Leadership by Eddie Jones

Author:Eddie Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK

The waves of noise rolled over me and I stuck to the core vision. This is the best way:

DON’T GIVE IN TO EMOTION . . . MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE WITH YOUR PLAN

Review the vision versus progress

Take the key course-correcting decisions

Make the revisions

Re-engage with the evolved strategy

10

THE 3 PER CENT REMINDER

REMEMBER, IT’S NEVER AS GOOD OR AS BAD AS THEY SAY IT IS

The best advice I ever received in elite sport was given to me by a rugby league coach who had worked in the game for a very long time. ‘Just remember this,’ he said. ‘When you win, it’s never as good as they say it is. And when you lose, it’s never as bad as they say it is.’ I thought of those words often in the two weeks that separated our games against Wales in late February and France on 13 March 2021. I knew that the difference between being seen as ‘a good team’ and ‘a terrible team’ is usually around 3 per cent.

Even though we weren’t great against Wales, we would have won if we had been just 3 per cent better. So the task was to change the team by 3 per cent. But if we made the wrong decision, and picked the wrong variable, we would be 6 per cent away. It would then start to get really difficult. While the margins between success and failure are small and agonizing, you need to think carefully before you make the changes that will close or widen the narrow gap that defines Test rugby.

The French had hammered Italy in Rome and then travelled to Dublin where they beat Ireland 15–13. It seemed as if everyone loved Fabien Galthié’s promising young team, even though they had yet to be really tested in a sustained way. They were described as being ‘thrilling’ and ‘exhilarating’, but I still thought we would beat them if we played disciplined rugby.

I was intrigued to see how France did at home against Scotland, but that third-round fixture had to be postponed after Galthié, three of his staff and 12 of the playing squad contracted Covid. It was reported that the virus came into the French camp after Galthié left the bubble so that he could watch his son play rugby. Can you imagine the reaction in England if I had broken curfew, caught coronavirus, infected 14 other people and caused the cancellation of a Six Nations game at Twickenham against Scotland? It would not have been pretty.

The break between rounds three and four of the tournament gave the French time to recover and regroup. It offered us the same opportunity, and I relished the chance to face the adversity which had gripped our squad. I welcomed the challenge, rather than feared it, because you cannot become the best in the world unless you go through adversity. As a leader, whether in the military or business or sport or any other form of high-pressure activity, you almost need to seek out adversity because, one day, it will come gunning for you in a big way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.