Who Killed the Maverick?

Mavericks attract trouble. They annoy people. And they're almost extinct.

Not just a 'big personality' or a creative thinker - a maverick is someone who doesn’t ask permission because they’re already solving the problem. They’re allergic to bureaucracy and intolerant of mediocrity. Frustrating, intense, relentless - exactly what your business needs to punch through inertia.

They’ll argue. They’ll challenge. They’ll annoy your safest hands, but they’ll also find the customer you missed, the flaw you ignored and the breakthrough no one else would go after.

They don’t fit the process, they break it, improve it or replace it with something better.

Churchill built teams around them to win a war. Today’s teams are built around the risk register.

Bosses used to let people run. In 2005, an editor sends a young reporter to China. “Come back in three weeks with brilliant stories.” That’s the brief. No calls. No daily updates. Just trust.

Around the same time, a 20-something working at a major insurance firm is told by her boss: “Go find a deal. Come back when it’s ready to sign.” She books her wn flights then vanishes for weeks returning with her first big deal. True story.

Would that happen today? Not a chance.

It would be framed as poor management. She’d be buried in permission ping-pong with procurement and left at the mercy of a mid-manager. "Did you get sign off?" Someone would block the trip because the hotel didn’t tick an ESG box - or the project could be seen as risky. A month later, the whole idea would fizzle.

This costs more than the deal. You lose the spirit. It's the silent killer of bold companies.

A thousand well-meaning policies and polite people pleasers politely pull the plug, only promoting the agreeable, risk-averse who never make anyone uncomfortable.

If you only promote the process, the outcome will be hard to achieve. Mavericks only think in outcomes - and you need them to keep moving forward.

Job

CEO of the Premier League Charitable Fund, one of the biggest sport charities in the world that distributes £35million a year to professional football club community organisations (CCOs). Very low salary on this one of £110k, but interesting and rewarding work.

Have a great week.

Dan