F.A., not Capello, to blame for the way Beckham was treated.

Aug. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- It is the organ grinder, not the monkey. We should be looking to, to take responsibility.

Why are we surprised that Fabio Capello did not inform Beckham personally, that his long service with the England football team might be over? After all, this was the third example, in one week, of Capello's failure to communicate.

Everything that there was to know about the England football team's current manager was already known at the point he was hired by the FA. He had several, significant weaknesses when he came into the job. He couldn't speak English at all well, he had never managed a national team; He has a strict, authoritarian style.  So why did the FA think that he was the right person for the job? The FA is never held accountable for their consistently poor hiring choices and the fact that they are equally slow to fire people.

Few things are more critical to the success of any organization than the attraction and
retention of remarkable talent.  Unfortunately, leaders often get frustrated during the recruitment process and end up hiring B and C players just to complete the task and  have someone in place.  “It's the  'slot-filled syndrome'”,  says Geraldine Kilbride a Business Psychologist from CrucialSkills4Leaders. “I see it all the time. The people in charge want to take the pressure off themselves, so hire someone, anyone, even if there are obvious weaknesses in their candidate.”

However,  managing is 80% hiring. Hiring  a B or C quality individual inevitably leads to more time invested in managing, it results in lower outputs, slower growth rates, less profit and more morale problems.  The FA is faced with all of these issues now – poor headlines; poor results and the nation's growing cynicism and lack of confidence.

If that weren’t enough, at some point, the leader will probably need to fire that person.

Most leaders put off firing too long, which creates additional problems that could’ve been
avoided if they had hired better in the first place or had released the employee when it became obvious that his/her competencies had been exceeded.  It was a poor decision on the part of football's governing body to extend Capello's contract, at a higher salary, just before the World Cup - with no break-clause, if England's performance was not up to expectation.

If it is becoming obvious that Capello's style is not good enough, the FA should let him go. Eventually, the FA will have to negotiate some kind of termination and, when they do, it’ll be infinitely more complicated and more expensive than if they had let him go when they knew it was time.   Hire Slow, Fire Fast.  Memorize this rule or it will cost you dearly later.

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