Recently, 15 NZRPA members and staff completed the Five Stage – CALM Leadership program.
Conducted over 5 weeks, the group attended weekly 90min online interactive workshops covering the intangible people skills associated with coaching and leading rugby.
Each week the workshop built on their applied knowledge from ‘leadership philosophy’ through to ‘leadership capability & flexibility’.
The NZRPA members from NZ, Japan and HK enjoyed the collaborative ‘Iterative Challenge Cycle’ format of the workshops presented by the CALM Leadership team enabling everyone to share their ideas & perspectives.
The Iterative Challenge Cycle has been developed by leading Educational Neuroscientist Dr Kieran O’Mahony. The group had the privilege of Dr O’Mahony presenting and facilitating the Neuroscience of Coaching workshop that was part of the series. Dr O’Mahony has developed the highly successful Brain based education program https://neuraleducation.org and is the author of The Brain based Classroom.
All the NZRPA members commented how they enjoyed attending the sessions and the invaluable learnings they gained from the programme. Many shared that they were already utilising the leadership knowledge in their rugby, work, and home environments.
Mark Ranby, NZRPA Rugby Network Manager, was impressed with the offering, “We at the NZRPA are extremely grateful to Phil and Sean for providing our members with a transformative experience. The learning process, involving repeated cycles of self-reflection and group discussion, super charged the high quality coaching leadership content while creating a safe and vibrant learning environment. The workshops provided our members with a living example of our NZRPA Rugby Network vision of creating a thriving and supportive network for overseas and retired players.”
Murphy Taramai, a workshop participant currently playing in Japan, shared “I liked how it involved everyone, and everyone had a voice. The breakout rooms were great and made you feel comfortable to share your own ideas.”
Southland Stags Assistant Coach, James Wilson, summed up the experience by highlighting that he enjoyed “Collaborating with other likeminded coaches on the topics discussed. Hearing from the best in the business, their experiences and finding out a few surprises about their approach to coaching.”
Sean Tagg, CALM Leadership director commented, “The engagement and sharing of collective knowledge was so powerful each week, with the NZRPA group thriving in the safe brain-based learning environment. The positive feedback and individual comments of appreciation for the CALM Leadership program were exceptional.”
