In late 1996, Gary Hetherington and his business partner, Paul Caddick, took over the failing Leeds RLFC

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In late 1996, Gary Hetherington and his business partner, Paul Caddick, took over the failing Leeds RLFC (Rugby League Football Club), determined to turn around the club's fortunes. Hetherington had come from a coal-mining district, where his father was a colliery manager, and he played rugby as a boy, developing a great passion for the game and his people. These early experiences, combined with his commitment to making a difference at Leeds Rhino, set him on a journey of innovation and change in turning around the fortunes of a club that was running a debt of around £5 million and was at the bottom of the leagues, to a team that markedly improved its league position and a club that became a commercially viable profit-making facility. The numbers: In taking on the role of CEO, Hetherington - with no prior formal management training - applied what he refers to as 'common sense and 'intuition' in improving annual turnover and profits.

The approach: The strategy was uncomplicated; Hetherington underscored the importance of keeping a watchful eye on the bottom line whilst working towards building and sustaining an environment that was supportive of staff and comfortable and fun for fans. Allowing staff to use their expertise and abilities. Hetherington has developed a trust-based-collaborative culture, commenting that: 'I look at long-term strategy, and I clean the toilets; I never touch operations as I gave capable managers in all 3 areas to look after those things.' Interestingly, the operational heads of, for example, Human Resources, Marketing, Customer Experience, Stadium Management and the Lottery are all women. According to Hetherington, 'They just tend to get on with the job more and spend less time infighting. Hetherington opted to create an operational work team across the club, make their objectives clear, delegate responsibilities, authority for self-organizing, and autonomy of work. With controversial player issues, Hetherington is willing to spend time talking over the issues with them in trying to find ways forward rather than overreacting to immediate pressures. Collaboration is another key feature including: setting up the Headingley Experience café where members of the public can walk in off the street to feel part of the whole sporting 'experience'; the collaboration with Leeds Beckett University, which led to classroom being built in the stadium for students to work in, partnership with rugby league clubs in Australia Sydney, and collaborations with Eton College. In building this open, supportive, and collaborative culture that has combined with good public relations, they have also been able to extend public awareness and engagement, through, for example, the success of the Rhinos mascot 'Ronnie the Rhino', which has been able to catch the attention of both the public and the media. This approach of working with people, trying to do the right thing whilst always keeping an eye on the bottom line has proven successful both financially, and in their league performance (for example, in 2015, Leeds Rhinos won all three of the major league trophies).

The vision: Hetherington identifies four key elements. First, business and financial sustainability to be achieved through ongoing innovation change in making sure that the profits are used wisely in continually reinvesting in the business. Second, to develop and build collaborative team efforts where individuals can also shine and stand out as role models for others to follow (for example, Barry McDermott who from a tough childhood background is now Head of Youth Development and amusing TV pundit). Third, to be an important and central part of the community that is Leeds. Fourth, to ensure that their facilities continually improve and that they provide a professional and respectful service to all visitors, teams, members of the public, and fans who come to experience and enjoy their time at Leeds Rhinos. Speaking about these values, Hetherington commented: 'We want to be at the heart of the community so that we are part of the glue that holds Leeds people together [and] we want to have top class facilities so that visitors can enjoy themselves in comfort and perhaps comment on the professional standards that we can all be proud of.' 4 The Team: Hetherington is a charismatic and engaging CEO, who works with others in moving towards a desired future. He encourages a collaborative team environment in which he works closely with individuals, for example, with the coach. Brian McDermott, in developing and sustaining this supportive culture. The aim is to build a sense of belonging, family, and camaraderie among team players who work for each other to secure victories for the team as a whole. Money doesn't negotiate contracts,' says Hetherington. 'There is a salary cap and we decide the pecking order and offer the respective amount to the player. If they don't want it, we wish them well, and off they go to another club. Meanwhile, our youth development usually has someone waiting in the wings.' In setting policies and working with individuals in building the team, Hetherington and McDermott recognize the importance of self-motivation and how what motivates one person may not motivate another; noncritical feedback in providing constructive analyses of performance; and of clear procedures or recruitment, and retention, release and replacement based on cultural motivations rather than financial incentives.

The Future: Gary Hetherington and the case of the Leeds Rhinos present an illustrative case example of successful transformation and change in securing good financial results, team trophies, and a positive forward trajectory. Time will tell whether or not this can be sustained as new challenges and issues are likely to emerge as players and staff move on and the unanticipated occurs. Whilst the case highlights the power of one person to bring about significant turn-around and change - in the high-profile leading role of CEO - it also calls testimony to the importance of teamwork and collaboration, for without engaging others in this journey, the outcomes described could not have been achieved. Hetherington's vision of the future articulates creativity, the creation of more autonomous work teams with full power to enhance their area of specialization. He believes that this would be an effective approach to increase the team's ability to find creative and innovative solutions to the club's challenges. Teams in each subject and specialization will have to decide on their own future goals, ways of achievement, resource needs and allocation, and the timelines for achieving these goals.

Question: How would you describe Hetherington's leadership style? Kindly Discuss