10 words of wisdom from Wallabies coach Robbie Deans

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to listen to Wallabies coach Robbie Deans speak about leadership and his approach to coaching. Being a massive Wallabies fan, it was a real honour to listen to Robbie speak, he landed some real pearls of wisdom relevant beyond the sporting context.

Here are to quotes I took away

1. “Teams need to stand for something beyond a win or a loss”
2. “I want to create a leadership of many culture where everyone is prepared to lead”
3. “I work within a KASH philosophy ( Knowledge, Attitude, Skills ,Habits) – I value  Attitude and Habits above all”
4. “My coaching is about focusing on what’s important right now’
5. “Any decision is a good decision…no decision is a bad decision”
6. “At the start of the season I get the players to agree on a collective purpose..then I get them to own it and commit to it”
7. “I rate toughness over talent..at this level everyone has talent”
8. “The invisible factors are defining in a team game”
9. ‘At half time, silence is powerful, wait till they’re ready to listen”
10. ‘The All Blacks point of difference is the EXPECTATION they place on themselves..that defines their performance”

I am ever the optimist, but we’re in good hands with Robbie, and I’m thinking that we’ll win the 2011 Rugby World Cup in NZ. Fingers crossed.