The Great Coaches: John Mitchell

Consistency and Authenticity with John Mitchell

Our Great Coach in this week’s episode is Rugby Union coach John Mitchell.

John retired from playing in 1995, moving straight into coaching with a technical adviser/forwards position with the Irish national team. He returned to New Zealand in 2000 as the Head Coach of Super Rugby team, the Chiefs, then went on to lead the All Blacks from 2001 to 2003 — winning two Tri Nations titles and the 2003 Bledisloe Cup.

In 2023, John was appointed as the Head Coach of the England women’s team, leading them to the 2025 World Cup.

Listening back to our interview, the key highlights I took from this interview were:

• John’s emphasis on ‘people-first’ leadership — strong leadership begins with putting people before tasks, and helping others to reach their full potential.

• His words on self-awareness and growth — why understanding your own personality, values, and limitations is essential to evolving as both a leader and coach.

• The power of vision and culture — great teams are built on clarity, knowing what they want to look like, feel like, and act like while leadership shapes the culture.

Another fantastic interview for you all to enjoy, and I hope you take as much from it as I did.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

Some key questions raised from today’s episode:

• How well am I putting people before performance and outcomes in the way I lead?

• What do my current behaviours say about my self-awareness, values, and the culture I’m creating?

• Am I communicating in a way that builds trust, understanding, and enough freedom for others to grow?

Find all of our past interviews with some of sport’s most successful coaches and leaders on our website.

It’s Not About Great Words

In this section of our newsletter, we like to bring attention to the topics and areas of leadership and coaching that can pose the biggest challenges and problems, and to share a small lesson or interview clip that can help you to assess your own approach to them.

This week’s interview with Rugby Union coach John Mitchell touched a lot on the topic of communication, and this is a topic that comes up often when we speak with coaches and leaders. Communicating clearly and effectively is a vital part of leadership, and many go through coaching and lessons to help them achieve it. What isn’t always recognised, however, is that communication isn’t just about what you say — it’s also about how you say it.

In this video, Great Coaches host Paul speaks from the Sydney Cricket Ground, exploring some of the fantastic insights on communication that past podcast guests have shared and delving into the skills and techniques that can help leaders to improve the way they speak with their teams.

You can find the video here on our Youtube channel, alongside many other lessons, interviews, and insights designed to be shared and used by leaders and teams.

We combine videos of the Great Coaches that we have interviewed with our experience as corporate and sporting leaders in order to bring insight, energy, and ideas to your teams.

Exploring Motivation

What does it take to successfully motivate a team?

In this great article from BBC Sport, football manager Tony Pulis looks back at some of the different ways he has tried to motivate his players over the years. Some techniques were more successful than others, and some were just slightly unorthodox (including employing a hypnotist).

An interesting, quick little weekend read that might help you to reflect on how you motivate your own team.

Challenge Yourself with the Macquarie MBA

This newsletter is brought to you by Macquarie University Business School’s MBA program. Designed to empower, challenge and transform, the Macquarie MBA gives you the business skills and knowledge you need to succeed in an evolving global economy.

The program bridges the gap between theory and real-world application, bringing together world-leading professors, executives and industry partners to teach you how business can be used for good.

I have started working with the team at Macquarie on some projects and can attest to the quality of the people and material. To find out more, search for Macquarie University Business School’s MBA.

Find out more: https://www.mq.edu.au/macquarie-business-school/

Elevated Leadership

If you’re looking to improve your own leadership skills, get in touch with us at elevatedleadership.com.au 

Our team of executive coaches — including The Great Coaches host, Paul Barnett — bring a wealth of experience as international CEOs who have faced the challenge of stepping forward in uncertain moments.