The 5 Leadership Lessons I Learned at Age 10 — And Still Use to Transform Teams Today

People often ask me where my leadership philosophy comes from. They expect me to point to my 30 years turning around Fortune 100 programmes, delivering complex digital transformations, or leading one of the largest Azure migrations in Europe.

But the truth is: the foundations of how I lead were formed when I was ten years old, on a muddy rugby pitch in Leeds.

It was the first time I saw — and felt — the power of belief, simplicity, ownership, diversity, and emotional leadership. And those same principles have shaped every turnaround I’ve led since.

Here are the five lessons from that season that still guide everything I do.

1. Belief Transforms Capability

Our school team was as average as they come.

Played: 16
Won: 8
Lost: 8

We were inconsistent, unpredictable, and far from the favourites in any match.

But by luck of the cup draw, we reached the final — only to face Highfield, the unbeatable champions who had beaten us 15–0 and 35–5 earlier in the season. No one — including us — thought we had a chance.

So in our first training session, our coach did something simple but brilliant.
He asked:

“Who thinks we can win?”

Not a single hand went up.

Then he reframed everything:

• “Those were league games.”
• “This is the cup.”
• “And in the cup… we’re undefeated.”

He separated our past performance from our current opportunity.
He gave us belief.

That was the first time I learned a leadership truth I’ve seen repeated for decades:

Teams don’t perform at the level of their ability — they perform at the level of their belief.

Leaders who understand how to shape belief change outcomes.
Leaders who ignore it limit them.

2. A Simple Plan Beats a Perfect Plan

Our coach didn’t give us complex strategy or endless instruction.
He gave us one simple idea:

Start fast.
Hit hard.
Get an early lead.
Defend like mad.

Every one of us understood it.
Every one of us could see our role in it.
Every one of us believed it was possible.

That experience became the seed of my FAST Leadership philosophy:

Complexity kills execution.
Simplicity creates confidence.

When I later stepped into my first billion-dollar turnaround, I used the same idea — build a plan everyone can understand, execute, and believe in.
When people can see success clearly, they move toward it willingly.

And when they can’t?
They hesitate, drift, or quit.

3. Ownership Turns Average Teams Into Great Teams

This was the real genius of our coach.

Ahead of the final, he gave each of us a specific job — one that suited our strengths.

To me, he said:

“You’re not the fastest or the most skilful.
But you are a destroyer.
Stand opposite their best player.
Hit him every time he touches the ball.
If you do that, you will be man of the match.”

At ten years old, I believed him.

I committed to that role with everything I had.
And so did every other player, because he gave each of us a role we could own.

Years later, I realised something:

Ownership is the tipping point of leadership.
It’s where teams stop being pushed… and start pulling.

That’s when performance accelerates.
That’s when culture shifts.
That’s when results become inevitable.

Ownership always beats instruction.
And leaders who understand how to create ownership unlock performance others never reach.

4. Diversity Isn’t a Policy — It’s a Performance Advantage

Looking back now, our team in 1970s Leeds was remarkable in one way we didn’t appreciate at the time.

We were a genuine “Team of All Nations.”
Jamaican, Nigerian, Kenyan, Hungarian, Polish, Scottish, and English kids all wearing the same shirts.

Nobody talked about diversity.
Nobody analysed it.
We simply played together.

But that mix gave us:

• different instincts
• different styles
• different ways of seeing the game
• different strengths
• and a shared identity built across difference

Years later, leading global teams in Europe, India, and the US, I realised something powerful:

Diversity is not something to manage — it’s something that makes teams better.

If you grow up in it, you don’t unsee it.
You carry it into every team you build.

5. Leadership Is Creating an Emotional Shift

This is the lesson most leaders underestimate.

Our coach didn’t make us faster.
He didn’t make us stronger.
He didn’t make us more skilful.

He made us feel different.

He shifted us from:

• Doubt → Possibility
• Possibility → Belief
• Belief → Commitment
• Commitment → Performance

Emotion drives action.
Belief fuels effort.
Confidence unlocks courage.

We scored twice in the opening minutes.
We shocked the champions.
We defended like our lives depended on it.
And we won the final 6–3.

But the real twist came years later when I learned our coach had told every player they were “man of the match.”

At ten years old I felt special.
At forty years old I understood the real lesson:

Leadership is making every person feel essential — because when people feel essential, they play differently.

That emotional shift is the source of momentum, ownership, and exceptional performance.

What a Children’s Rugby Final Taught Me About Transforming Organisations

I didn’t realise it at the time, but those lessons became the backbone of my leadership career.

Every turnaround I’ve led — whether a billion-dollar programme, a failing transformation, or a team that had lost all confidence — has come down to the same elements:

• belief
• simplicity
• ownership
• diversity
• emotional leadership

These aren’t theories.
These aren’t slogans.
These are the things that actually move people and teams.

That rugby final didn’t teach me how to tackle.
It taught me how to lead.

Why This Still Matters Today

Executives often look for:

• better tools
• better technology
• better strategy
• better metrics

Those matter.
But none of them outperform a team that believes, understands the plan, feels essential, and is emotionally ready to give everything.

The truth is simple:

Great teams aren’t born — they’re built.
And they’re built on belief.

That’s as true in a Fortune 100 boardroom as it was on a muddy pitch in Leeds.

Final Thought

Leadership doesn’t have to be complex.
It has to be human.

And sometimes the deepest leadership lessons are learned long before we ever step into management — in the moments we first experience what it feels like to be believed in, trusted, and given something worth owning.

Those lessons last a lifetime.
And they never stop working.