I was reading this rugby article in the Irish Times last week which looks at how Stuart Lancaster has used "public failure" to become a better leader.

The two things that really stood out for me from the article were that firstly, Lancaster talks about the importance of being yourself and the authenticity that that brings.  In a business environment that has become hugely important and indeed Rupert Younger, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation said:

 'Authenticity is at the heart of modern communications.'

The second thing that stood out from the article was that Lancaster talks about how the leaders in the team have a responsibility to "set the goal".  What's great about this is that although Lancaster is the Senior Coach he has distributed leadership to the players.  Every day with my own clients I see senior leaders of business trying to build "distributed leadership" across their organisations.

If you can can get more of your players / employees becoming leaders then your team / company is much more likely to succeed.

P.S. English rugby's loss has very much been Irish rugby's gain