Blog

In traditionally male-dominated spaces like rugby and business, it always fascinated me how women could make a quiet yet game-changing difference by offering a different perspective. I’d like to single out a few by name, as they truly made things better for us as a team and for me personally. The Quiet Confidence of Dr. Sherylle Calder I want to…

Growing Up Surrounded by Strength I grew up in a home with two older brothers, so it was four men and a single female. Boy, but was she a matriarch of note. My mother was a schoolteacher in Zambia, and all three of us had our first years of schooling under her watchful eye. We had a small school on…

I want to start by saying that Nelson Mandela is—as was—the greatest leader of all time (GOAT). I will now discuss the three other leaders I admired. As we grow up and move through life, we encounter people who make a difference in our lives. As you all know by now, I came to South Africa from a very young…

When you have the privilege to play for South Africa, you have many perks. As I often say, with privilege comes responsibility and pressure. To be honest, I didn’t always enjoy all the perks that rugby brought into my life, but there was one that I cherish to this day. When I became the captain in 1999, Nelson Mandela was…

As a parent of three, I often feel that all I’m doing is saying, “No,” “Don’t do that,” “Pick that up,” “Put that down,” “Stop being cheeky,” and so on and so forth. When I reflect on some of my days, I feel like a real idiot because of the way I react to situations in my house or at…

Today I am going to talk about a very controversial topic, and that is leading the youth. Call them Gen Z, Gen Y, Gen C for cellphone—whatever you want. They still need leadership, and in a very different way from the people who led us. They say, “A clever person learns from his mistakes, but a wise person learns from…