Lead, or be led

“It takes courage to put enough trust into someone to hear the truth from them”.

Having spent a lifetime in high performance sport, I have learned that whilst some people are into growing, most people are only interested in arrival.

Then, over the past decade, I have been invited into the inner lives of CEOs and leaders in business - established and emerging - ranging from rapid scale-ups to established global brands, and the experience has been similar.

The ‘arrival’ people create all the commotion that distracts from the critical work of the ‘growers’, who are playing a much bigger and far more important game, energised by all its possibilities, and significantly, not overwhelmed by its ambiguity.

Their world is not black and white. The ‘growers’ see something far more nuanced, full of shades of grey, and they can successfully operate in it, knowing this is where the opportunities exist.

They have crafted this capability, the curiosity to learn, the courage to unlearn.

It is a kind of ‘curiosity vs certainty’ mindset.

They have made growth a practice, not a project.

Neil Craig, this week’s guest ‘In the Arena’, is a man with more experience in the broadest range of elite sport, and has made growth a practice.

Whether it be as the Senior Coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL after a storied playing career, as Eddie Jones’ ‘truth teller’ when Eddie was coaching both England and Australia in Rugby World Cups, or working with legendary cycling coach Charlie Walsh in Olympic campaigns, Neil provides the most profound insights that can only come from someone who brings curiosity and courage to every conversation, and the generosity I so value in our friendship.

As a coach of coaches, Neil Craig is the ‘second set of eyes’ to coaches and leaders seeking to perform at the highest level, as another coach’s coach, Cody Royle, wonderfully describes it in his fantastic book of the same name.

As leaders, we all need a ‘second set of eyes’.

Define your path, or allow ‘the world’ to define it for you. It is a choice.

‘Lead, or be led’, is how Neil describes it. Choose to lead, or allow the challenge of your circumstance to lead you.

In the podcast, he speaks about the two egos leaders need to succeed in high-stakes environments, and I love this insight.

“The most successful senior coaches have these two egos. They have this’ performance ego’, which is an ego that tells you, “I’m good enough to do this job; let me at them. I can do this. I’m in for this and have the skill set to do it.” Whether it be coaching the Wallabies or England in a World Cup, coaching the Adelaide Football Club, coaching Collingwood, or being the CEO of a big company. But the best ones also have what I call a ‘quiet ego’, with the humility, curiosity and an understanding that reminds them they don’t know it all”.

Yes, leaders need to find their voice. Have an opinion. Speak to their opinion; put it out there. However, they must also seek out the counterview and invite a different perspective. They listen with humility and intent, allowing the other view to replace theirs long enough to know whether they need to change something or stay the course.

It feels safer to ignore our ignorance and default to what we know. Cling to an answer, even though the question may have changed.

Rather than taking pride in having all the answers, relish trying to understand more about the question.

You will make mistakes, but if you own them, you learn, and by sharing your learnings and your vulnerability, so do those around you.

Real-world experiences gifting you the feedback needed to grow. To get better.

You are starting to develop a slight limp. What Dan B Allender calls “The leaders limp”. It is your leadership authenticity.

Neil gives us the insights of a leader with a well-earned limp, and we are the beneficiaries.

Grab a pen and notebook, take the time, this is a rich offering from a very generous leader.

Enjoy!

Play on!

Cam