Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life
James Kerr
Description
James Kerr goes deep into the heart of the world’s most successful sporting team, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand, to reveal 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business.
Key words: Leadership
To read reviews of this book visit Goodreads
My Notes
Lesson 1: Character
While the country is still watching replays and schoolkids lie in bed dreaming of All Black’s glory, the All Blacks themselves are tidying up after themselves.
Sweep the sheds.
Doing it properly.
So no one else has to.
Because no one looks after the All Blacks.
The All Blacks look after themselves.
So, if you develop your people, your business is going to be more successful. It’s just a matter of creating an environment where that becomes a happening every day.
…many change issues are centered on one thing. The ability – or inability – to convert vision into action.
… they selected on character (talent was irrelevant).
You’re role is to leave the jersey in a better place.
Rather than just instruct outwards, the coaches began to ask questions; first of themselves – how can we do this better? – and then of their players – what do you think?
Humility allows us to ask a simple question: how can we do this better?
…the better the questions we ask, the better the answers we get.
Lesson 2: Sweep the Sheds
“Never be too big to do the small things that need to be done”.
When you’re on top of your game, change your game.
Four Stages for Organisational Change
A case for change (problem and need);
A compelling picture for the future (vision);
A sustained capability to change (want);
A credible plan to execute (a plan and milestones).
“Leaders create leaders”.
… when we’re on top of our game, to change our game; to exit relationships, recruit new talent, alter tactics, reassess strategy.
As a leader this is one of our primary responsibilities, and the skill comes in timing these leaps: when to axe your star performer; when to blood new talent…
What steps do you need to consider taking so you can prepare for the second curve, without prematurely leaving your current success (on the first curve) behind?
“It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change” Charles Darwin
The role of the leader, is to know when to reinvent, and how to do it.
Lesson 3: Go for The Gap
Soon after that long, painful flight back from South Africa landed, eight men found a small meeting room in the headquarters of the NZRU and sat down to ‘fix this thing’.
Better People Make Better All Blacks
That is, by developing the individual players and giving them the tools, skills and character that they needed to contribute beyond the rugby field, they would also, in theory, develop the tools, skills and character to contribute more effectively on it.
The ‘kiwi kaizen’ was a focus on personal development, both as human beings and as professional sportsmen, so that they had the character, composure, and people skills to be leaders both on and off the field.
“It’s about purpose and personal meaning… those are the two big things”. “The more you have to play for”, Gilbert Enoka summaries, “the better you play”.
In Maslow’s world, we all move towards a sense of self-actualisation. That is, psychological state of presence, flow, self-respect, self-expression and authenticity.
“People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust”.
All Black Ali Williams, puts it, “you have to leave the jersey in a better place”.
Lesson 4: Play with Purpose
Seek the treasure you value most dearly; if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.
Pass the Ball – Leaders create leaders
The traditional “you” and “them”, became “us”
… where the leader sets objectives and parameters, then ‘passes the ball’ to the team, handing over responsibility for implementation and detail. Leaders create leaders.
“In-still in your team members a sense of great self-worth – that each, at any given time, can be the most important on the battlefield”.
The mission command model requires the leader to provide:
A clearly defined goal
The resources
The time-frame
The rest is up to the individuals in the field.
All Blacks Leadership organized these things in key ways:
Made an active decision to change and formed a powerful sense of purpose for the team.
Developed leadership to senior players by forming a Leadership Group, entrusting its members with key decisions and authority to enforce standards and behaviors.
Developed individual operating units, in which each player had a specific portfolio of responsibility and leadership.
Structured their weeks so that responsibilities for decision making gradually evolved from management towards players; by Saturday the team was entirely in the hands of the players.
Created a ‘Train to Win’ system – preparing the team under pressure using randomized problem-solving techniques, active questioning and high-intensity training to prepare them for the heat of competition.
Focused on an understanding of how the brain reacts to stress to provide the tools to help players stay present, connect, clear and accurate in order to make better decisions under pressure.
Created a ‘learning environment’ dedicated to developing the individual in a tailored, self-managed programme of self-improvement.
Developed techniques, rituals and language that connected players to the core; using storytelling in all its forms to create a sense of purpose and intention.
“Leaders create leaders. They arm their subordinates with intent. And them step out of the way”.
Lesson 5: Pass the Ball
… structure follows strategy. That is, new organizational forms are the result of strategic imperatives.
… what are the values that drive your behavior?
Leaders are Teachers.
… continuous improvement, one that works on the super-structural level (the season and the four-year world cup cycle), the team level (selection, the tapering of performance, tactical preparations, etc), and the individual level (‘Things I Do Today’), And like the original meaning of kaizen, it begins with self-empowerment; developing the individuals ability to stand up and take lead when called upon.
A map of daily self-improvement acts as a powerful tool to develop teams and organisations.
… if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and improved it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put it all together.
Marginal gains: 100 things done 1 per cent better to deliver cumulative competitive advantage.
‘People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on’, … It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that are there”. You’ve got to pick carefully.
Garbage In / Garbage Out. If we apply the analogy this means:
The verbal, visual and gestural language that we allow to take up residence in our heads;
The toxins like alcohol, drugs ro sugar that we allow to take up residence in our bodies (and minds);
The people we allow to take up space in our lives.
… whether it’s the influence certain people have on us, or certain substances have on our metabolism, we must be careful what we ingest. We have to be careful what furniture we reintroduce our metaphorical house.
… never let the music die in you.
Then the environment is dedicated to learning, the score, takes care of itself. Leaders are teachers – our job is to lead people through uncertainty and confusion and into self-knowledge and self-possession.
“The only thing I want you to be is the best that you can possibly be”
‘What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments’, ‘but what is woven into the lives of others’ Your legacy is that which you teach.
Lesson 6: Create a Learning Environment
The first stage of learning is silence, the second stage is listening.
“No Dickheads”
It also involved the Leadership Group bring left (and trusted) to sort out internal problems within the team.
It’s better to have a thousand enemies outside the tent than one inside the tent.
One disaffected or selfish individual infects the group.
… the right people on the the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figure out where to drive it. (Tom’s notes, write players (cut))
… No Dickheads… Success can be traced back to the connections between members of the team and their collective character, something true of all winning organizations. Great leaders ruthlessly protect their people, encouraging connection, collaboration and collective ownership, nurturing a safe environment of trust respect and family.
Lesson 7: No Dickheads
The truth is that the story we tell about our life becomes the story of life. The narrative we tell our team, business, brand, organization or family becomes the story others eventually tell about us.
From ancient theology to contemporary psychology, our words shape our story and this story becomes the framework for our behaviors; and our behaviors determine the way we lead our life and the way we run organizations.
Our narratives frame and structure our lives, becoming the prism through which we perceive and live.
Great stories happen to those who tell them.
Stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values.
Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies or for themselves.
Inspiring leaders use bold, even unrealistic goals to lift their game and the power of story-telling to ‘sing their world into existence’. They tell great, vivid, epic stories of what is possible to themselves and their teams – and soon the world repeats the story back to them.
Lesson 8: Embrace Expectations
‘The fight is won or lost’ says Muhammad Ali, ‘far away from witness – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, well before I dance under the lights’.
‘The work we do is all about the control of attention’ says Brosnahan. In pressure situations, he says, it is very easy for our conscience to ‘divert from a resourceful state to an un-resourceful one’, from a position of mental calm, clarity and inner strength into what he calls ‘Defensive Thinking’.
We’ve all felt it – the sensation of our shutters come down, our horizons narrow and we find ourselves in an ever-tightening corridor from which we feel there is no escape. In this state we’re thinking about survival, says Brosnahan. ‘A negative content loop’ forms and our perceptions create feelings of being overwhelmed, tightening and tension. This in turn leads to unhelpful behaviors – over aggression, shutting down and panic. We let the situation get to us. We make poor decisions. And we choke.
… T have a Blue Head means to remain on task, rather than diverted, and Gazing’s parlance allows us to ACT:
Alternatives – to look at our options, adapt, adjust, and overcome
C.. Consequences – to understand the risk / reward ratio of each alternative and to make an accurate assessment of what is needed
T. Task Behaviours – to stay on task and execute the tactics and strategy.
Performance under pressure is knowing how to ACT.
Lesson 9: Train to Win
The first stage of learning is silence, the second stage of learning is listening.
Red Head – tight, inhibited, results-oriented, anxious, aggressive, over-compensating, desperate.
Blue Head – loose, expressive, in the moment, calm, clear, accurate, on task.
… where we direct our mind is where our thoughts will take us; our thoughts create an emotion; the emotion defines our behavior; our behavior defines our performance.
‘the brain essentially has three parts – instinct, thinking and emotion’.
By controlling our attention we control our performance, by controlling our performance we control the game.
Lesson 10: Keep a Blue Head
The best leaders remain true to their deepest values. They lead their on life and allow others to follow.
‘What is my job on the planet? What is it that needs doing that I know something about, that probably won’t happen unless I take responsibility for it?’
‘I believe that leadership begins and ends with authenticity’ says George. It’s being yourself, being the person you were created to be’. Adopting the styles of other leaders is the opposite of authenticity.
Lesson 11: Know Thyself
Find something you would die for and give your life to it.
… First, what do I have to offer the team? … And, second, what am I prepared to sacrifice?’ He pauses, ‘pretty big questions’.
Champions do extra. They find something that they are prepared to die for. Then they give it their life to it.
Lesson 12: Champions Do Extra
Invent your own language. Sing your world into existence.
… Its collective wisdom, in the form of aphorisms, still informs the culture.
Words that create culture…
No one is bigger than the team
Leave the jersey in a better place
Live for the jersey. Die for the jersey.
It’s not enough to be good. It’s about being great.
Leave it all out on the field.
It’s not the jersey. It’s the man in the jersey.
Once an All Black, always an All Black.
Work harder than an ex-All Black.
In the belly – not in the back.
It’s an honor, not a job.
Bleed for the jersey.
Front up – or fuck off.
‘A system of meanings that everyone understood – a language and vocabulary and a set of beliefs that bound the group together’.
True or not, stories are the way we understand life and our place in it. We are ‘meaning making machines’, interpreting and reinterpreting a sequence of events into a narrative form and reassembling at will.
Empathy – we will truly understand (customer) needs better than any other company.
Focus – In order to do a good job of those things that we decide to do, we must eliminate all the unimportant opportunities.
Words start revolutions.
Common to all these elite teams and organisations is the use of smart, sharp, easily recognized and understood code-phrases to define and declare their essential spirit. This is not empty sloganeering – when done properly, this kind of compressed thinking in a sentence is one of the leader’s most powerful tools. It aligns companies, countries and cultures behind their distilled essence.
Storytelling helps leaders connect their people’s personal meaning to their vision of the future.
The key criteria for creating a change story is fourfould.
The story must be credible and relvant – in Aristotelian poetics, it must have ethos (an authority and understanding of the subject) and logos (it must make rational senses).
It must have Visual and Visceral – appealing to the auditory, visual and kinesthetic receivers in our brains. It must seize our hearts as well as impress our heads. In terms of Aristotelian poetics, it must have pathos (it must be felt).
It must be flexible and scalable – as easily told around a campfire as across a boardroom table. This implies the use of simple, everyday language and ideas.
And it must be useful – able to turn vision into action; purpose into practice – acting as a transfer of meaning between one domain and another, between ‘you’ world and ‘mine’, between the ‘leader’ and the ‘led’.
Lesson 13: Invent Your Own Language
‘Culture’, says Owen Eastwood, ‘its like an organism, continually growing and changing’. Identity and purpose, he says, need to be continually renewed and reinterpreted to give them meaning.
The story gets passed on.
Rituals make beliefs and tangible – they make them a ‘thing’. They ‘actualize’.
Large or small, formal, or informal, corporate or creative, personal or professional – conscious or not – rituals continue to recreate meaning and have embedded within them the deep values and purpose of the person, the place or the project.
Rituals tell your story, involve your people, create your legacy.
‘Tell me and I’ll forget’, goes the old saying, ‘show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand’.
Lesson 14: Ritualize to Actualize
… The legacy is more intimidating than the competition.
Lesson 15: Be a Good Ancestor
“Our greatest responsibility is to honor those who come before us and those who will come after, to ‘leave the jersey in a better place’. We are the stewards of our organizations, the caretakers of our own linage. Our actions today will echo beyond our time.”
