Building a Culture Like FC Barcelona: Lessons for Organizational Leadership

Jefferies Jiang
4 min readOct 3, 2024

FC Barcelona, often regarded as one of the most successful football clubs in history, stands out not only for its achievements on the field but also for its distinct organizational culture. The club has cultivated a unique blend of excellence, identity, and innovation that organizations across various sectors can emulate. In this article, I’ll break down how FC Barcelona’s approach to team building, leadership, and culture can be applied to business organizations, drawing on insights from recent research and Harvard Business Review (HBR) articles.

  1. Define a Strong, Clear Identity

Barcelona’s motto, “Més que un club” (More than a club), encapsulates its identity, resonating with fans and players alike. This sense of identity goes beyond football – it represents values like community involvement, Catalan pride, and a commitment to social responsibility.

In the business world, creating a strong identity that employees and customers can rally behind is key. A recent study published in the Journal of Business Research emphasizes the importance of aligning an organization’s values with its employees’ beliefs to foster long-term loyalty and engagement (Nguyen et al., 2023). By ensuring that employees feel they are part of something greater, companies can drive motivation and alignment.

Actionable Insight: Develop a clear organizational purpose that transcends profit and embodies broader social or community-oriented…

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