Following on from yesterday’s rant about political leadership, I think a little light relief is required.

I should declare a slight leaning towards Liverpool. Even though I can never be called a fan, I remember with fondness the days of Jan Molby and John Barnes in the midfield, and their ability to pass the ball through crowds. But this is not a football piece, not really. It is about leadership.

I should also declare another bias though. A week or so ago, I was talking to my daughter (who is most definitely a Liverpool fan) and told her that Klopp was a Christian.

“I’m not surprised” she said.

“Why not?” I asked.

She could not put it into words- but found herself having to concede a point that she did not want to concede, that despite all the Christian assholes who find their way in to the media and even end up leading our Churches, within the heart of many ordinary people of faith (not just Christians of course) there is something that I can only describe as a skew towards goodness. It is there, despite all the doctrinal hardness and fixed enculturalised beliefs, right across the faith spectrum. Don’t get me wrong- I don’t claim in any way that these people are better,- just that they often have a different motivation. Think about it, I said. The people in your life. your workplace who have shown you an instinctive kindness. Those people who are often the first to help out. What do they often have in common?

Having conceded the point, Emily tossed her head and said

“OK, OK, you’ve got me there. You can go and blog about that then can’t you.”

“Oh don’t be silly. I’m not going to do that” I said.

But then I came across this clip of Klopp (do you see what I did there?) talking about his management/leadership style.

There are a few things I really liked- his determination to understand people and remain committed to learning about the world around him. His openness to the other. His skill at communication, arising from ‘not caring what other people think’, whilst at the same time his empathy for the challenges faced by others.

Oh, and his faith. I have no idea what flavour/denomination/doctrine he belongs to, but I like the fact that he acknowledges it, finds no need to apologise for it, or to force it on anyone else.

Can we get him to sort out Brexit please?