This newsletter is not about football, though I admit to being a massive football fan. It’s about substance and leadership.

One of the greatest Danish footballers ever, Preben Elkjær, currently gives big shows where he speaks about his life as a footballer. The show has been running for more than 10 years.

I’ve been to his show 3 times now (I told you, major fan!) and it’s 90% the same stories. But even so, I’m completely hooked and cry from laughter every single time. And every single time, we give standing ovations (I also suspect it to be a big “thank you for all the goals” to his 1980s heyday, but nonetheless).

Preben Elkjær is undoubtedly a remarkable speaker and in another life, he could have made a career as a “funny guy”, but last time I saw his show, it made me think of another show I attended a few years ago. It was a show by a renowned Danish comedian and despite its intention, it was not particularly funny. Awkward at times even. People didn’t applaud, the laughs were quiet and nervous and some even started walking out of the big event hall before it ended.

You may say that humor is a personal matter and that’s true. But I came to an additional conclusion.

Humor – as with professional skills – only works if you have real substance to build it on.

Preben Elkjær did not try to be funny as his sole purpose. He told stories from his life with curated views on what had mattered most to him, and he showed us his perspective on the Beautiful Game. The comedian, on the other hand, seemed to focus on delivering punchlines and one-liners with the sole objective of being funny. But without real stories, passion, highlights or pain underneath. No thread, no lesson, no reason to care.

And that made a big difference. So I say: No substance, no cry (from laughter..! 😉)

It goes for leadership too.

Take for example the high performer who gets promoted to manager, but who has no real plan for what they want to do with the team or department they’re now leading. I bet that few remarkable things will come from that.

The best leaders I’ve come across know and are able to articulate two things before they step into the role:

• How they want to lead people: what are the leadership principles and practices they want to implement. E.g. more team autonomy? A feedback culture? More hands-on coaching?
• What their professional project is: what is it they actually want to build, change or achieve with the department they’re now responsible for. E.g. a more proactive sales culture? Implementation of AI in customer service? Improvement of innovation and patent filings?

Without both, leadership is just a title. And like with the comedian, people will notice.