Ep.2 - Born into Chaos

This is the 2nd episode of a 9-part series on the 1924 New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ rugby team forever known as 'The Invincibles'.

This series is both the telling of an epic story and an extraction of timeless lessons around shared identity, team culture and leadership. It is about storytelling and learnings – not scrums and lineouts.

In each episode I am joined by a guest who both helps navigate the events that unfold, and shed light on insights that have a contemporary significance.

In this 2nd episode I’m joined by my friend and colleague – Luke Donald. Luke is a professional golfer, former world no.1 player and 2-time European Ryder Cup campaign – including Bethpage, New York this year . 

This episode is called “Born into Chaos” and explores the team’s very challenging beginnings before departing for the United Kingdom, including:

• allegations of racism
• rumours of a World War One contentious objector in the team
• political interference around team selection
• poor form in pre tour matches
• being written off by an iconic former player
• last minute change of captain

In this episode Luke and I traverse these events and explore in conversation:

• the importance of a team’s sense of its unique Identity
• connecting people to something greater than themselves
• deep focus on controllables
• challenging negative beliefs through facts and data
• dealing with chaos and negativity
• the leader prioritising (1) a legitimate Plan to compete; and (2) Team Cohesion

The visual version of this episode, including images of players and events mentioned, is available on YouTube here.

Click here to purchase a copy of Owen's book, Belonging.