And then we decided to challenge the system

A future vision requires imagination and someone to spark the flame.

Performance Coach Owen Eastwood describes this as the creation of ‘forward memories’.

To ignite, motivate and bond individuals into teams through a shared future and journey they will undertake together.

Imagination, in terms of leadership, clearly requires creativity, but mostly, it is an act of courage.

This thought comes to mind when I am speaking with my brother Brendan Schwab and his vision.

Brendan is the most creative and courageous leader I have met, prepared always to hazard himself for the possibility of fulfilling the promise of the sport, impacting the structure and governance of sport, and the rights of athletes who play it.

Having established the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) fresh from studying law and three decades in helping build the Australian and international player association movements, Brendan spent eight years as Executive Director of the World Players Association (World Players), representing 85,000 players through more than 100 player associations in over 60 countries. 

In 2018, he was recognised by the players as the fourth 'PFA Champion' and, in 2022, was inducted into the Football Australia Hall of Fame, the first Australian to receive this honour in any sport for their work as a player unionist.

“Australia is a great sporting nation. We can become a great football nation” was the vision.

Brendan understood that the vision would not be achieved through the embedded frameworks vested with responsibility for leading soccer in Australia. These structures and the power they afforded to the few had consistently failed the game, with self-interest prevailing against any potential of a greater good.

Brendan drew the rough outline of a different future for the game he loved, something that inspired, knowing that others would need to colour it in.

The ‘others’, in this case, were the players themselves.

“I felt that through the players, we could realise that vision of Australia being a great football nation”.

The shared love became the greater good the game so badly needed, and a very special group of players bought in with a collective purpose and preparedness to put themselves at risk for the sake of the game they treasured.

Like many, I have been heavily influenced by Viktor Frankl's book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’.

Frankl saw three possible sources of meaning: work (doing something significant), love (caring for other people), and courage (during difficult times).

Brendan found all three, time and time again.

When he looked at the future of sport, he saw radically different things from almost everyone. He asked better questions and was much more interested in what it could become than what most thought it was.

Always seeking a path forward, recognising that opportunities will eventually emerge from the very same obstacles it was confronting.

The game needed a new story to connect people and inspire them to take action. Brendan tackled this critical challenge: crafting a story so clear and compelling that it harnessed and held energy in the face of uncertainty, conflict and rancour.

“Just keep going” was his fundamental approach to leadership.

Creativity is using existing constraints to find new solutions, being ok with them, embracing them, and rollicking with them. To find a story that inspires, is compelling, that people understand, and can see the possibilities for them and their group, urging them to do the work it is asking of them.

From our constraints come our opportunities.

So often left to chance, or inhibited by the fear of an unknown and unknowable future, this is a fundamental responsibility of leadership.

Remember, if it is undefined, it is unknown and, therefore, untapped.

Then, with every interaction, reference and remind the team of where you are heading, celebrating the ‘small wins’ as you build the capability to achieve it.

It is a form of imagination that will always require courage and, therefore, a need to cross the bridge of vulnerability, and if it doesn’t, more imagination is needed, both yours and others.

The story begins, builds, and burns bright, and eventually, all stories must burn out to make space for the next story, but the legacy is forever.

So pleased to welcome my brother Brendan Schwab as our guest, ‘In the Arena’.

I am very proud of him.

Enjoy!

Play on!

Cam