Talent management isn’t all about ‘Show me the money’ explains talent manager Lizzie Liebenhals
This month talent manager Lizzie Liebenhals shares five hard-earned lessons on authenticity, trust, preparation and relationship-building, revealing what brands and communicators must get right when working with sporting talent.
You could call Lizzie Liebenhals a pioneer — if that didn’t risk making her experience and expertise sound any less relevant today.
As a talent manager and a woman working in football, Lizzie has seen just about every side of the industry. From the early boom years of the Premier League to today, she has worked with household names to create value for talent, clubs and commercial partners.
And the hard-earned lessons she shared in a hugely entertaining — and equally educational — interview with the CIPR Sports Network are valuable whether you’ve worked in sport for 20 years or 20 minutes.
Here are five that really stayed with me:
1. Know the person, not just the profile.
Don’t choose talent simply because they have a huge following or a recognisable name. Understand their personality, interests, values, audience and availability — then find the person who genuinely fits the brand. As Lizzie puts it: “Tell me the reason you picked that person.”
2. Authenticity is worth more than a quick payday.
Short-term opportunities can have long-term consequences. If talent promotes conflicting or contradictory brands, audiences notice — and credibility suffers. The strongest partnerships are the ones that make sense for the person as well as the brand.
3. Do your homework — especially on the realities of talent’s lives.
Understand training schedules, competitions, holidays, contractual commitments and the other stakeholders around an athlete. Turning up with a brilliant idea that simply doesn’t work in their world isn’t a brilliant idea.
4. Be upfront, be professional and protect the relationship.
One of Lizzie’s recurring pieces of advice is to “rip the plaster off.”
If you are the client working with talent and something has changed, expectations aren’t aligned or there’s a difficult conversation to be had, have it early. Trying to sneak extra deliverables in at the last minute might solve a short-term problem, but it damages long-term trust.
5. Think beyond the money.
For established talent, the fee isn’t always the most compelling part of a partnership. Access, experiences, creative opportunities, new audiences, family involvement and long-term relationships can all add genuine value. Lizzie’s example of Rio Ferdinand choosing a clothing partnership partly because it offered him creative opportunities was a great illustration of this.
The thread running through all five? The best talent relationships are human relationships, not transactions. Understand the person. Respect the realities of their world. Communicate honestly. And create something that genuinely works for everyone involved.
Simple principles — but, as Lizzie’s career demonstrates, incredibly powerful ones.
A huge thank you to Lizzie for sharing the lessons that only come from years of actually doing the job.
To watch the interview, click HERE
To listen to the interview, click HERE