Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

What truly turns a collection of talented individuals into a team that outperforms its parts? Chris Lendrum, GM of Professional Rugby and Performance at New Zealand Rugby, reframes culture with a striking idea: ten times eight can equal 60, 80, or 120 depending on the environment you build. From there, we unpack the daily leadership work that makes the “120” possible—where psychological safety meets accountability, and where connection fuels relentless standards.We get practical about selection and development. Chris explains why technical skill is table stakes and how to hire for drive, openness, and alignment at scale. He shares how to assess worst‑day behavior, blend gut instinct with data, and use pointed questions to keep teams honest to their own plans. We also explore why AI will democratize tactical knowledge, raising the floor to “80,” but why only human leadership—storytelling, trust, and shared identity—elevates the ceiling.The conversation turns to pressure, perspective, and joy. Chris describes the trap of living between anxiety and relief, and the habits that pull leaders back to gratitude: sleep, movement, fewer distractions, heads up and eyes out. We draw clear parallels between sport and business, and dig into strategy as a living practice—mapping how you win, making choices under constraints, and constantly refining as people and context change.Finally, we celebrate the rise of women’s rugby as a different, joyful product with a new audience. Chris reveals why more than half of recent Women’s World Cup ticket buyers were new to professional rugby, and how to “commercialize joy” without losing its soul. The takeaway is simple and demanding: every new person makes a new group; leaders must evolve with it. If you care about building cultures that win and last, this conversation will sharpen your tools and widen your lens.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a leader who needs it, and leave a quick review to help more people find conversations like this.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

One sentence can tell the truth about a team: small players want to tackle and big players want to run. We took that line apart and found the blueprint for a culture that turns comfort zones into competitive edges and effort into belonging. Across the mic, we share stories from the 10–7 connection, why the jersey’s history pulls more weight than any motivational speech, and how visible acts of courage and generosity become the signals that set standards without shouting.We dig into three pillars. First, meaning bigger than self: players who feel the weight of the colors, the families on the sideline, and the kids dreaming in the stands make different choices when it hurts. Second, peer accountability: when a small halfback chops a runner or a big forward chases a kick with burning lungs, the group recalibrates to the example and excuses die. Third, team-first thinking: roles flex to meet the moment, with backs hunting collisions and forwards embracing repeat-effort runs because the team needs time, territory, and momentum—not comfort.We get practical about coaching, too. Connect standards to story every day so effort feels like honor, not rule-following. Celebrate the unseen carries and pressure tackles that buy the next phase. Build training that forces generosity under fatigue, where players rehearse choosing the harder version of their job. The outcome is a locker room where people adjust themselves before anyone calls them out, and where identity is proven by actions you can see from the first whistle to the last ruck.If this lens helps you lead, share it with a coach or captain who sets the tone. Subscribe for more coaching culture reflections, leave a review to boost the signal, and send us your favorite culture quotes so we can feature them next week.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

A team list can teach you more than a scoreboard. Ben opens up about growing up in New Zealand rugby culture, missing A teams year after year, and how that sting forged a durable kind of resilience that later powered a professional career and a life in coaching. The story tracks an unlikely path from D team disappointment to Super Rugby, through concussion and identity loss, and into a craft that puts people at the center of performance.We dive into three formative gifts: learning to live with setbacks without letting them define you, discovering the freedom to think in environments with less structure, and being shaped by teachers who coached the person before the player. Those lessons become the backbone of a culture-first approach: standards that lift rather than crush, honesty handled with skill, and belonging built deliberately, not by accident. Along the way, Ben shares how early obsession with skills and tactics gave way to a deeper truth seen in clubhouses and national programs across Japan, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada: the difference between good and great is cultural, not just technical.The new book gathers practical wisdom from world-class coaches who have been hired and fired, doubted and trusted, and who keep showing up with clarity and care. You’ll hear why plays and systems age quickly, but human laws endure; how to grow people, not just players; and how to design training and feedback that keep the flame alive while raising the bar. Whether you lead an under-12 squad, a professional side, or a business team, these principles travel because they are grounded in lived experience and behavioral science.If this conversation sparks something in you, grab the book on your local Amazon—How to Be a Great Coach: Lessons from the World’s Best Coaches by Ben Herring—then subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review to help more leaders build cultures that win and stay human.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

A golden Sydney evening sets the scene, but the real heat in this conversation is Mike Catt’s blueprint for durable, high-performing teams. We go far beyond tactics to unpack why love for the game, genuine care, and trained calm turn individual talent into collective results. Mike traces a remarkable journey from South Africa’s hard-edged competitiveness to Bath’s winning heyday, through Italy’s tough rebuilds, Ireland’s detail-rich evolution, and now the Waratahs, where skill development meets identity and purpose.We dig into the idea that calm is a skill, not a mood. Mike explains how “think fast, move at 30–40%” creates better pictures, cleaner decisions, and efficient attack—especially when forwards are coached to scan, connect, and pass sharply at the line. He shares how Ireland’s players embraced change by pairing deep study with immediate transfer, and why “no dumb questions” is the cultural rule that accelerates alignment. The result is psychological safety without softness: honest standards, straight talk, and a team that learns in public.Culture here isn’t posters—it’s small daily acts that build trust. Mike outlines the rituals that work: player-led interviews, shared coffees after hard sessions, jerseys in the gym, and space to tell the stories that make teammates real. We explore how national identities shape style—South Africa’s history-fueled intensity, Ireland’s GAA-born skills, England’s structural strength—and what Australia needs now: a renewed kicking game and a purpose that earns attention in a crowded sports market. Along the way, Mike reframes failure as tuition, from Italy’s grind to a landmark win, to the famous Lomu moment that he meets with humility and perspective—then reminds us he lifted the 2003 World Cup.If you lead a team, coach athletes, or care about culture that actually performs, this one’s packed with usable ideas: train calm, upskill everyone, invite questions, and make it matter beyond the scoreboard. Enjoy the conversation, and if it sparks something for you, follow the show, share it with a coaching friend, and leave a quick review to help more people find it.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

A 70-point demolition tells one story. The way South Africa kept shape with cards, shuffled roles without panic, and attacked with conviction tells the real one: culture, clarity, and coaching aligned. We trace that edge back to Tony Brown’s fingerprints and the mindset that flips good teams into ruthless, resilient units.We start with the simplest signal that changes everything: show up as a rugby person first, a coach second. That posture earns trust fast, respects the jersey, and helps a leader amplify the team’s identity instead of importing a foreign system. From there, Brown’s hallmark emerges—give players simple pictures that free instinct and speed. Meetings get shorter, the field time gets longer, and the difficulty shifts to execution, not explanation. You can see it in how the Springboks back themselves, keep role clarity under stress, and turn belief into points regardless of who’s on the field.We also dig into the fork every coach faces: recruit ruthlessly or coach relentlessly. Brown chooses growth. Develop the players you have, invest in their improvement, and build loyalty that runs both ways. The 2015 Highlanders become a proof point—written off on paper, they became champions by mastering clear frameworks and chasing precision at speed. For leaders beyond rugby, the takeaways hold: learn the local strengths, simplify the plan until it’s teachable at pace, and put the hard work into reps. When clarity meets commitment, performance compounds.If you value culture as a competitive advantage and want a sharper playbook for execution, this one’s for you. Listen, share with a leader who cares about people and performance, and tell us what you’d simplify first. Subscribe for more coaching culture reflections, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.