England legend Will Carling explains the leadership secrets behind being a great captain
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England rugby legend Will Carling has revealed the tools he used to become a successful leader. Carling, who captained England 59 times and led the team to three Five Nation Grand Slams, said using books as a form of learning went out of the window because successful people 'don't conform'.
Instead Will, who now works as a leading Inspirational keynote speaker said it was understanding how to read people which helped him lead the team to success. Speaking to Champions Speakers, Will said: ‘
"Every decision, every behaviour, every reaction that you have as a leader should be about the team and what is best for the team," he said. It sounds crazy, but why do you say yes to being a leader? I think it must be for the benefit of the team."
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"My early experience of leadership, I was so young and inexperienced at 22 as an England captain, was when I stood up in front of the England team for the first time. There was all this experience and knowledge that sat in the room.
"I thought one of the key things I could do early on was access that knowledge, access that experience. And I think that was a huge learning curve for me, that listening and observing were probably the most important things I did early on in my career as a leader."
Explaining how he approached the challenge he said:
"I introduced upward appraisal in the rugby team because I wanted to listen to what people needed from me. And I think that altered as I became more experienced. But I think the key for me was earning trust, that the players knew I was doing it because I wanted them to be successful and to be winning games."
Carling, who was Voted in the top 20 Sporting Motivational Speakers, Outlined how went about maximising potential in his team he said: "I think the key for me was always, once you get in the dressing room, everything should be done in terms of getting the performance out of a player and all the players.
"For me, that was hundreds, thousands of little conversations, interactions in the week building up to the game when you weren’t in camp as a team.
"It was trying to find out, understand players, understand what happened in their lives, what's happening in their lives, in their families, so that you knew the person, and you knew how to get the best out of the person.
"That's a huge amount of work that goes on every time you’re in a conversation with someone.
"I think something that we constantly underestimate is the importance of confidence. I think we all work at our best in stressful situations – present, play whatever it is, at our best when we’re confident.
"And I think sending a team out, believing in themselves, believing in each other, is one of the keys to success.
"I just genuinely believe we underestimate the mental side of so much in life."
Describing the most important characteristics of being a good leader he added: "I think the most important thing a leader can do is work out their why. It sounds crazy, but why do you say yes to being a leader? I think it must be for the benefit of the team.
"In that sense, you know that that is your 'why'.
"Characteristics are then finding a balance of how you get the best out of your team, and I think at times that’s building confidence. At times, that’s driving standards. At times it’s listening and altering course.
"It’s up to a leader to understand there’s no one way to lead, and it depends as a team matures, hopefully experience success, then I think it’s up to a leader to adapt the style."
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