What can we learn from the All Blacks?

The New Zealand rugby team is the most successful team of the last century, with a win rate of almost 90%. James Kerr emphasizes the lessons companies and leaders can learn from the success of this extraordinary team.

In his role as a consultant James has been active in a wide range of different teams and companies, with this experience in mind he reflects on the performance of the All Blacks, whilst building bridges between both psychology and business as well as other sports. According to James, the high win ratio of the All Blacks is the result of an extraordinary strong culture, which is definitely not solely focused on winning the next game.

The team often changes perspective to look at ‘the bigger picture’, in which passing the values and beliefs of the group onto the next generation is an important topic. The lessons that can be learned from the team are applicable to leadership, decision making as well as personal growth. We have summarized the 15 most important lessons in leadership from James Kerr’s book Legacy:

Key Takeaways

1. Character – Building a character starts with humility and discipline. The biggest opportunities to learn can be found in your own mistakes.
2. Flexibility – Be prepared to change the way you do things. This also applies when you are on top of the game.
3. Purpose – Always know why you are doing what you are doing.
4. Responsibility – Be a leader, not a follower. Create a sense of purpose, the success of the individual will empower the team.
5. Learn – Create a learning environment. A team that can not learn from its mistakes will never grow.
6. Whanau – A team should only consist of team players. The strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf.
7. Expectations – Aim high, in this way you force yourself to prepare as good as possible.
8. Preparation – Practice to win. If you are not growing, you are not going anywhere.  
9. Pressure – Prepare to win and to work outside of your comfort zone. Bad decisions are often the result of people being unable to handle the pressure
10. Authenticity – Be yourself, and accept the others as they are. This will ensure you will genuinely get to know each other.
11. Sacrifice – Go outside of your comfort zone and don’t stop where the rest stops. Champions do more.
12. Language – Develop a common language and set of beliefs, which will bind the group together.
13. Ritual – The use of rituals is great to maintain the culture within a team. It gives your team the opportunity to reflect on their identity and performance.
14. Whakapapa – Be part of something bigger as yourself. Leave your jersey in a better place.
15. Legacy – This is your time, leave a legacy.