Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life

by James Kerr

Successful leaders balance pride with humility: absolute pride in performance; total humility before the magnitude of the task.

The challenge is to always improve, to always get better, even when you are the best. Especially when you are the best.

A collection of talented individuals without personal discipline will ultimately and inevitably fail. Character triumphs over talent.

Collective character is vital to success. Focus on getting the culture right; the results will follow.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

Our values decide our character. Our character decides our value.

Sweep the Sheds Never be too big to do the small things that need to be done.

A winning organization is an environment of personal and professional development, in which each individual takes responsibility and shares ownership.

Organizational decline is inevitable unless leaders prepare for change – even when standing at the pinnacle of success.

Go for the Gap When you’re on top of your game, change your game. —— I orea te tuatara, ka puta ki waho. When poked at with a stick, the tuatara will emerge.

Better People Make Better Leaders

Leaders connect personal meaning to a higher purpose to create belief and a sense of direction.

Inspired leaders, organizations and teams find their deepest purpose – their ‘why?’ – and attract followers through shared values, vision and beliefs.

Play with Purpose Ask ‘Why?’ —— Whāia e koe ki te iti kahurangi; ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei. Seek the treasure you value most dearly; if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.

Leaders create leaders by passing on responsibility, creating ownership, accountability and trust.

Shared responsibility means shared ownership. A sense of inclusion means individuals are more willing to give themselves to a common cause.

Leaders create leaders. They arm their subordinates with intent. And then step out of the way.

Pass the Ball Leaders create leaders. —— Ki ngā whakaeke haumi. Join those who can join the sections of a canoe. (Look for a leader who can bring people together.)

Excellence is a process of evolution, of cumulative learning, of incremental improvement.

Marginal gains: 100 things done 1 per cent better to deliver cumulative competitive advantage.

‘It’s not the mountains ahead that wear you out,’ said Muhammad Ali, ‘it’s the pebble in your shoe.’

Successful leaders look beyond their own field to discover new approaches, learn best practices and push the margins. Then they pass on what they have learned.

Create a Learning Environment Leaders are teachers. —— Te tīmatanga o te mātauranga ko te wahangū, te wāhanga tuarua ko te whakarongo. The first stage of learning is silence, the second stage is listening.

—— No Dickheads. No one is bigger than the team and individual brilliance does not automatically lead to outstanding results. One selfish mindset will infect a collective culture.

High-performing teams promote a culture of honesty, authenticity and safe conflict.

Champions Do Extra

Invent Your Own Language Sing the world into existence. —— He aha te kai o te rangatira. He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. What is the food of a leader? It is knowledge. It is communication.