Blog

We have all heard the saying ‘planning prevents a piss poor performance’. We demand that our coaches have an annual plan for their teams. We want our teams to best prepare for each game given the amount of time and resources each club puts into getting them onto the field each week. So why is it, that many clubs and sporting organisations don’t have a strategic plan that is regularly reviewed and constantly used? I actually don’t have a good answer to that question, because I think that it should be a priority.

The current era of All Blacks domination started in a hole, a deep hole, in 2003. They lost to Australia in the Semi Finals of the World Cup, 22-10, despite going into the tournament as favourites. Then in 2004 lost to South Africa with a dangerous alcoholic aftermath that bought to the surface the toxic culture and poor leadership principles being employed. Something had to change. Under Graham Henry and following a three-day meeting in the NZRU headquarters in Wellington, a conversation began about how to fix the issues. And so began the organisational change required to bring the All Blacks into the Professional era.

The aim of a meeting should be to bring a group of people together to unite around a common cause and leave energized to continue to reach the vision of the organisation. More often than not we leave thinking that we work with a group of individuals who have no idea and there is usually one who you would rather avoid being in the same room as.

Recently, a team I was working with was shaping up to have a tough day of competition in the den of the enemy with the last minute ground changes. This was on top of a few big losses in previous weeks and injuries to key players.

Leadership is all about being willing to put yourself at risk (whether this be on the battlefield or in the board room), to ensure that those around you are looked after. As Simon Sinek describes, this creates a circle of safety. This circle of safety is a natural instinct to create successful prides and herds. As humans we have varying success!