I've watched entire careers, from practitioner to SVP, built on the shoulders of a single Kroos.
Real Madrid has once again lost a big game this season.
Today's 4-0 hammering by PSG comes on the heels of defeats to Liverpool, Arsenal, and Atletico Madrid. Factor in four straight losses to Barcelona (16 goals conceded) and this is shaping up to be one of the bleakest campaigns in the club's 120-year history.
Just last year, Madrid sat on top of the world: Champions League winners (again) and home to the player many saw as the heir to the Messi-Ronaldo throne, Kylian Mbappe.
So what changed? Most pundits agree: they lost their midfield maestro, Toni Kroos.
Kroos was the glue.
- The orchestrator who always saw two steps ahead and delivered the perfect pass. - The metronome who sensed when to speed things up and when patience was required. - The fighter who threw himself into the last-ditch tackle that reset the team's shape.
On a squad packed with stars and egos, a Kroos is indispensable.
Engineering teams are no different. Balance is the goal, imbalance the norm, and there's usually a Kroos or two holding things together. Sometimes it's a PM whose charisma keeps everyone rowing in sync. Other times it's an engineer, not necessarily the flashiest coder, but the one who picks up the extra commit before UAT or patiently mentors juniors when the sprint gets frantic.
These people rarely boast. To the uninitiated their impact can be invisible, but wow are they the glue. I've watched entire careers, from practitioner to SVP, built on the shoulders of a single Kroos.
If you manage people, you know exactly whom I'm talking about. So let me ask:
1. When was the last time you asked your Kroos how they're really doing — outside the context of an incident call?
2. When did you last check that their day-to-day aligns with their career goals?
3. When did you last invite feedback from them about your leadership?
Take care of your Kroos and invest in their growth. Otherwise, you may find yourself on a humid field in New Jersey, staring at 4-0 on the scoreboard, wondering where, and when, it all went wrong.