How impressive were the all conquering New Zealand team which won the Rugby World Cup on Saturday?
I thought they were awesome on the pitch and absolute ambassadors for their sport and for their country off of it.
I’ve always noticed the parallels between successful businesses and top sports teams and individuals so, following the All Blacks victory I did a bit of research.
My question was simple. What makes them statistically the most successful sports side in the World? Ever.
Here are three things I found out about them.
Sweep the Sheds
At the end of every game players take it in turn to clean up after themselves. Stars like Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams sweep up the sheds they get changed in (although Twickenham would be classed a pretty glamorous shed.)
Richie McCaw.The best rugby player ever?
This is done to keep all the players united and humble. As one former all Black said: “Wherever we go we want to leave a place as good as, if not better than, it was before we came.”
No Dickheads
The All Blacks select on character just as much as on talent. Some very talented players have had limited careers for New Zealand purely because they lacked the humility and work ethic this elite group demands.
Champions Do Extra
Just like Team Sky the All Blacks believe success is found in the smallest of details bundled up together. Their mindset is that they will do that little bit more than their rivals in their crusade to win.
In training, in the heat of the contest and in its aftermath the All Blacks incessantly look for improvements.
There are elements of all three of those things which I’m looking to introduce into our team.
Here’s the My News version of it.
Empty the trucks – We get weekly deliveries of our magazines to our HQ. No one is above unloading them from the lorry into our container and everyone should chip in and help.
No Bad Apples – We’ve had people within the team in the past that brought nothing but tension, disharmony and friction. More than ever before I’m conscious of this and they don’t last long before we get rid of them.
Our Jason in his playing days.
Cover Your Ar**s – Thanks to our Sales Consultant and Account Manager Jason Goodliffe for this one. He comes from a professionally sporting background having been a pro footballer. His attention to detail is superb.
He is one of the most organised members of our team and can produce paper trails of all his correspondence with clients. Why? If something needs to be checked he refers back to his details and sorts everything out smoothly, successfully and with no fuss.
We’re very much a work in progress but if we can do all of the above on a daily basis we’ll keep going in the right direction as a team.
Thanks for reading .
Nik
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