PHOTO DAVID BOILY, PRESS ARCHIVES
The next president of CF Montreal will notably have to re-establish the bond of trust with the supporters.
Who will be the next president, or the next president, of CF Montreal?
The successful candidate should have several qualities: natural leadership, management skills, marketing skills and love of sport. But an asset will be even more important: a gift for communication. Because make no mistake: Kevin Gilmore’s failure is first and foremost the result of his difficulties in this area.
Never known to be the most talkative of men when he held a management position with the Canadiens, Gilmore was unable to correct this shortcoming when he became president of the Impact, a position in the spotlight. .
The change of name of the team, as misguided as it was, would have gone better if a coherent communication operation had been put in place. Gilmore thought of settling everything in a press conference instead. Over the months, as my colleague Alexandre Pratt noted in a recent column, his ties with many stakeholders in the club’s ecosystem, including the most staunch supporters, have deteriorated.
Almost a year after the Impact’s transformation into CF Montreal, no one still really understands the reasons behind this drastic break with the past. The message has always been confused and the organization is now paying the price.
In today’s world, whether it is professional sports or any other industry, the gift of communication is an indispensable asset for managers. We must explain and convince, rather than decree and ignore criticism.