‘Thanks, Stuart. Now it’s time to see what Rossi is made of’

Back in 2022, I became the chief executive officer of a professional football club, which meant that I would occasionally be invited to meetings with other club CEOs.

I’ve never felt so important in my whole life. As the Malaysian Football League (MFL) is co-owned by the participating football clubs, the CEOs’ meetings are usually an essential feature in getting the support or mandate for any new suggestions or propositions associated with the league.

Here’s how the meetings would go. After the CEO of the league presents and rationalises his proposition, the club CEOs express their opinions. Each of these opinions would likely be different because the views would only resonate with the needs and concerns of the respective clubs.

After I finished chugging down a glass of Red Bull, the person chairing the meeting would usually wrap up by saying something to the effect that we will all be a part of a structural reform, which sounds ever so important. We will all be integral in driving the commercial worth of the league. That there will certainly be obstacles, but we won’t know what those obstacles are until we have the courage to run the flag up the flagpole and see which way the wind blows.

Plainly, I wanted to argue with this, but as I gathered the spirit to loosen up my jaw, I realised that what he had just said didn’t make any sense at all. And he wasn’t done. He goes on saying, to the effect, that it is mission critical that we use blue-sky thinking – which sounded super-impressive – and that we must remain proactive, not reactive, if we were to come up with a sustainable solution on the commodification of the league.

Again, I wanted to raise a hand to make a point. But I had no idea what that point could be, so I poured myself another glass of Red Bull, and helped myself to another triangular tuna sandwich.

I looked around the table at all the elderly faces, people that have been around longer than I have, and they’re all nodding sagely. So, I decided not to be the rotten apple and stopped myself from actually saying, “What the hell are you talking about?”.

Honestly, it did not go exactly the way I described it, but the effect was somewhat the same.

Datuk Stuart Ramalingam is a velvety-tongued individual with a pleasant and warm persona. A much-beloved character, for which I would say, corporate sponsors that sponsored MFL during his tenure, most likely did it because of him, rather than the football league.

And that’s why last month, I got so disappointed when I heard that Stuart had turned down the offer to extend his contract as the CEO of MFL.

However, it got a little distasteful when the media started parading his withdrawal with honey and champagne, claiming that he was responsible for delivering positive changes to the league.

For the record, I love Stuart. I was drawn into believing that the structural reform that he championed was paramount for the commercial success of the league. Apart from the fact that the reforms would pose an advantage to the club I was representing, I was genuinely impressed with the idea that a larger and longer league, with a subsequent Under-23 tournament, would be cardinal to the growth of our players, and the national squad.

Unfortunately, the entire movement is now in limbo. Stuart may have started the initiative, but we have yet to know what the new CEO, Giorgio Pompili Rossi, thinks. Will he forge ahead with what Stuart kicked off, a plan that many football observers now consider hasty, and ill-conceived?

Every leader has had the experience of unveiling an organisational change – a new system or process, a corporate restructure, a shift in the business model – and getting a less than positive response from their stakeholders. But leaders like Stuart have the potential to emotionally support the very people affected by the change, to help those people make the mindset shift that will allow them to embrace change – to become more change-capable.

There will always be that brick wall or greener pastures. But what is needed in any successful change management exercise is leadership with the tenacity and grit to hold on to what they believe in, even if it leaves them sprawling at the bitter end.

The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.