We’re coming down to the sharp end of the Rugby World Cup. Semi-Final weekend. Last night we had a wonderful party at my place in Auckland where we hosted friends, Saatchi & Saatchi clients and rugby folk. 100 of us spent the evening together talking about friendship, passion, commitment and winning. A bunch of great winners including Sean Fitzpatrick, Lawrence Dallaglio, Murray Mexted, Andrew Mehrtens, John Kirwan, Inga Tuigamala and Gavin Hastings shared their thoughts on the upcoming weekend, the World Cup so far and what it takes to win. This is really top of mind for me at the moment of course with the Rugby going on and also given the need for all of us to restart the economy through growth, innovation and pushing forward with that great winning attitude so brilliantly captured by America’s Coach of the Century, Vince Lombardi.
A year or so ago, Sean Fitzpatrick and I were talking about this subject and Sean was sharing a number of thoughts he had developed over his career in Rugby as All Black Captain and in business subsequently. He epitomised Winning. A few weeks back, he published a new book called “Winning Matters; Being The Best You Can Be” and it’s been selling truckloads especially during Rugby World Cup. It’s a great book. It’s written for every man (and woman!). It takes all the complexity and mystique out of it. It’s honest, conversational, simple to understand and relevant to life, business and sport. You should take a look.
