What lessons can business learn from professional rugby? England legend and World Cup winner Will Greenwood sheds some light on the matter.
Come Saturday, October 20 at the Stade de France, you can be sure that whichever country is celebrating victory in the Rugby World Cup fnal, its team will have carried out extensive research and planning in the lead up to the tournament.
Its players will also have trained until it hurt, and then trained some more, before literally shedding blood on the feld of play as a well-organised unit at the peak of its form, able to overcome all competitors.
Top-level sport is all about preparation, passion, commitment, hard work, execution and, of course, winning and losing. The same can be said of business. But what can business people learn from pro sport?
Many ex-sports people can spin a good yarn or amuse a gathering with colourful anecdotes. Indeed, many former pros earn good money doing just that on the after-dinner speech circuit. However, few can transform what they learned on the pitch and in the locker room into something relevant to a business audience. Fewer still have direct experience of the corporate world, although Will Greenwood, once a junior trader at Midland Global Markets (now HSBC), can count himself among that group.
Winner of 55 caps as England centre in an international career spanning seven years (1997-2004), “Shaggy’s” crowning glory was undoubtedly being an integral part of England’s triumphant 2003 World Cup winning team, a tournament in which he was joint-top try scorer (fve). The Blackburn-born economics graduate also played for Leicester, Harlequins and the British and Irish Lions.
As well as fulflling numerous media commitments (including working as an analyst for Sky Sports and a columnist for The Daily Telegraph), much of Greenwood’s time is now spent making presentations to business groups. “Trust, ‘team-ship’, leadership, responsibility and belief. I use each of these terms to
demonstrate how business managers can learn from our World Cup experience,” he explains.
“You must be able to think clearly under pressure,” he replies when asked what lessons business managers can learn from that memorable day in Sydney in 2003, when Johnny Wilkinson’s last-gasp dropkick gave England victory over defending champions Australia. “Imagine the pressure of a Rugby World Cup fnal, with 100,000 fans in the stadium and it’s extra time. Will you make the right decisions under those conditions?”
Even in victory, Greenwood advises against complacency. “Some of our harshest meetings in the England camp were after we’d won a game,” he reveals. In addition, he recommends “knowing your enemy” as a way to outflank them. “Understanding the opposition – both mentally and physically – is vital. You have to anticipate their next move.” And to avoid being anticipated? “We always followed Hannibal’s lead – by doing the exact opposite of what the opposition expected,” he remembers.
Greenwood sees nothing wrong in a team having weaknesses – “it is how you deal with them that counts,” he says. “The best thing we ever did as an England team was to recognise what we weren’t good at,” he adds, before recommending working hard to overcome those shortcomings, rather than ignoring them.
When making presentations to business groups, Greenwood likes to give his thoughts on how to cope with setbacks, as well as how to work effectively as a team and push at the boundaries.
Always popular are his opinions on what makes former England team mates – icons such as Johnny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Martin Johnson – tick. They also want to know about playing under former England coach (and man-motivator supreme) Sir Clive Woodward.
Clearly, psychology is vital in business and sport, but can having a positive attitude enable you to punch above your weight and achieve great things? “Absolutely,” Greenwood argues. “Belief is everything. If you don’t believe you’re good enough, you’ll come second.” But to get the best results, he advises understanding that each team is made up of individuals who bring different things to the table. “You can’t hope square pegs will ft into round holes.” Integral to Greenwood’s presentations are words such as “inspire” and phrases that include “cope with change” and “make people believe”.
The only question that remains is who will triumph in France? “England’s world ranking of seventh and two recent losses to France don’t put us in the greatest position,” Greenwood concedes. “I believe we can make it to the semi-fnals, but we will have to clear some tough hurdles to get there,” he adds, with characteristic optimism.
There are many valid reasons to back France, Australia or South Africa to win the Webb Ellis Trophy, but the 35-year-old Lancastrian is tipping the All Blacks for glory: “The World Cup is very much about winning your next game. There are some serious challengers but I’ve got my euros on a New Zealand v France fnal, with the All Blacks coming away with the spoils.”
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