Book Review: Legacy, by James Kerr

I spent a large part of last week, including larger parts of the weekend, reading with rapt attention James Kerr’s Legacy. I first came across James Kerr through a podcast on this series called Don’t Tell Me The Score. Diverting for a bit, this podcast is hosted by Simon Mundie, and it contains interviews with sporting luminaries, where the host Simon and his guest ruminate over life lessons learnt on the Sports field. Since I’ve always been a keen student of understanding group and individual behaviour through the lens of Sport, this podcast hits the sweet spot. I’ll strongly recommend it to all sport enthusiasts and behavioural scientists alike; if case you are both, then it makes for the ideal evening walk companion, taking your footsteps with its ebbs and flows as you deliberate on the meaning of life! And voila, you also end up completing 10k steps because you've been so engrossed.

Coming back to the book Legacy; this book for me is a deliberation on the most successful sporting unit the world has ever seen. It teases you into thinking you have cracked the code of the All Black rugby team’s success, only to have another layer of the onion peeled off in the next chapter as another facet is exposed. At the end of the book, you realize that any simplistic rendition or executive summary cannot do justice to the vast richness contained in the 170 odd pages. Every time you re-read a line or paragraph, a new insight emerges, and you gasp at how fundamental and replicable some of these concepts are.

With great humility, therefore, I shall attempt to list down my 6 big takeaways from this book. These takeaways are phrased from the lens of leadership principles, and structured as things that any leader who is attempting to build a team can easily replicate.

My key takeaways from Legacy, by James Kerr

1.     Sweep the Sheds: The All Blacks had this tradition of cleaning their dressing rooms after the game is over and before they left the premises. Every team member, irrespective of seniority or performance in the game, participated in this activity. It’s reflective of a great sense of leveling at the end of each game, a sense of humility and duty, and remembrance that you are never too big to not do the small things that need to be done

2.     Go for the Gap: When you are at the top of your game, reinvent yourself. Don’t get complacent at becoming the best, always strive to better yourself. There is a belief amongst the All Blacks that the Jersey must be handed forwarded in a better condition that you received it. Leaving the legacy, and in a better situation than what you inherited, is a core calling of every All Blacks Player. Every player strives to be the Greatest All Black, pivoting to better the performance each time he has peaked.

3.     Red Head v/s Blue Headedness: While the former represents an emotional and basal response to stress, the latter is about being in the zone or flow state in crucial times. The All Blacks place a premium on training extensively, they work harder than anyone else. Champions do Extra, and All Blacks focus extensively on the mental side of decision making under stress extensively. The prepare so hard at practice, under very high levels of pressure, than in the actual match environment, the subconscious kicks in the take flow based decisions. Also, if an All Black feels that he is becoming Red Headed, there are indicators for him to know himself (very high levels of self-awareness). He has also trained to get out of that state using basic actions (such as stomping the feet).

4.     Better People Make Better All Blacks. Rugby is not merely a sport for the All Blacks, it represents the aspirations of the nation. Every kid growing up in New Zealand aspires to become an All Black. All Black players are role models, they represent emotion, ambition, and have an impact on the well being of the nation. There is no place for Dick Heads in the team. Character is uncompromisable.

5.     Be a good ancestor: plant trees that you will never see. All Blacks view themselves as continuing a legacy, their role is momentary and they need to ensure that the legacy is enriched after their time is over. Their purpose is something larger, which has been initaited by their previous generations, and they are serving that purpose at all times.

6.     Ritualize to Actualize: The role of rituals is to connect you to the core; the Hakka tradition is not to intimidate the opposition, but to remind every All Black member that he is connected to the soil, connected to a shared history, and this chant reminds him of why he is an All Black in the first place

These are only snippets of the vast treasure available in the book. The best part is all these principles are applicable across team sizes and work environments. The book shows how firms such as Apple, Saatch & Saatchi, US Marines, etc. are already using several of these concepts. Sustained success is based on fundamental principles, which this book lays down beautifully. Adoption of these principles are industry or field agnostic; they are as relevant for bank managers as they are for kabaddi players.

All in all, a treasure trove that I am glad to have found! Will urge you to read it soon