When leadership finds you.

‘Mick Malthouse said, “Just remember, the reason that you're named captain was because of who you are, not who we want you to be. So don't try and be someone else.”

I sense the question is coming before it’s asked. A slightly raised eyebrow, the hint of a smile, almost accusatory as though I am trying to put one over them.

“Were you ready?” they ask.

You’d think I’d have a ready answer to a question asked so often. One I’d prepared earlier.

Maybe it is less question and more response when people learn I was appointed CEO of the Richmond Football Club at age 24.

I look at the image from the press conference when my appointment was announced. I look more like a member of a boy band than a CEO of a professional football club.

I have never really had a good answer, but as years pass, I now understand when taking on anything difficult, be it a personal goal, ambition or desire, or a circumstance or situation you find yourself, my answer is now:

“You are never ready”.

This thought comes to mind when I am interviewing Collingwood Premiership Captain Nick Maxwell, the perfect guest “In the Arena” in Grand Final week. Since retiring as an AFL player after a remarkable career, Nick has been Leadership Coach and Mentor of Melbourne Storm in the NRL, Greater Western Sydney and Collingwood, and is now CEO of the wonderful Eclat, where designCEO is proudly located.

The first team Nick Maxwell captained was Collingwood, the biggest and most famous in the country. He was never a captain of any of his junior teams because that honour generally went to one of the better players, which, in his own judgment, was never him.

This judgement prevailed when the hundreds of names were called in draft after draft, but never his. He was good enough to be invited for tryouts over pre-season with AFL clubs, and the effort this asked of him, motivated by hope rather than expectation, only to be rejected time and again.

Eventually, Collingwood did take a chance, but the stakes were low, as were the expectations, selection #15 in the Rookie Draft, which effectively made him the 99th player selected that year.

It took him a season before he won a place in the Collingwood senior team, and after only twenty games, he was asked by legendary captain Nathan Buckley to join the player leadership group.

“Were you ready?” I wonder.

A few years later, Nick Maxwell was appointed Captain, and the following year, he skippered the team to its historic Premiership. Meanwhile, he became a better player. In his first year as skipper, he made the All Australian team.

You think of the classic rags-to-riches soundtrack when you hear his story, but it wasn’t and never is.

The reason…“You are never ready.”

Nick speaks of a time when, just a few games into his captaincy, his coach Mick Malthouse, a man who coached more games than any other in the history of game, called him into his office:

“Just remember, the reason that you’re named Captain was because of who you are, not who we want you to be. So don’t try and be someone else”, reminded Mick.

Bono, of U2 fame, said in his excellent book Surrender,” The hardest thing to be on a stage is yourself”. Nick Maxwell found his true leadership voice by being himself, and became a generational leader of a great club, and a better footballer, which is no coincidence.

As a leader, you often have to cross the bridge of vulnerability. Find the courage, dig out that part of yourself in the face of uncertainty, to create and give belief, often while struggling to believe in yourself. When you find this belief, you can access the best parts of yourself, and the whole boat rises on this tide.

Nick’s story reminds me of the wonderful words from a beautiful man and mentor, Richmond champion Francis Bourke, who visited me on my first day as CEO. In speaking with me, he reflected on his time as coach of the Tigers.

“I thought I had to know everything, always have an answer because that is what I thought was expected of me, but it wasn’t my thinking, and they weren’t my answers.”

“Yes, seek advice, do your homework, try and understand the problem, but in the end, trust and believe in yourself, Cameron”, he said. “At least then, if you get it wrong, and you often will, you’ve taken responsibility. It is your lesson learned, your wisdom gained.”

“It is too hard trying to someone else. It is exhausting, and the game is hard enough. All you do is confuse yourself, and people are left wondering ‘who is this bloke?’.”

“Why make a really hard job, harder? Just be you. It’s easier”.

“Just be you.”

Notebook ready….

Play on!

Cam