Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, is believed to have said, ‘I will either find a way or make one.’ And it is in tribute to that can-do attitude, that The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland awards a weekly Hannibal Prize for unorthodox leadership. The award is given to a notable figure who, unable to find a way, has indeed put in a valiant effort to make one.
Now, given firstly that this award is available to any leadership figure in the Unite Kingdom, and secondly that last week's Hannibal Prize winner was Spurs striker Harry Kane, you might think we'd broaden our net a bit and move on from football. Well, I can assure you, this was precisely our intention.
And yet, events of the past week have left us with no choice but to award this week's Hannibal Prize to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club itself.
Normally the prize is reserved for an individual person but this week Spurs have forced us to amend the sacred Hannibal Prize constitution and make an exception.
First of all, the club displayed fearless creative leadership when they announced that, despite posting profits of £70 million last year, they would be making use of the government's furlough scheme for their non-playing staff. In effect, they were asking the tax payer to cover their salaries while the club continued to pay Harry Kane and co their multi-million pound a year wages.
No, they weren't alone in taking this decision. Liverpool also felt that HMRC should cover the cost of their grounds people and admin staff. But, to their credit, CEO Peter Moore apologised to fans and the decision was reversed.
Whereas Spurs and their chairman, Daniel Levy, are still, as this article goes to print, ploughing ahead with the furlough.
Levy however is not the only person at the club who deserves credit for securing this week's Hannibal Prize.
The first team coach, Jose Mourinho, also displayed some Carthaginian-general-grade ingenuity this week, when he was pictured leading a training session with record-signing Tanguy Ndombele on Hadley Common, despite the strict social distancing measures.
He was spotted by an Arsenal fan who happened to be driving past. But he might well have got away with it if he hadn't been wearing his distinctive bright purple club tracksuit.
Davinson Sanchez and Ryan Sessegnon were also filmed running together through the same common.
In fairness to Mourinho, he was also spotted a few weeks ago helping Age UK Enfield deliver food parcels to vulnerable people.
And the three-time Premier League winner has now offered his apologies for the 'secret' training session.
"I accept that my actions were not in line with government protocol and we must only have contact with members of our own household," he said.
"It is vital we all play our part and follow government advice in order to support our heroes in the NHS and save lives."
We will wait to see if Daniel Levy will do the same, although, if the hope at this period in time is for those with the deepest pockets to make sacrifices and demonstrate that we are all in this together, we may be waiting for quite a while.
The latest on the story is that Levy is considering getting the furloughed Tottenham ground staff to work on his private Hertfordshire estate.
Mr Levy and Tottenham Hotspur, we are delighted to present you with this week's Hannibal Prize.
