Tips for CEOs from Peter Burling & Emirates Team NZ

A truly amazing success – one of those David and Goliath stories. It proves once again:

“if the human factor” is fully engaged, and the Kiwi Innovation is activated, then the small guy can win, even on a shoe-string budget.

My six pence worth is that Emirates Team New Zealand outpaced Oracle and won the hard fought Americas Cup against the world’s best yachtsmen, as a consequence of:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand had both a great racing team and a great support team (design, build, fund, admin, PR, team building, fitness training, strategy, tactics).

2. The racing team and support teams worked together effectively (without silos) and the support team stayed off the boat so the race crew had no unnecessary ballast or distraction.

3. They put next practice (bicycles and strong leg muscles) ahead of bestpractice (grinders with strong arm muscles) and no doubt some other unseen smart features embedded in the foils and rig.

4. They had some great leaders, both on the boat (Peter Burling and Glen Ashby) and on the shore (Grant Dalton et al.), who built high performance teams and a collaborative high performance culture; allocated roles that aligned with capabilities; and stayed true to their team charter (i.e. attitudes and behaviours were disciplined and understated) even when provoked by the competition.

5. They adopted a CACFT approach …

                                      Creative, Agile, Cross-Functional Teams – working  SMART & FAST.

I hope this short reflective note provides you with the context and a list of topics to discuss with your own team so that you too can collectively lead-the-field, and stay out in front of the competitors.