7
My Notes on Leadership and Life
Heyneke Meyer
I was fortunate enough to have experienced some of the lessons discussed in this book first-hand, and to become a better player and person because of that.
Heyneke Meyer was in grade 12 when he told a teacher that he would one day become the Springbok head coach. Rather than encouraging the youngster, he was told this was a pipedream.
This discouragement continued at university, but against advice to the contrary, he studied sports management, education, and, “just about everything I believed was necessary for me to realise my ultimate goal of coaching my country. When my time came, and it would, I had to be ready.”
Unknowingly, his coaching career would evolve along seven key principles of leadership, and these would only become apparent to him after experiencing the ebbs and flows of what is an extremely uncertain career choice.
In 1999, in his first “major” coaching job, he led the minnow SWD Eagles-side to their first Currie Cup Play-offs. In the same year, Nick Mallet appointed him as the Springboks’ forwards coach – four years after he was still coaching an Under-16 school’s side. He was 32 years old, and his dream was taking shape.
But by the time he turned 34, Meyer had twice been fired as the head coach of a Super Rugby side. However, with the support of a handful of rugby administrators in Pretoria, a committed group of young players, friends and family he would not only go on to turn the struggling Blue Bulls around, winning four Currie Cups in five years, but he also became the first coach to lead a South African Super Rugby side to victory in 2007; their first of three titles in four years; the last two under Frans Ludeke’s tutelage.
In Pretoria, Meyer built a dynasty, making the Bulls the envy of just about every other major rugby club and franchise in the world.
He was appointed Springbok head coach in 2012. This was his dream, but not yet the end goal. It was merely a departure. On this journey, he would experience incredible highs, but also lows. All the while, his belief in his now established seven principles of leadership remained.
In his own words:
My coaching journey has been rewarding, but I’ve never taken the road of least resistance. In my career as head coach, I have come to believe in seven key principles of leadership that kept the ship on course in calm and stormy seas. I have worked with and alongside people who believed ordinary human beings can achieve extraordinary things. In all occasions, our journeys started with a vision; oftentimes an unrealistic goal. I have seen the power of the human mind and spirit in action. Few things in life are more fulfilling and inspiring than being in a team environment where writing history against the backdrop of doubt and cynicism becomes the norm. For almost three decades, these seven principles have always served my teams well.
This book is not about me. I don’t enjoy the limelight or talking about myself. I might even be revealing too much. This book is about people realising their own potential. It is about giving hope. The seven universal principles of leadership and life that I have been fortunate enough to experience along my own journey are born from successes and failures. Life happens between these two poles. If I achieve nothing else in life, these are the seven principles I would like to instil in my three sons.
As it has done for me, 7 – My Notes on Leadership and Life, will serve as a map and compass for anyone seeking hope, direction and fulfilment in roles of leadership, be they corporate executives, SME business owners, public servants, teachers, coaches or parents.
978-1-990977-85-5 | Hardcover | Leadership | 256 pages | R295