What Leeds United fans on Jesse Marsch's LinkedIn page reveal about leadership: James Ashton

But Marsch, I quickly learned, is not a typical coach. Not only does he devour plenty of leadership ideas in his reading, he is happy to share his thoughts on what works for him too.

So that must be why he cited The Nine Types of Leader as one of his favourites in a post to his 16,000 LinkedIn followers, a tip that nudged the book back up the sales charts.

In writing it, I set out to explore the different approaches to leadership I had observed by interviewing the boss class during more than 20 years of financial journalism at the Sunday Times, London Evening Standard and Daily Mail. Incidentally, it was a career seeded growing up in Mirfield, when I first entered the Huddersfield Daily Examiner’s Junior Journalist competition.

The book spun from what I first identified as “Sellers”, the CEOs who started their careers at consumer goods companies such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever, and employed the skills learnt promoting deodorant or ice cream as they headed for high office.

More types emerged until I had a set that felt like a game of Happy Families.

Founders and Scions were obvious as those leaders that created companies and inherited them. Sir Richard Branson and Ana Botín, the Santander banking heiress, slotted in there. Others took some more explaining, but as I bundled core traits with several examples, from the business world but also from the fields of charity, sport and the arts, I invited readers to consider which type of leader they most associated with.

Marsch chose two of the nine: Lovers and Humans.

Lovers are powered by genuine passion; they are obviously working at something that matters greatly to them. Examples include James Daunt, the self-confessed bookworm who engineered a successful turnaround at Waterstones, and Joey Gonzalez, who joined upscale American gym chain Barry’s as a customer and then trainer long before he gravitated to running the business. Marsch can point to 14 seasons as a Major League Soccer midfielder as evidence of where his passion lies.

And then there are Humans, which thrived through the pandemic and afterwards. As leaders they listen carefully, admit mistakes, communicate authentically and take seriously their duty of care to colleagues and stakeholders. They are the antithesis of the superhuman Alphas, who bang the table and expect everyone to jump to it.

Equally, Marsch could have identified as a Diplomat, which I spotted picking their way through partnership organisations such as PwC and the National Trust, where everyone has a view of the best way forward. Upon his arrival at Leeds in February 2022, the American drew up a “leadership council” that consisted of several senior players including Liam Cooper and Luke Ayling.

What stirred interest among the club’s fans was Marsch’s comment that he found my book interesting because “as a player I was so cutthroat and it was always about winning. As a coach, I'm focussed on results but I’m more about culture, nurture, development and relationships”.

The thread below turned into a debate between culture and results. Frustrated by Leeds’ lowly league position, some suggested Marsch should focus solely on the latter, while others insisted that getting the former right would lead to ultimate success.

“Results should be the last thing on the coach’s list,” one wrote. “All the other elements you mentioned are essential steps towards it, thus building up an organic outcome.”

“Here’s a suggestion,” wrote another. “Resign, let someone results focussed take over and go on a leadership talking tour. I’m sure they’ll be queuing up to pay to listen to you drone on and on.”

It’s true: there is lots of guff written and spoken about the art of leadership. Perhaps it attracts so much commentary because there is no single recipe for success and in daily life – lately politics springs to mind – examples of poor leadership abound.

In the corporate world, purpose is in vogue, and rightly so. Companies don’t exist in a vacuum, they must consider the best interests of their people and the planet too. But another p-word, profit, still rules. Unless a leader delivers that, everything else is window dressing.

At least a company boss can point to external factors if they underperform. Rampant inflation and the broader macroeconomic malaise give them some air cover this year.

In football, the defining p-word is points, three of them on a Saturday, week in, week out.

That could be why running a big football club is harder than running a large corporation.

James Ashton is Chief Executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance. The Nine Types of Leader is published by Kogan Page.