Rugby is sport I neither watch, like or understand.
(A reflection on me – not it).
Spencer Davey.
I was chatting to Spencer Davey about rugby just yesterday.
Spencer played professionally and now runs STORM Fitness, employing – alongside him – former world cup winning rugby players.
Spencer and I chatted about what young rugby players should be taught when they first start playing.
When a rugby player receives the ball.
There is much discussion about what they should immediately ask themselves.
In that first second.
Should it be:
“How many of my teammates are on the outside?”
Or:
“Am I going to be tackled?”
In fact- there is just one thing that any rugby player should be asking themselves as they receive the ball.
In that first second.
It is:
“Can I score?”
Business.
I’ve founded 8 businesses so far.
I know why I started my first business.
It was because I wanted to run a business.
That was pretty much it.
Yes, there as a market opportunity.
A ‘point’ to being in business.
But, in honesty, I think I was more turned on just by being a business owner than anything that my the business could effect or do.
I was, if you like, playing rugby just because I liked being on the pitch.
Forgetting what the actual point of the game was.
To score points.
The business didn’t last long.
Purpose.
There is much talk of purpose in business.
And I am, at this precise moment focusing, simplifying and refining the purpose of the three businesses that I run currently.
My hand knits clothing brand Always Wear Red encourage those wearing our jumpers to rest.
To switch off.
To relax.
To be kind to themselves.
To recharge – properly.
That’s what Always Wear Red is for.
ANGELFYSH is our Brand Communications Collective that builds, integrates, measures and refines change maker brands. So that they matter more and last longer.
And I think I have the opportunity to position 50odd as a publishing brand that can encourage people to tell the greatest stories in the world.
Their own.
Scoring.
The chat with Spencer reminded me .
That just being on the pitch is not enough.
Rugby is about scoring.
And so is business.
It is important to master what I do.
But it is so much more important to master what I am for.
