The All Blacks received a first rate lesson on Performance in Sydney on Saturday night losing to the Wallabies 34-19.

Whilst the score may be a surprise (I didn’t see the game so am unable to comment on whether it was an accurate representation) the result was not. Less surprising however, is the complete lack of intelligent assessment or debate as to why the All Blacks bombed out so easily when the cause of their deterioration since the world cup remains the same – i.e. psychological capitulation.

I find it amusing that the plethora of rugby pundits throughout the country are miffed as to how the unthinkable happened. However, amusing is not the word I would use to describe Henry and his associates’ answers as to the cause of such a failure.

Richard Loe emphasises my point regarding the complete lack of understanding our so called experts have on the factors that determine performance by saying “It was a shocker – an absolute shocker by the All Blacks – and I am still searching for reasons as to why they were so bad”.

Henry said “finding more structure and playing in the opposition half are the two key areas where we need to improve.” Should we consider this the ‘cause’ of the failure as Henry is suggesting or ‘symptomatic’ of the cause? I suggest the latter.

I am, it is fair to say, equally unimpressed by the comments from management that the lack of experience was a major issue. I am of the view that such a comment raises questions about their capability and understanding of performance and possibly verges on misleading. Whether it is deliberately misleading is another question. I accept there were a few injuries and therefore changes required; however, to say the replacement players lacked experience is, whilst technically acceptable, indicative of a coaching failure, not a player failure. The more likely scenario is that who ever is mandated with the responsibility of preparing players has failed miserably. It is not, incidentally, dissimilar to commercial leaders saying ‘the reason we haven’t advanced as quickly as we hoped or succeeded as we imagined, is because we were unable to find experienced people.’ What about the people they did have?

 

Most companies lack experience in some area at some point in time, but isn’t one of the primary responsibilities of leadership to develop people? Isn’t it a primary responsibility of management to ‘prepare’ people with the additional skills and understanding to enable them to step up rather than expecting people to step up when they need to but running for cover if they don’t? Such situations, which are happening all too frequently in both sport and business in New Zealand, are sadly, albeit not always, indicative of management incompetence and abdication.

 

I also consider it immature to suggest Richie McCaw’s absence was the cause of Saturday’s result as some are implying. Whilst McCaw may be the best open side flanker in the world, he proved during the world cup that he was no better equipped to correct the psychological melt-down taking place within the team than any other player on the park. To hold him up as the saviour of the AB’s is completely illogical and in fact bordering on insulting (I accept he may have lessened the sense of vulnerability the AB’s felt, however I am not convinced the result would have been different if he played, although the score might have been) because it is suggesting that without McCaw, the other players shouldn’t be there. After all, weren’t the Wallabies without their star captain Sterling Mortlock? How did his absence affect them? If it was less so, which it appears to have been, why was that? Is it because he is less influential or is it because the Wallabies are simply better prepared (mentally) and therefore less reliant on him or a leader?

Needless to say, when elite athletes are unable to carry out basic skills e.g. catching the ball, it is generally indicative of a psychological issue as opposed to a physiological issue. That doesn’t mean the AB’s have psychological issues per se (although their fears may well be intensifying), it means they are having difficulty creating an appropriate state of mind i.e. the mind-set required to perform at an optimum level. Such performances are, by all accounts, indicative of a lack of confidence and self belief rather than anything else.

Sione Lauaki, one of the players who has been singled out, is a talented player who, by the sounds of things, had a bad game. Not because he was ill-prepared physically, but because he was ill-prepared, and more than likely overwhelmed, mentally. Had he been ill-equipped or ill-prepared physically, he wouldn’t have been selected - NZ is not that short of skilled players. For this reason I suggest we acknowledge the cause of the AB’s failure was mental not physical. That means the key to their recovery must be psychological development as opposed to searching in vain as we currently are for physiological improvement. Physiological improvements would take place, and take place very quickly, if they got their heads in the right place and their confidence returned.

 

Leadership in challenging times

Leadership is without question a vital element in building a successful business, however it’s effectiveness or absence are never more evident than during challenging times.

As markets tighten and pressures intensify, organisations need to identify how to excel against the trend. As such, my intention is to share with you a few additional thoughts which may help you deliver your game plan, even in unfavourable conditions!

One of the primary concerns that becomes increasingly apparent in difficult markets is the quality and effectiveness of leadership. It is, as we all know, easy to ‘pull it off’ when things are going well, however when things get tough, the weak or ill-equipped are often exposed.

Whilst leadership development has become a priority for many businesses, fulfilling the requirements to advance remains something of a mystery. Brian Blake, Group Managing Director for DB Breweries, said in a feature article in the Weekend Herald on Saturday, “Effective leadership really comes down to people who are able to engage with others to create a shared mindset, a shared language about how they move forward.”

 

Whilst I agree with Brian, I believe what leaders need more than anything else is to learn ‘how’ to develop people. To learn ‘how’ to increase the performance capability of their workforce and thus engage them in a cause.

 

Lester Levy, Chief Executive of Leadership Trust Excelerator, supports this view saying “we need to move away from the cookie cutter management courses to being more focused on developing leadership capability.” Levy goes on to say “Leadership links into the culture”, although I would suggest leadership ‘determines’ the culture.

I believe the real issue NZ businesses are grappling with is trying to figure out ‘how’ to develop the people they have - to optimise the performance of those already onboard rather than the multitude of issues that are so often raised. In my experience, I have found the reason so many companies fail to build a high performance culture is because of their managers’ inability to ‘develop’ people as opposed to failing to ‘capture’ people. Sending managers on leadership development programmes or strategic planning sessions may seem like a good idea (and often is), but rarely, if ever, do these programmes teach managers how to develop people. In fact I have had numerous discussions with executives this year who said they have enthusiastically committed to a number of recognised top-end leadership development programmes in order to improve their leadership performance only to find the one thing they really wanted to know was not even discussed.

At the risk of repeating myself, I believe companies ideally want to know ‘how’ to increase their capacity to perform - not unlike what the All Blacks require. This of course necessitates teaching leaders (managers) the fundamental understanding of ‘how’ to equip their people with the additional skills and understanding to excel. Whilst it is not easy, it is what leadership is all about.

 

 

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