#007 – Perspectives from a Pro Rugby Player: Building Value-Based Teams with Nic Groom
Welcome to another episode of Speaking to Stacy. In this week’s episode, my guest shares his experiences as a professional rugby player. Speaking to retired professional sportspeople is always very intriguing. I really enjoyed how this week’s guest described how to build value-based teams.
My Guest:
Nic Groom had a long and impressive career as a professional rugby player. He has had the opportunity to play both locally in South Africa and abroad in England and Scotland. He has represented Western Province, The Stormers, The Golden Lions and the Lions on home soil. Whilst abroad he played for Northampton Saints, Edinburgh and London Irish (on a short loan stint). He also had the pleasure of playing for the Barbarians in 2015 against Samoa.
I hope this conversation gives those of you pursuing a career in rugby insights into the mindset required to be successful. If you listen through to the end you will understand the importance of value and principle-based teams and why this is so important.
Key Takeaways for the Listeners:
Nic spent a long time playing rugby professionally and the fact that he was often initially overlooked at the start of his career sets him up to be a great guide to walk you through what it means to be a professional sportsperson. Here are some of the benefits you can learn from his journey:
1) Why persistence and hard work can outgun talent.
2) How to manage injuries to help extend your playing career.
3) The extreme pressure of playing for a contract extension as a professional.
How to Build Value-Based Team Environments:
I won’t give away too much here because I would love you to engage with the content and decide how you would go about using Nic’s advice. One thing I will say is that playing purely for results isn’t enough. You need something bigger than that, that the team will buy into.
If you enjoyed this episode I would recommend you listen to the conversations I had with Nick Köster and/or Kyle Brown to get a deeper understanding of life as a professional rugby player.
