There’s not a lot to say about the result that hasn’t been said. That’s sport. That’s life.

But I was interested in how Ian Foster characterized Hansen’s approach. He praised his combination of high expectations, empathy and compassion, which I thought was just a fabulous definition of what good leadership looks like.

Upside of anger

We want to empower people, let them get on with it, avoid micro-managing, let them make mistakes, allow them to fail, give them responsibility.

However, there are times when it’s your job to chuck all that and read the riot act. Only once, and only when it really matters. But in such a fashion that people never forget the experience of your displeasure. Anger, rarely expressed, can be the best evidence of your commitment to quality.

Creating on-field leaders

I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about performance culture. One of my reference points is the All Blacks who exemplify a self-regulating performance culture

There’s one dimension which I think underpins everything else – the strategy of devolved leadership. This was developed very early in Graham Henry’s tenure.

Dr Mike’s Blog