opinion
Justin Langer: Why it’s important to adapt to change as a leader

Preparation is the key to all successful performances. Sometimes, you might have to ‘wing it’, but 99.7 per cent of the time, preparation and planning is the key to success. Regardless of the industry or art, my advice is always, ‘be prepared, be prepared, be prepared’. In anything we do, strong preparation takes away a great deal of anxiety and sets us up for strong performance. Before any speaking engagement, I always have a briefing with the client, or organisation I am presenting for. At the end of each briefing, I always ask the same question: “When I walk off the stage, if you can say ‘Justin absolutely nailed the message for us’, what would it be?” People react differently to this question. Some can tell me automatically the themes they are looking to share, others ask if they can come back to me with an answer. In all cases, I promise them I will have the stories to bring their messages to life, but the thing I need most from them is to gain clarity in what they are trying to achieve from my presentation. On Monday, I had one of these briefings and when I asked my million-dollar question, I started to laugh through the computer screen when the answer was shared. The lovely lady on the end of the screen, looking a little confused, asked me why I was laughing. To make it easy, this is how the conversation went. “So, when I get off the stage next week, if I have nailed the message for you, what would that message be?” Without hesitating, she answered: “Dealing with change, adapting to change. We need to get better at this, and I hope you can help us.” As soon as these words left her mouth, that’s when I started laughing. I explained that in nearly every briefing I have these days, every client is looking for a similar message. Leadership, culture and “adapting to change”, are the most common topics which most people want to hear about. Regardless of the industry, the messages are similar and that’s because we are living in an ever-changing world. Looking back on my speaking journal, the headlines of just a few of the events I have spoken at recently are, ‘Embracing Change’, ‘Transformational Leadership’, ‘Adapt, Change, Grow’, ‘Constant Improvement’, ‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’, ‘Re-Set, Re-Shape’. Whenever I react as I did on Monday, you can feel a sense of relief from the person I’m having a conversation with. It is as though they are saying, ‘So it’s not just me, or my company, or my team, that is having trouble adapting to change’. The truth is most of us can struggle with change. You’ve probably heard the expression that ‘the only thing constant, is change’, or that ‘nothing lasts forever’. What I have learned is that refusing to accept the law of change will cause you suffering in one way or another. Sometimes moments of adversity force us into change, but if we keep our eyes and ears wide open, we can often save ourselves from the pain of disappointment or sadness. In other cases, it may take others to help us recognise the need to adapt. I’ve been very lucky to have had people around me who have helped me after I’ve suffered from adversity. And their support has helped me grow my way out of the hole and learn lessons from the experience. When I first played Test cricket, it would be fair to say I was a real plodder. In my first few Tests, I got hit on the body more times than the amount of runs I scored. In my third Test match in New Zealand, I batted for six hours to score just 64 runs. Ouch. Imagine that in today’s modern world of cricket! Not long after, two Tests to be exact, I was dropped. Sad and sorry as I felt, the late, great Rod Marsh, who was the head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport Cricket Academy, told me: “You will never play Test cricket again unless you are prepared to change. It doesn’t matter how long you bat for, it’s how many runs you score. We need to teach you how to increase your range of shots, we need to turn you into a little slogger.” At the time, I felt this was an impossible task, but by the time I finished playing, I was a free-flowing opening batsmen, who loved playing T20 cricket in the UK. Where most thought I would never play Test cricket again after my first five Test matches, Rod’s encouragement, many hours of practice, and a willingness to change, allowed me to play a lot more Tests into the future. What I found from my playing journey, was that not only did my change of mindset — adapting to change — allow me to play again, but it was so much fun setting out on a path of constant improvement and always being one step ahead of my opponent. The same happened in my coaching career. When I first started out as a batting coach, I trained players as I used to bat. Big mistake. But that’s all I knew. One of my first sessions as a rookie batting coach was with a kid called Steve Smith. Straight after the session, I said to Ricky Ponting: “This kid can’t bat.” What a lesson. Because he didn’t bat like me, I thought he was no good. Steve Smith is now one of the all-time greats and thankfully we can all laugh about it, but if not for experience and guidance I may not have got the opportunity to be a coach or mentor to some quality teams. Life taught me that every player is unique, and you must train them accordingly. You adapt, or you die in your chosen field. During my time as head coach of Australia, there was plenty of commentary about my coaching style. Again, advice from two people helped me adapt and grow. The first of those men was newly-appointed All Blacks head coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson. Razor and I became mates during COVID when we joined a coaching symposium together. I learned so much from this deep-thinking, passionate and wise coach who became famous for breakdancing after the Crusaders won the Super Rugby Pacific Championships this year. Scott explained to me about the evolution — or transformational styles — of different leaders by sending me two photographs. The first was of a rooster crossing a small bridge. Most leaders usually come in as the rooster, with their chest puffed out and leading from the front. In my case, I had felt the correct way, from when I took over as national coach, was to lead from the front through the ‘sandpaper gate’ crisis in Cape Town. This involved cultural change and the Australian cricket team earning back respect and likeability. This was also a time of instability with changes in personnel across the board. Then there was the re-integration period where Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft came back into the team. This was followed by COVID, which included redundancies, stand-downs, bubble life, quarantine, and isolation. With Tim Paine by my side, we were like roosters trying to hold things together and re-build internal and external confidence in the team. At the end of this period, speculation surfaced about my alpha/rooster style of leadership, and that’s when Razor and a sports psychologist friend, Matt Burgin, offered me a solution. As they taught me, there comes a time when you adapt to becoming the shepherd of the group. Rather than leading from the front, you lead from the side and behind. You use your experience and wisdom to help guide the group. You watch and listen. You work through the captains, senior players, assistant coaches and help them evolve, develop, grow, and lead from the front. In that period, I learned to let go of my past ways and move in a different direction with that current team and circumstances. History may say my tenure ended in an ugly way with the Australian cricket team. Ironically, I enjoyed coaching more than ever as I evolved as a coach. I wore my cap backwards, took my sunglasses off so people could see what I was thinking and feeling, smiled more, and let the warmth shine through. Success followed and I knew in my heart that I had adapted and improved. Because of that I could, and can, sleep well at night. In a recent board meeting, a person who I greatly admire said: “ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) — otherwise known as Sustainability — is coming at us like a freight train. Unless we jump on board, we will be left behind or squashed.” ESG is a bit like life. It is a necessary change to how we have done things in the past, but unless we are willing to embrace and adapt, then we are likely to be left behind.

opinionJustin Langer: Why it’s important to adapt to change as a leader

opinion
Justin Langer: Why it’s important to adapt to change as a leader