Bring on the kids: How business can develop talent the Jürgen Klopp way

Recently I watched Liverpool play Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Final. Many of Liverpool’s first team players were unavailable through injury and so the team included several young academy graduates with more on the bench.

By the second half, Chelsea’s greater experience showed as they began to dominate. Liverpool were against the wall, and with extra time looming, Jurgen Klopp (the Liverpool manager) made a bold decision. Instead of sticking with the few experienced first team players he had, he subbed on even more teenage academy graduates. At this point it felt like watching a team of kids playing against senior professionals.

What followed was remarkable. The experienced Chelsea players became more cautious in extra time, whilst Liverpool’s kids played with confidence and gradually took control. This culminated in a brilliant sequence of play involving 3 of the academy players which led to a corner. In what felt like a moment of transcendence, Van Dijk rose majestically and headed in a 118th minute winner for Liverpool!

Watching these young academy graduates succeed at the highest level in football made me wonder why businesses can’t adopt similar principles to talent development. Experience tends to dominate in a senior leadership team but maybe including some less experienced talent would lead to similar risk taking and inspiration that we saw from the Liverpool kids.

Let’s examine this outsight further and discover how it could be applied in the business world..

1. Building the squad

At Liverpool and most large clubs the first team consists of more than just the starting 11 — there’s a wider squad of about 30 players. This creates an opportunity to include both experienced professionals and emerging youngsters. With a visionary manager like Klopp, this creates regular opportunities for young talents to contribute. As a result, they are prepared and ready to step up to bigger challenges like the cup final.

In business senior leadership teams are much more rigid and there is no concept of a wider ‘squad’. If a member is unavailable, an experienced member of their team will act as a stand-in or they’ll just continue without. There is little to no opportunity for an early-career professional to gain real experience at a senior level and contribute their ideas and thoughts to big decisions.

Leaders need to recognise that people learn and develop much faster from real-life experiences than development courses. In turn, younger professionals can offer valuable perspectives that senior leaders could use — how to create a brand presence on TikTok, the latest developments on Gen AI, or how to lead people from their generation.

We’re already seeing a shift towards cultural and gender diversity in leadership teams, but that’s not enough. Maybe age and cognitive diversity in senior teams would provide another boost? Perhaps talents could be substituted into the team temporarily, say to act as a thought leader in an emerging area. During that period they’d act as an advisor to the team whilst also gaining massive insights into how a senior team functions.

2. Practicing the same system

At Liverpool, young talented players practice the same system as their senior counterparts. They train together, develop the same style of play, and even learn how to handle media interviews. Both on and off the pitch, they practice behaving like a senior professional from an early age which makes the transition to the senior team smooth.

In contrast, the day of an early-career professional in business looks very different from a senior leader. They are driven mainly by short-term objectives, made to follow processes that discourage innovation and are not empowered to make significant decisions without approval. Talent is typically nurtured through development courses or on the job training which fail to provide the real experience needed to grow. As a result, the transition to a senior position is a lot harder, because it requires a fundamentally different approach to work.

Development for ambitious early-career professionals should be about practicing what leaders actually do. Entry-level roles should be modelled as scaled-down versions of senior roles, involving things like establishing vision, strategic planning and engaging with a variety of stakeholders. People learn fast through practice and real experience so using the same system at all levels would make the transition much smoother.

3. Coming off the bench

At Liverpool, Klopp is a prime example of a manager who trusts young players and gives them opportunities in first team games. They will make mistakes, but the risk is considered worthwhile. Young players experience the pressure of a large crowd, the agony of a misplaced pass and the rush of a win. They have the opportunity and accountability to make a tangible impact on the success of their team. As a result, they learn fast and are fearless because they know that this won’t be their only chance.

In business we keep talent on the bench. Early-career professionals get invited to the important meeting but are there to observe and take notes. They get appointed on a strategic project but are there to support and advise. They meet customers and suppliers but don’t have the authority to close the deal. In contrast to football’s fast-track development, large companies have a risk-averse mindset that values experience much more than talent. As a result, many talented people decide to move jobs rather than wait in line for their next promotion or opportunity to step up.

Perhaps we can again adapt Klopp’s approach to business. Let’s give young talent full accountability for low-stakes situations: managing a small budget, negotiating with a friendly supplier and team leadership on less critical projects. Those that succeed can be fast-tracked to bigger opportunities, with senior leaders as mentors, and encouraged to make key decisions. Mistakes will happen but the benefits to the company in retaining and developing top talent will be a worthwhile return.

Three things you can do tomorrow

If any of these ideas appeal to you, here are some suggestions of where to start. The most important thing is to pick something you’re comfortable with and just have a go.

Find your way into the squad: You don’t need 10 years’ experience to contribute at a senior level, being excellent at one thing is enough. For me it was being the person with a Gen AI strategy before anyone else — the leadership team immediately took notice.

Do what a leader does: Speak to a senior manager you have a good relationship with and persuade them to let you take on a task they’d normally do themselves. You’ll learn 10x faster than doing a leadership course.

Ask to Play: Find a way to ‘come of the bench’ and take full accountability for something small. It may be owning a small budget or leading a pitch for a small client. Be tactical about who you ask, not every manager will be supportive.