Having been born in Cape Town and a Springboks fan all my life, I have been in rugby heaven over the last couple of months as the Rugby World Cup, that is contested every four years, has been played at a variety of football and rugby grounds throughout the UK.
Despite the risk to my marriage by abandoning my wife for so many weekends, I have been fortunate enough to attend many of the games and thought I’d share with you some lessons I have learned during this time. It didn’t start well for my team though…
1. Don’t be too overconfident
The first rugby world cup game I went to was Japan vs South Africa at Brighton’s Amex stadium. It was to be my son’s first ever match and the night before I asked Sam who he was going to support. “Who are you supporting, Daddy?” he asked. “South Africa,” I replied. “I’ll support Japan,” he announced. Knowing my son doesn’t like to lose, I tried to get him to change his mind as South Africa were fielding their most experienced side with 851 caps between them, they’d never lost an opening match and Japan had not won a single world cup game since 1991. Nobody gave Japan a chance, yet win they did by 34-32. As I was eating humble pie on the train home, my son leant in and shared his thoughts on the South African team, “Daddy you shouldn’t be too over confident or you won’t try hard enough.”
This is so true of business, success can get in the way of you trying hard so be sure to always give your very best and never over estimate your chances of success.
2. The true value of games
Whilst I was gutted to see South Africa lose to Japan in undoubtedly the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history, I was thrilled for my son as we got to share the experience of everything I love about sport. No game has a given result until the final whistle blows and even underdogs can triumph. The Japanese played with discipline, hard work and focus. They were losing until the dying minutes and had two opportunities to take a penalty kick for a draw. Instead they chose to push on for a try, which would secure them the extra points they needed for victory. This self belief and courage was so inspiring that even South African supporters had to acknowledge that the Cherry Blossoms were great to watch. The men played with real heart and one had a real sense of the Japanese warrior spirit that day. The tournament came alive that weekend and many other teams have risen to the occasion in matches that have since followed.
No matter how tough it can feel in business when things aren’t going well, digging deep and pushing hard can turn the whole experience around and be the making of you. Never give up.
3. Manners maketh the man
Football is famously differentiated from rugby by being defined as a gentleman’s game played by ruffians and rugby a ruffian’s game played by gentleman. That is not to say that rugby is without the odd ruffling of feathers between players, especially after after a late or high tackle. It is however predominantly pervaded by a sense of discipline and respect. I purchased a special ear piece at the ground which allows you to hear the microphone on the referee and often picks up the voices of nearby players. It’s a fascinating insight into how the men on the field conduct themselves. They are polite, considerate and respectful of the referee and the rules of the game. They can be incredibly sporting too as shown by Sonny Bill Williams with South African player Jesse Kriel here.
Business can sometimes feel a bit rough and one can feel hard done by when a competitor challenges you. How you conduct yourself in such circumstances shows strength of character. Being polite and respectful has long term effects on your business and those you work for. If you need to lose your temper save it for the privacy of your dressing room.
4. Simplify your KPI’s
One of the Kiwis in our group shared an interesting lesson from a recent talk by the All Black’s coach, Steve Hansen. The New Zealand team simplified their team’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) down to just four key areas: scrums, line outs, tackling and catching the ball. I found it insightful that the defending world champions simplified their performance analysis in this way. We discussed how to simplify the KPI’s in my Kiwi friend’s business and decided that his two most important KPI’s are 1) customer satisfaction 2) referrals. Without customer satisfaction his clients wouldn’t recommend him. As referrals were his primary source of new business and new accounts were worth six figures to him, building systems around these two KPI’s was clearly going to benefit his business.
How do you currently track your business performance? Is it simple or is it over complicated? We live in a world full of data. Sometimes too much of it can mean that we cannot see the wood for the trees. Keep it simple.
5. The bounce of the ball
You’ve probably heard the infamous joke that “Rugby is a game played by men with odd shaped balls.” The shape of the ball has a huge effect on the game as one can never be sure of how it will be bounce. I was lucky enough to recently spend some time with South African rugby captain Jean de Villiers, whose international career was sadly ended by a broken jaw in the Samoa match. He pointed out that there are things like luck that are outside of your control that can affect the the game. The bounce of the ball, the nationality of the referee and the weather can all impact the way a match goes. How you choose to respond as a team is key. If the ball bounces well, you need to be in the right place to catch it. If it doesn’t you have to adapt and compromise.
There are things that are outside of your company that you cannot control too. The economy, mishaps and a changing world all have an impact on our businesses. Being prepared and able to respond quickly when things bounce in our favour is just as important as being realistic and adapting when they don’t.
6. Team work
During the World Cup, New York Hedge fund manager and avid South African supporter, David Berman, showed me the similarities between rugby teams and chess. Each chess piece has a points value in the game. The king is the highest (as without him the game is over), the queen is next highest, then the castle, then knights, bishops and down to the pawns with the lowest value of one point. Excluding the king, the points are based on how much each piece can move around the board. A queen can get to more squares than a rook and many more than a pawn. One can allocate points to each rugby team member in a similar way by looking at how capable they are as a player and how likely the are in their position to touch the ball. Those that are more capable need to be in positions where they can handle the ball a lot more. One must remember too that whilst the better players need to be able to play to their strengths, each team member has an important role to play in any team including the pawns, without whom the game would soon be over.
Are your best people in the key positions that allow them to play to their strengths within your team? Do you value every team member and recognise their importance to your entire business? When teams click and work well together they are tough to beat.
I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun it has been travelling the UK following the Rugby World Cup. I'm hugely grateful to my good friend Anthony who helped me get to so many games. We had a blast in Newcastle, Birmingham, Cardiff and London. The fans have been friendly and England has been a fantastic host. I’ve made new friends and reconnected with old ones too. I’ve even taken home some food for thought for our business. I hope you have too.
