Good news was delivered to the K-League in the first month of the new year.

An administrator who started out as a player and went through all of the mountain battles at a club for 27 years became the general manager. It refers to Lee Jong-ha, general manager of the Pohang Steelers, who took office earlier this month.

He is a person that can not be known to the K-League officials, including the players on the field, the front desk, and the media.

As he rose to the general manager in charge of the team, he made a case for a player-turned-administrator and a front desk who grew up from the bottom of the soccer team to rise to the general manager in the K-League.

Some may ask what is so exciting about a front desk who has worked for a soccer team for a long time being renovated.

The reality is not. It has suddenly become ‘picking stars in the sky’ for a person with thick bones in the club and a full knowledge of the K-League paradigm to rise to the general manager.

It has been a long time since it has been common in the K-League that executives who worked at the parent company for corporate clubs, and high-ranking public officials who are about to retire or the head of the mayor or provincial governor’s elections, or the head of the team, take the CEO position above it.

However, some provincial and provincial clubs, such as Daegu FC current CEO Cho Kwang-rae, Gangwon FC former CEO Lee Young-pyo, current CEO Kim Byeong-ji, Suwon FC former general manager Kim Ho-gon, and current general manager Choi Sun-ho, are scouting and using soccer players with reputation and networks as club managers. This is also the case when he was immediately inaugurated as an executive at the club.

In many clubs, the staff is just an employee. It is also similar to other professional sports such as baseball, basketball, and volleyball.

This is why the promotion of general manager Lee is fresh in the professional sports world.

Lee, who I spoke with a while ago, also admitted, “I didn’t expect to become the general manager, but I was also surprised,” and “I received a lot of congratulatory calls from the soccer world.” is well explained.

On the other hand, I would like to applaud the POSCO Group for recognizing the ability of a long-dedicated person in the soccer team and greeting the Pohang Steelworks after the flood last year, despite the unprecedented adverse event of the suspension of operation due to flooding and the consequent hectic company conditions.

In fact, there is no law that you will become the general manager just because you have played soccer and been in the soccer team for a long time.

Rather, executives who know the circumstances of the parent company well and have worked in a much larger organization than a soccer team that does not exceed 100 people may demonstrate more ability. I mean there is no right answer.

However, it is undeniable that it is infinitely regrettable to see the majority of people who can fully demonstrate their abilities as CEO or general manager after devoting their youth to soccer teams and acquiring long-term know-how, go to idle jobs in their later years or retire before they can bloom. .

There is no such thing as ‘Tosa Gupaeng’.

However, since POSCO Group unexpectedly promoted Lee, I believe it will be an example that motivates not only the Pohang club, but also the front desks working in each K-League club.

The inauguration of Director Lee is somewhat in line with ‘ESG management’, which has become a trend in corporate management in the 2020s.

‘ESG management’ is not difficult. E (Environment), which stands for environment, and S (Social, which stands for social contribution) are topics that Korean companies cannot do anything about. Not a few soccer teams have recently come out with ESG themes to practice eco-friendly management and spur social contribution. 먹튀검증

What is important is Governance (Governance), which is to ensure that the internal governance structure is well maintained so that talented employees receive reasonable treatment and positions, and that the morale of members is not reduced by excluding parachuting personnel.

In that respect, I would like to cite the inauguration of general manager Lee as an example of a soccer team practicing ESG management, no matter what the reason.

Ewha Womans University professor Yun Jeong-gu, who majored in organizational theory and leadership, said in August of last year, “It is not S or E that determines self-organizational power (the driving force for members to grow voluntarily) among ESGs, but G.” He emphasized that a company that focuses on E or S without any effort is ‘ESG washing’ to deceive the eye by presenting ESG.

The Pohang club’s appointment of general manager Lee is a driving force that can double the club’s self-organizational power as performance leads to rewards.

It may be heavy on his shoulders, but I hope that general manager Lee’s cruising cruising will serve as an opportunity for another manager from the front desk in Pohang and another manager like Lee in other clubs.