4 insights from the All Blacks for us in the Corporate World (from a rather enthusiastic fan)!

So it's Rugby World Cup time and even though I live outside of New Zealand right now I am still a very proud supporter of the All Blacks. I look for any opportunity to include a picture of them in workshops or presentations because I think there are some great insights for us in the corporate world.

1. A diverse team is always stronger - these guys are not clones of each other; some are tall, some are big, some are fast, some are strong. When you see them lining up to sing the national anthem before a game starts, you really notice this diversity. They create an inclusive culture and honour and appreciate the different strengths each of them bring. They recognise that these differences are what makes them stronger.

2. Leaders as role models; there is a sense of mana (pride) for being an All Black. It stands for something in New Zealand and you have individuals from different backgrounds that come together and are part of something special that transcends who they are as individuals. They take this role model responsibility seriously and the more experienced guys in the team will induct new team members into what this means (and hold them accountable if anyone is seen to have negatively impacted this - peer accountability is a powerful thing).

3. There is a strong and deep talent pool behind the 15 players that get on this field and an infrastructure to support this - my son played rugby in NZ and the quality of coaching and support for kids from the time they are 5 years old was impressive. It doesn't surprise me why we are the number one team in the world, we plan for this and build these skills and develop these talent from a young age.

4. Developing resilience and mental skills to respond to pressure; many of us have heard about the red head/blue head model that the All Blacks are trained in. They don't just have coaches around the physical and technical skills, they invest in the mental skills so that in times of the greatest pressure, they can think logically around the best way to respond.

So when I think about my role and HEINEKEN and the challenges all of us face regardless of what industry or organisation we are in, it is useful to consider how these apply to us all. In this rapidly changing world, we need to leverage our diversity because that makes us strong. We must ensure we have inclusive cultures so we "add" to our cultures rather than just bringing in people that "fit"- otherwise we have a group of clones. Leadership is one of the most important capabilities to navigate us through our challenges and having leaders who take this role model responsibility seriously is critical. Looking at talent from a longer lens rather than short term vacancy filling is what will make the difference; how can we better identify potential earlier in people's careers and craft a career journey to enable them to best develop to reach this. And finally, in a world where change is getting faster every day and there is non-stop pressure, how can we learn to ride this wave rather being swamped by it; how can we build capability in resilience and see this as a skill that we can learn.

So GOOD LUCK to the All Blacks. You inspire me and I wish you well this weekend in quarter final rugby!