So much common sense, so little appreciation
There's nothing new under the sun, but clouds have got in the way
Two sporting heavyweights from different ends of the spectrum, Wallaby David Campese and former Southlander [if you can ever be a 'former' Southlander] Owen Eastwood, a motivation guru, have been talking recently about the role culture can play in high performance.
Campese has the rugby gravitas to make his point when wanting to be part of Australia's rugby recovery after its blood-letting over the last month.
Eastwood has the life gravitas to build on the assistance he has already provided for the England soccer team, the South Africa Proteas cricketers, the Ryder Cup golf team and Nato's command group, among many others.
Campese told News Corp that he wanted to be involved with the Wallabies, most likely in a mentoring type of role to let players know what could be achieved by applying what he had experienced as a player who won a Rugby World Cup medal and enjoyed playing in a dominant era of the game.
‘I am fed up of watching Australia fail miserably from the sidelines... I know what is needed to help save the Wallabies’ - David Campese, Daily Mail, Nov. 22, 2023
Campese was disappointed to learn when coaching children that they knew nothing of rugby's culture or history. They didn't know Australian teams used to win or why they won.
With the changes made in the administration of the Australian game, the time was right to take charge and deliver performances that would make the game attractive again.
A Rugby World Cup in 2027 and the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour were great chances for Australia.
Children needed to understand what could be achieved and what opportunities there were in the game.
"They can go to the Commonwealth and Olympic Games and play sevens.
"Rugby league and Aussie rules can't go anywhere and yet they are killing us by entertaining. We need to entertain the people so they will come and watch our great game."
Eastwood, whose reputation is well established overseas, told The Observer at the weekend that top sportspeople, in this case, golfer Rory McIlroy and England football captain Harry Kane, wanted to be connected to something bigger than themselves while having a special relationship with the people around them.
‘The problem you have in teams is when there’s not enough emotion, not too much’ - Owen Eastwood, Observer, Nov. 19, 2023
Experience showed him that he had yet to find an example of that attitude that wasn't true.
"If you want to get the best out of people in the Ryder Cup team or football team or Royal Ballet School or whatever, you have to connect them to something bigger than themselves and connect them to people around them."
Eastwood admits to being unburdened by qualifications for his work through the usual academic standards. Instead he was a lawyer who happened into performance coaching by being practical with people.
'Because I've not got any baggage about how I was educated or prepared for it, I've had completely fresh eyes, looking carefully at what shifts things and what doesn't.
"I think there's a hunger for simplicity, that's the only thing I can put it down to."
Eastwood believes leaders across all elements of society need to embrace emotions.
"The problems you have in teams is where there's not enough emotion, not when there's too much.
"People are scared of having emotional conversations...some leaders will run a mile from that. But when there's a lot of emotions, it's great, we can learn to optimise that. Teams need emotional energy."
Achieving a cultural blueprint for performance should be the responsibility of the boards administering games, not whoever is the head coach. Too often, there was a failure of leadership in this area.
Performance and success are fascinating areas, and it is refreshing to see such positive approaches to methods of improvement being espoused at a time when so much negativity exists in the world and is spreading into sports.