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Thinking Business
a blog by Chris Barrow

Leadership lessons from Southgate: Why every business owner should read "Dear England"

Low maintenance, high performance: A coach’s view
Low maintenance, high performance: A coach’s view

It's disappointing that Sir Gareth Southgate's new book "Dear England : Lessons in Leadership" was absolutely slated by a reviewer in The Guardian's "Bookmarks" yesterday (a weekly review of new publications).


I'm two-thirds of the way through (it arrived on Thursday) and loving it - in fact, I can feel a workshop coming on already.


Sadly, I think the title may put off non-English readers and those who are not fans of football, that's a shame because the very practical ideas on how to be an effective leader, interspersed with excerpts and fascinating anecdotes from Southgate's career, make for an easy way of absorbing some important lessons.


This morning I smiled as a I read this quote from Southgate's assistant coach Steve Holland:


"We love low maintenance, high performance. We'll accept high maintenance, high performance. But high maintenance, low performance? That's for no-one."


Sound familiar?


My review?


A good read, great chapter summaries and some very simple, yet very useful reminders on how leaders should show up every day.





 
 
 

5 Comments


Edward
a day ago

To get through the tracks in kart bros io, you need to be able to drive well and plan strategically. Every race gives you a task that looks easy, but to get a good score, you need to be quick and plan ahead. This is what makes Kart Bros. hard and addictive: players keep coming back to get better and beat hard tasks every time they fail.

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Slope Rider
Feb 11

Slope Rider I'm two-thirds of the way through (it arrived on Thursday) and loving it - in fact, I can feel a workshop coming on already.

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Slope Rider
Feb 11

Slope Rider A good read, great chapter summaries and some very simple, yet very useful reminders on how leaders should show up every day.

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Harry
Jan 23

Thank you for sharing

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Guest
Nov 12, 2025

I was streaming casually when chat dared me to win without building. Somehow did it. Build Now GG keeps giving me new ways to test my limits.

Edited
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