Forwards and Backs

I've always thought most parts of life can use sport as an analogy. Financial services are no different, and I turn to the greatest football of all, rugby, to demonstrate how.

The forwards are your operations - your support and administration. As on the football pitch, if your forwards aren’t getting to the breakdown - rucking and mauling and winning the ball, the backs have nothing to work with and no confidence. If the forwards are constantly being driven behind the gain-line, the backs have no base from which to create momentum. Likewise, if your administration and back-of-house departments aren’t setting a solid and reliable platform, your sales and front-of-house stars know they can’t deliver what they’re promising. Your forwards need to provide your backs with what they need to get the ball over the line.

The forwards don’t generally get the kudos for a win, but the win isn’t possible without them. They don’t get the applause for their skills because their work is done at the collision and in the melee, and not as easily observed. Each forward, from Number 1 to Number 8 has a defined and specialist role to play. Without doing their job effectively, the efforts of others in the forward pack won’t have the impact expected of them.

Your backs are your advice team. They're the business's bread-winners. They get most of the glory because they have the skills to influence and create. They are searching for new ways to innovate, to judge what’s in front of them and manoeuvre accordingly to get points on the board for the team - the organisation. It can be frustrating for the forwards when the meters they’ve toiled for are seemingly disrespected by flashy moves which can see the team go temporarily backwards. This comes with the territory though – the calculated risks taken by the halves, the centres, the wing and sometimes the fullback are executed with the overall goal in mind – team points.

The important thing to remember when you’re part of a team though, is the ultimate goal. This may be provided in the organisation’s Mission Statement, and it must be something aspirational - because unlike a game of rugby which will end after 80 minutes, an organisation should be a going concern with no foreseeable finishing point. The aspirations need to be there and the players need to know their roles and be willing to accept coaching from inside and outside the business to execute effectively…but that’s a whole other story!