Rassie Erasmus: the rugby revolutionary
The easy part is picking a strategy and plan, and getting the best people to execute it. The hard part is going from good to great (or, indeed, one of the greatest of all time). Here’s what business leaders can learn from the Springbok coach
Perhaps the greatest of Rassie Erasmus’s contributions as Springbok coach has been to establish that rugby is not a 15-man game, though the laws still say it is. This simple insight has been revolutionary. It has changed the way the game is played — or the way South Africa plays the game, anyway, while other rugby nations strive to understand and so catch up.
If there is one man with whom just about every CEO in South Africa would like to have lunch, it is Erasmus. There is so much to learn from a man who has made South Africa feel more united and happy than anyone has since Nelson Mandela; who has turned racial transformation from an intractable obstacle into a non-issue; who has shown how to turn strategy into consistent and successful execution; and who is able to get talented people to relax and be themselves, but also to play as a team and deliver their best under extreme pressure. ..
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