Football has always captured the imagination of generations in UAE since the first national team participated in the Gulf Cup in 1972 and won the first game against Qatar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Historically, the UAE team reached its peak only when it qualified to the World Cup in 1990, with a team that has been dubbed as the ‘Golden Generation’. After that, it went downhill as the team fell short of the expectations of its fans. They hit rock bottom to achieve its worst global ranking in history at number 138, prompting calls from many fans to scrap the team entirely.

However, the current team has managed to win the confidence of their fans. As I write this article, the UAE team has moved up to be ranked at number 85, and achieved its highest early this year at number 58. The team’s journey to success is also a contrast to the perceptions surrounding business strategy and employee empowerment. Following is a list of lessons that employers might benefit from the UAE team’s journey;

Leadership and courageous decision-making: The UAE Football Association’s decision to select a local coach who came with negligible international record and was neither a big name in the world of football was a courageous decision.

Selection philosophy: Players are selected primarily on their ability to blend smoothly with other players and their ability to adopt the team’s style of playing and attitude. In my work, I have observed that employers are increasingly aligning their selection process to their company’s vision, goals as well as the existing culture in order to remain sustainable and competitive.

Team work; the combination of team-building efforts and strategy, and a sensible selection process has contributed to supplying the UAE national team two distinct strengths; character and consistency. In the world of business, it is the organisations that manage to nurture a good degree of cohesiveness among staff that are the ones that remain competitive, and most importantly have happier employees.

I have to point out that I find it unfortunate and ironic that some managers believe in a more ‘Machiavellian’ approach of ‘divide-and-rule’ among team members in the irrational fear that a cohesive team might someday potentially “overthrow” the manager.

- The reader is an Emirati people and workforce development specialist based in Dubai