210: Winning the World Cup, Mandela & Me: Bob Skinstad

The Leadership Enigma

Bob Skinstad represented South Africa Rugby at all levels. Having captained the under 21 Springbok side in 1996 and 1997, he ascended to the adult team as a replacement on 29 November 1997 against England. He would go on to play 42 tests for the Springboks, scoring 11 tries – and captained the national side to its second Rugby Union World Cup in 2007, before retiring. Bob is now a Partner at the challenger consultancy firm Elixirr.

Very recently Bob and Andrew Mehrtens (former All Black) completed the takeover of French second division club Beziers, heading up a consortium which also features ex-Formula 1 boss Eddie Jordan.

Bob and I have a very candid chat about what is was like growing up in Zimbabwe as a white privileged child in an affluent family. During his teenage years Bob started to become fully aware of the challenges within South Africa during Apartheid. In fact Bob went on to meet Nelson Mandela in his role as national captain of The Sprinboks. Bob shares some great memories of chatting to Nelson Mandela and his incredible leadership and approach to inclusivity even after decades of incarceration.

Bob reflects on his early life in South Africa and even with his obvious sporting talent he accepts that he took things for granted and didn't have a mentality for all out winning.

Today, as a leader in business, Bob describes himself and learner as opposed to leader. The older he gets the more he realises what he doesn't know.

When Bob started to play rugby it wasn't a profession for a full time role, it was all amateur. That changed for South Africa during the 1995 World Cup as Rugby started to mean more to the nation. Bob lived the transformational change within South Africa and became the first professionally contracted rugby player in the country. He made his men's debut in 1997 against England.

Bob recalls having two district careers in rugby, one was the young devil may care maverick player that catapulted him into the national team and one was the captain and leader of a nation where he had to learn the history and scarred memories of many of his players who did not have the upbringing that he experienced.

Belonging is a principle need for humanity and Bob explains how this is a powerful contributor to a high performing team, especially within a sporting context. Leading and managing chaos is inevitable on the international rugby field and Bob explains the importance of strategy, planning, speed of decision making and practice to help mitigate the chaos.

One of Bob's standout lessons is that there are different types of people 'givers need to learn when to stop because takers never do' and so Bob realised how important it was to find his tribe with belonging purpose and passion.

www.elixirr.com/en-gb/person/bobskinstad

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