England and All Blacks at Twickenham

What we can learn from the two coaches

A magnificent match between teams led by two of the best coaches in world sport. Under Hansen’s leadership the All Blacks have earned number one world ranking. Lancaster’s transformation has enabled England to rapidly move from sixth place and challenge for second.

What can we learn from exploring their approach to leadership? I believe that Stuart Lancaster and Steve Hansen have shown us a simple recipe for success and world class excellence. In doing so they pose five questions which every coach would benefit from asking:

• Does your culture encourage frank and constructive discussions about how to continually improve?
• Do these discussions take place after every match, win or lose?
• Do you focus your athletes internally on what it takes to play at your best or externally on results?
• Have you created an identity for your team that builds confidence, belief and mental strength?
• Does the shirt represent this identity in your athletes minds? Does it speak to them of the history and legacy of your club?

How good are the All Blacks? Their victory against England notched up 33 wins out of 34 matches. A victory against Ireland this week will earn them the accolade of being the first team in the professional era to complete a season unbeaten. Stuart Lancaster before the match rated them as the “Best Team in World Sport”.

It’s easy to forget how far they have come in a few years. In September 2010 The New Zealand Herald called the All Blacks “The Biggest Chokers in World Sport”. So how have they reached the heights they now enjoy?

Steve Hansen’s interviews have revealed three mental strategies all coaches and leaders would do well to study.

1. Relationships

There have been many comments in the media about how much this squad enjoys the environment Hansen has created. He values relationships and cultivates them;

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

When Hansen began his coaching career, he took his father’s ideas with him, not all of them tactical. For Des, coaching was about building relationships and watching how people responded to what gets thrown at them. It’s a style the Hansen’s had honed on their horses.

“We can learn a lot from horses,” says Hansen. “I enjoy their company and have a lot of respect for them. There’s a lot of non-verbal stuff going on there.”

Not to mention unconventional stuff as well: our All Black coach has even done a course in horse whispering. In the course’s final test he was given a horse specifically chosen to challenge his personality; it was skittish and flighty: “There was no way I could bully it into doing what I wanted. I had to gently coax it, take my time with it and watch its body language. It was a really interesting process to learn from.”

Hansen also talks of what he learned from an 18-month stint playing rugby in La Rochelle. Shaking each other’s hand first thing in the day then again last thing at night was a ritual, and is now an All Black ritual, too, whether it be a handshake, fist bump or hug, everyone acknowledges everyone else, regardless of whether they be legend or newbie. They’ll do it again tonight before taking on the English at Twickenham. It’s not only about respect and valuing team-mates, it’s about family, a family that can celebrate success and deal with failure together.

His emphasis on relationships has created openness. Everyone feels they can contribute ideas and suggestions. This inclusive supportive culture is the foundation upon which continual improvement is based.

2. Continual improvement

In 2011 home advantage helped an unconvincing New Zealand win the Rugby World Cup. Since then they have incrementally got better and better. The disclosure of the slogans on their meeting room wall has highlighted how they do this. It read;

We are the most dominant team in the history of the world

Hansen was asked if this displayed arrogance;

From the Irish Times;

“There is no such thing as perfection … But that doesn’t stop you striving for it … all we can do is strive to be better”.

Hansen then has had to find a way to kick on from No1 [world ranking]. He has done it, he says, by seeking to improve week on week … he asks the squad after every match: “Are we happy with what we have seen?”. “Our aim as a group of players, coaches, and managers, right down to our baggage man, is just to want to be better than we were the week before.”

3. Identity

World domination may result in winning things, but they are focused less on these external issues that lie out of their control and more on the identity it creates. It encourages a focus on the internal process within their control. That of being the best they can be and getting better. Results take care of themselves.

This is why they are no longer chokers, the result is not the first thing on their mind. When it is, moments of adversity create panic as the players envisage the result slipping from their grasp. Whether they are on top or under the cosh the All Black mind focuses on their identity and how they play.

So how do you play against a side focused in this way.

“Any team can look world class when they are not under pressure. A world class team can look vulnerable when under sustained pressure”

Which is what England did for about 60 minutes of this match. And the All Blacks looked vulnerable. After several warnings for foul play their player of the year Kieron Read got sent off for a ridiculous dive in to the side of a ruck. This is what happens to even the best in the world when they are under pressure.

In the end the better team triumphed but most England fans were left smiling. Stuart Lancaster and his team have led a transformation through their own interpretation of the principles Hansen has adopted and a few more besides. See an earlier entry in Sheasby’s Blog: “Stuart Lancaster: A New Coaching Template”.

In this post he said there was one identity question left unanswered. What does England’s new found identity mean to the players on the pitch. Lancaster’s brilliant response is;

The shirt absorbs the pressure

Does that remind you of anyone?

There is no doubt that these two men are outstanding leaders, they are so much more than traditional Head Coaches. Hansen’s vision has lifted the All Blacks and set them apart. Lancaster’s transformation is beginning to take hold and they are serious challengers. It looks like world domination may be contested by these two team for years to come.

Thanks to Mark Sheasby for permission to use this article. His blog is at:http://www.impresscoaching.co.uk/