stocked by Sainsbury’s was in the 1980s. There’s just something about the tactile nature of a good record scratching away, the big, beautiful sleeve in which to house it, not to mention the warmth of the classic vinyl sound.

It will, however, be not so good news for the remaining Scottish independent record stores who have been enjoying the spike in sales. Once again, supermarket giants are taking over an industry which once belonged solely to the specialists.

Independent business remains the lifeblood of our high streets, but only time will tell how well this own-brand line will do - and if other supermarkets will follow.

Who knows? When the cupboards are bare, we might all be soon popping to the shops for some milk, bread, and vinyl.

 

LAUGH

I had to laugh when I heard that Collin’s Dictionary has named ‘fake news’ their word of 2017 – or is that phrase?

According to the dictionary, its usage has increased 365 per cent since only last year - a significant jump by anyone’s standards.

The term, known politically as false and sensationally untrue information, has been used regularly by the US President and the media throughout 2017, thus the popularity soar.

Trump even believes that he alone coined the term and invented the word ‘fake’ – clearly a ludicrous claim, and it’s now been reported all over the world.

Surely that’s the very definition of fake news Mr President?

 

WEEP

Whether it was a PR stunt or honest mistake, everyone has been talking about Prue Leith’s Great British Bake Off blunder.

The channel 4 judge made the fatal error of tweeting the winner nine hours before the programme had been shown on TV.

Fans of the show were quick to spot the mistake, despite the tweet being quickly deleted. But the show did not suffer a great loss with 7.3million viewers still tuning in to watch the reveal of the winner.

Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed seeing older social media users showing solidarity with Prue and posting their own tech fails, especially OAP attempts at using mobile phones, iPads and computers.

Technology may benefit our economy but sometimes it might be best to leave it to the young ones.