Frank Lampard has defined the new Chelsea identity this season as a team that is trying to bring amazing young talent from the club academy to the main stage and deliver good football through them.
Chelsea have just eleven points from their first seven games, a tally that would cause concern for any other manager. While there is bias towards Frank for being a club legend, that is only going to take you so far (as we saw with Mourinho during his second stint at Chelsea). However, it is the new identity that he has given to the team which is bringing him the plaudits so far.
He has changed the frame of reference from 'evaluate me on results' to 'evaluate me on how academy youngsters perform on the team', thus turning the conversation from short-term results to a longer-term perspective.
This shifting in frame of reference through a well-defined identity is not just a thing in football. This same approach works for corporates, CEOs and people working in various companies as well.
Amazon has successfully shifted the frame of reference from 'evaluate me on profits' to 'evaluate me on our growth and innovation' which allows them to constantly reinvest their profits in new business lines and to grow their top line.
People are always judging and evaluating you. That's something you can't control or change. However, what you can do is to make it clear what your identity is and to shift their frame of reference so that they judge and evaluate you the way you want to be evaluated.
Chelsea have just eleven points from their first seven games, a tally that would cause concern for any other manager. While there is bias towards Frank for being a club legend, that is only going to take you so far (as we saw with Mourinho during his second stint at Chelsea). However, it is the new identity that he has given to the team which is bringing him the plaudits so far.
He has changed the frame of reference from 'evaluate me on results' to 'evaluate me on how academy youngsters perform on the team', thus turning the conversation from short-term results to a longer-term perspective.
This shifting in frame of reference through a well-defined identity is not just a thing in football. This same approach works for corporates, CEOs and people working in various companies as well.
Amazon has successfully shifted the frame of reference from 'evaluate me on profits' to 'evaluate me on our growth and innovation' which allows them to constantly reinvest their profits in new business lines and to grow their top line.
People are always judging and evaluating you. That's something you can't control or change. However, what you can do is to make it clear what your identity is and to shift their frame of reference so that they judge and evaluate you the way you want to be evaluated.
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