I loved this year’s European Championship.

After a year full of lockdowns, sickness and pain, it was such a joy to see people come together, watch football and celebrate their nations. Football has not been the same without the fans, and EURO 2020 was a great way to watch football the proper way again.

As I was watching the matches, I made some observations. Some stories and learnings that I would like to carry with me beyond the pitch. I hope you’ll find them interesting.

🔥 The Tournament of the Underdogs

I believe this year’s EURO was the tournament of the underdogs. Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath, I collected three short stories the first example reflects just that.

The spirit prevails. As someone who grew up in Hungary, I was really proud how the national team played during the tournament. But the beginning was tough. We started in the Group of Death with

• France, the former world champions
• Portugal, the former European champions
• and Germany who had 5th most valuable national team based on Transfermarkt.

All my friends and colleagues who saw which teams we were up against just said "Ooph good luck to Hungary!" Thanks, guys! I also thought that that we would need a lot of luck to succeed. It turns out the team could make their own luck. Because they played with spirit.

The team played with fire and pushed. This was also reflected in the numbers in the numbers: while the Hungarian team had less shots, possessed the ball less, they ran more and were more physical. They did not lose focus even after receiving goals. They were warriors on the pitch, it paid off. Kind of.

In the first match, Portugal struggled to break through but managed break through in the 85th minute. Against the former world champions it was a miraculous draw. And against Germany for almost 85 minutes Hungary was dominating. For a second, we all believed that we can reach the elimination stage. Until Goretzka's equalizing goal. After the final whistle, Germany celebrated the draw like it was a victory.

Two draws and one loss. Not victories. Yet, I could not be more proud. When David goes against Goliath no one expects impressive dribbles or wonderful goals. We all want the underdog to fight, to play with spirit, and to see the giant struggle. And that is the lesson: when struggling, fighting spirit can help us deliver impressive results.

This is exactly what the Hungarian national team gave us.

Don't Play Goliath's game. There was another team that also struggled during the group stage. Their defense was completely shattered, but still managed to go through the group stage as third.

The same team later later knocked out the former world champion France in the elimination stage while France was leading 3-1. The same team managed to defend against Spain, one man down (due to a red card) for 120 minutes. This is when they lost in penalties.

This team was Switzerland. I was lucky enough to support the Swiss team from Basel. And I have never seen the rule-following and quiet Basel go as crazy as the night they beat France.

Here is what I observed, something Malcolm Gladwell mentions in David and Goliath: as David we cannot beat Goliath in their own game. We can't go for dribbles, playing aesthetically pleasing football and opening up the pitch.

As the underdog you need to play a different game. A game where they don't feel comfortable and force the opponent to go with you: a game of extreme discipline, a game of powerful defense where it's difficult to play the ball around. And a game where the underdog have only a few shots, but effectively convert it into goals. A game where the goal is not necessarily to win in normal playing time, but to dragged it all the way until penalties. This is something Switzerland has done against France. And guess what? They won despite all odds against them.

Such an inspiring story and it made me wonder. How many times could we take on giants just by changing the game we are playing?

Being underestimated is a gift. The last underdog story starts with an observation: when walking on the pitch before the match both Hungary and France were focused and determined. But I was wondering, can you imagine the difference between the pressure the two teams were under? France cannot lose under no circumstances, whereas Hungary can win, draw or even lose against France if they did their best. Which one do you think is worse?

In my eyes, losing against a weaker opponent is so much more stressful. As a superior team you have everything to lose. But when you're underestimated you have nothing to lose.

Okay, maybe nothing to lose is not the best way to put it. My point is that the stress on the underdogs' shoulders is independent of the outcome: it doesn’t matter if France wins. All the national team has to do is to prove themselves and play their heart out. Everyone wants to see the effort. Winning the game doesn’t matter just show everyone that you’re doing everything you can.

Being underestimated is truly a gift.

As a young professional, I think this is something I can take advantage of. As I'm starting my career, in many cases there are topics I do not yet understand or do not have experience with. The goal here is the same as playing against France: all I need to do is to bring my best self, and I believe it will pay off in the longer run.

🧗‍♀️ Leadership During Crises

True leaders manifest during crises. As someone who aspires to become a leader one day, I'm inspired what we saw on and off the pitch during the EUROs. Let me highlight my 3 favorite stories.

The power of detachment. Probably even if you did not follow the matches you heard about Christen Eriksen. During a match against Finland, the danish midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest. Thanks to all the doctors, Eriksen's state is now stable.

I would like to draw your attention to the captain, Simon Kjaer. In the midst of all this, he stepped up as a leader. He did three things. First, he stabilized his fellow teammate and started the CPR until the medical team took over. Then, once the paramedics arrived, he organised his players to stand in a circle, providing the medics the needed respect and space to do their jobs. And lastly, when Eriksen's distraught partner arrived down, he was the first one to step and provide emotional support.

Despite having one of his teammates, one of his friends seeing collapse, he was able to step up. He was able to detach from the situation. He was able to think clearly, identify what was needed in order to support and carry out these actions in a calm and focused manner. This way he helped his friend and his team with his nation and the world watching. An inspiring example of how detaching from an emotionally heated situation can help make a positive impact and save a life.

Leading with empathy. Roberto Mancini, the coach of Italy, was already part of the Italian national team in 1990. The country won the bronze medal during that World Cup. A really impressive achievement. But here is the catch: Mancini never played. Despite being a member of the team he never had the chance to be subbed on.

This must have been one of the most frustrating feelings. Imagine, you are dying to step on the pitch. To contribute to the team. To fight and represent your nation. But he never had the chance. This regret stuck with him for the rest of his life.

Flash forward to 2020, Italy is playing against Wales. This is when he pulled off one of the most surprising subs of the tournament. He brought down Donnarumma (considered to be one of the best goalkeepers) to play Salvatore Sirigu. Why? Because he wanted to make sure that everyone contributes to the success of the team. Even if for only a few minutes.

This empathy is really stunning to me. He was willing to sacrifice one of the valuable substitutions to strengthen the team. He was willing to go through quite a public scrutiny around this decision to send one simple message: he believes in his players.

And while we cannot be sure about this, I’m convinced that this mindset is what contributed to the success later. Putting the team's first and understanding the emotions of the individuals led him having loyal players who were willing to fight with him until the end. Until winning the championship.

Maybe I'm naive and optimistic, but to me Mancini and the Italian team demonstrated the importance of empathy in leadership.

Taking ownership. If you read this far, I imagine you probably saw the finals. But to summarise the game, Italy and England went toe-to-toe, the score was draw and the game went into extra time. When it was clear that the game will be decided on penalties, Southgate brought in some of the most talented young players: Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho. He and the team also decided on the penalty takers: Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, the two new players, and Bukayo Saka. A 19-year old talent of the team.

Unfortunately, the last three players all missed their penalties, which gave the trophy to Italy with 3-2 on penalties.

What stunned me was Gareth Southgate’s words right after the match: “that’s my responsibility, I chose the guys to take the kick”. No blame, no mention of the other team or any other external circumstances. It was all "on me".

Even under this pressure, he took complete ownership. This is the same idea Jocko Willink wrote about in his extreme ownership book. To make the decisions and own our decisions. Knowing how easy it is to shift blame especially under the pressure of English fans.

Truly inspiring story and important learning going forward: to take ownership of our decisions as a leader.