“You don’t need the ball to change the game.”
Part 1 in the “From the Touchline” series
The most effective leaders, Chairs, NEDs, Portfolio Managers, and often CEOs, aren’t the ones barking from the centre circle. They’re the ones shaping performance from the edge.
This is leadership from the touchline. It’s about guiding the direction, adjusting the tempo, and influencing the outcome — without ever stepping onto the pitch. And while it sounds subtle, it’s anything but passive.
Too often, influence is mistaken for interference. Presence is confused with control. But the leaders who truly drive value know how to read the field, trust the players, and only step in when it matters.
What Does It Mean to Lead From the Touchline?
Leading from the touchline is not a metaphor for distance. It’s a mindset for intentionality. It’s for those who understand their role is to shape, not steer, to provide clarity, not commands.
In practice, this means:
Understanding how you can multiply the talent within your team
Guiding rhythm, not micromanaging moves
Providing structure without strangling autonomy
Reading the game, not just watching the scoreboard
Knowing when to speak, and when silence adds more value
It’s not about disengagement. It’s about intelligent restraint. Timing. Perspective. And trust.
Why It Matters More Than Ever
Modern businesses are faster, more complex, and often overloaded with noise. The temptation for leaders, especially those in non-exec or oversight roles, and to an extent, CEOs and Managing Directors, is to jump in, intervene, “add value” at every turn. But often, that value-add becomes value dilution.
In today’s environment, the leaders who multiply results are those who create clarity, not complexity. Who build capability, not dependency. Teams don’t need more voices – they need clear signals. They need space to perform. And they need leaders who create that space while maintaining alignment.
Touchline leadership keeps the organisation pointed in the right direction while resisting the urge to meddle in every play. That restraint is powerful. And it multiplies impact exponentially.
The Legacy of von Moltke: Clarity of Intent, Not Control of Action
Over 150 years ago, Prussian General Helmuth von Moltke pioneered an approach that challenged everything people think they know about command and control. He recognised that in complex, fast-moving situations, detailed instructions quickly became useless. Instead, what mattered was clear intent, a shared understanding of what needed to be achieved and why, and then giving capable people the freedom to determine how to do it.
This became the foundation of what we now understand as mission leadership – a philosophy that empowered teams to adapt in real time without waiting for further instruction. The approach was so successful that to this day, practically all Western militaries and certainly NATO countries use this philosophy, developing some of the strongest team and leadership structures ever created. Far from the rigid ‘command and control’ stereotype, this was about intelligent restraint and strategic trust.
Such is the cultural impact that many military leaders who go on to join businesses later in their career struggle to adjust to what they see as ‘command and control’ styles in business – quite ironic really, given the stereotype.
Stephen Bungay, in The Art of Action, brilliantly translates this philosophy for modern leaders. His core insight? The gap between plans and outcomes isn’t closed by more instructions, it’s closed by:
• Clarity of intent • Trust in execution • Active feedback loops
This is the foundation for touchline leadership. And it’s how you multiply strategic knowledge into operational results.
You don’t need to know every detail. You need to make sure your team knows the objective, understands why it matters, and trusts that you’ve got their back if things change. You define the “what” and the “why”, and let the “how” emerge. The multiplication happens when capable people have clear direction and the freedom to act.
Learning It First-Hand: From Interim to Chair
I didn’t learn this philosophy in a classroom, I learned it in role, repeatedly.
As a professional Interim CEO, I came to understand that if I became the driving force in a business, I’d only create another problem the day I left. That’s the curse of the ‘heroic interim’ – solving everything personally, only to leave a vacuum behind.
This isn’t theoretical for me. I’ve seen teams transform when leaders stop trying to control every move and start trusting the capability that’s already there. The better path was always to build rhythm, decision-making clarity, and capability in the team. My job wasn’t to become the engine, it was to build the platform that multiplied their effectiveness.
And as I’ve taken on Chair roles, that lesson has stayed with me. The ability to guide outcomes without disrupting the flow is more vital than ever. The temptation to get involved never fully disappears, but the discipline to hold your position is what sets great strategic leaders apart.
What the Best Touchline Leaders Do Differently
The best strategic leaders don’t drift in and out of the action. They multiply impact through discipline and focus. They:
Prepare the ground well – clarity of mission, priorities, and rhythm
Check the temperature often – not just performance data, but leadership signals
Maintain altitude – avoiding the trap of reactive noise
Only step in with intent – when the moment is pivotal, or the risk is structural
Here’s what multiplication looks like in practice: A Chair who sets clear strategic intent and then steps back, watching a management team deliver results they didn’t think were possible. A CEO who resists the urge to dive into operational detail and instead provides clarity of direction, watching their team accelerate execution. An NED who asks the one question that unlocks a blocked decision. A Portfolio Manager who provides framework and support, then watches investment performance accelerate because the team has clarity and confidence.
They don’t seek attention. They earn trust. They don’t dominate meetings. They ask the question that shifts the entire room. And when things wobble, they’re calm, because they’ve stayed clear-headed the whole time.
A Quiet Edge With a Big Impact
Touchline leadership doesn’t make headlines. It doesn’t shout. But it changes results. It stabilises teams. It makes better decisions possible. And when paired with rhythm and routine, it turns strategy into movement.
The multiplication effect is real: one leader providing clarity and trust can unlock the potential of an entire team. That’s not addition – it’s exponential impact.
If you’re guiding from the boardroom, shaping a portfolio, or leading a team without holding the reins directly, this is your edge. It’s about multiplying the strategic knowledge that already exists in your organisation and turning it into operational results.
And over the next few weeks, I’ll be unpacking it in depth.
Follow the rest of the From The Touchline Series at The Touchline Coach or subscribe for sharper thinking, grounded strategy, and frameworks for those who lead from the edge.
The Touchline Coach is where strategy meets performance. For those who shape direction, influence outcomes, and lead from the edge, not the centre.
