Opinion: The Klinsmann Principle

A nation feels abandoned. German coach Jürgen Klinsmann, the beacon of hope, the hero, is deserting us. Is this Jürgen Klinsmann, the same man denounced for his super-ego, for being a quitter, and a weakling? A man, who is terrified of his first defeat, who dreads what the next international tournament, the European Championships, will bring, after the intoxication of the World Cup on home soil?

The initial public reaction looks different. It's not Klinsmann, who bears the brunt of criticism, but those who made his life hell in preparation for the World Cup, from the German Soccer Federation to the tabloids. There were so many who did not believe in him, and who poked fun at his new methods, his residency in California, and his unshakable sunny boy optimism.

Fickle public opinion not linked to departure

The public believes that these naysayers, who are now entreating Klinsmann to stay, would of course pounce on him again, the minute success abandons him. But that's not why he is leaving.

For now, the Klinsmann mystique stretches far enough afield to make even his resignation shine, though many already believe that the euphoria he unleashed with his German team will not necessarily last.

So now has come the time to leave on a high note. Hasn't this World Cup changed our view of ourselves, and made us self-confident? Haven't we learned that achieving a third place finish can be celebrated as a victory? That every defeat is a new opening, and that for every ending, there is a new beginning?

The Klinsmann principle

Whoever now believes that those eternal defeatists, in their typically negative German way, have made our coach grow white hairs, has neither understood the Klinsmann principle nor Jürgen Klinsmann, the man.

Klinsmann is leaving now, possibly for personal reasons, but above all, because he has finished a chapter of his extraordinary career as player and coach, and wants to move on.

One lesson that we Germans can learn from Mr. Klinsmann is this: Mobility and flexibility have nothing to do with being superficial and uncaring. Not wanting to be tied down by time restraints -- in Klinsmann's case, having the option to set his own terms and not to prolong his contract, does not mean a lesser commitment to the goal at hand. Professional success and a sense of personal well-being are not incompatible, but complement each other.

The courage to take the road less travelled

One German business consultant calls it "Post-heroic management." Jürgen Klinsmann, the multi-lingual globetrotter with small-town Swabian roots, is the model for it. The era of tough men who sweat it out until the last drop, and who find the battle more important than the finish, is over. Results count, and they can also be attained with charm and tactics, but above all with a new perspective and the courage to depart from old ways. The ability to change is a prerequisite.

It is perfectly normal for a professional like Jürgen Klinsmann to call it quits. And for us Germans, it should also be normal to believe in his successor, Joachim Löw. After all, Löw inherits a fine team and a nation, which believes in itself and its soccer players, right?