There's no 'I' in Team

Over the past week, a whole country has witnessed – and had plenty to say about – the demise of our latest All Blacks rugby coach, Razor.

To be fair, I’m not a huge fan of his… although that’s not entirely true. A 74% winning record over the past two years, second only to one other All Blacks coach, is no small achievement and absolutely deserves recognition. Those statistics matter. Performance matters.

And yet.

Losses to Argentina and South Africa x2 – some genuine firsts for us – hit hard. Yes, us, because as Kiwis we don’t just watch the All Blacks, we belong to the team in some deeply ingrained, cultural way. We invest emotionally, we analyse relentlessly, and we expect excellence. Sometimes unrealistically so.

As I’ve listened to the commentary over the past week – the armchair coaching, the blame, the hero-to-zero narrative – I’ve found myself thinking less about rugby and more about teams. Real teams. The ones many of us lead, support, or belong to every single day in early childhood education and across the wider education sector.

Because the truth is, teams are complex.

Strong teams don’t just rely on one person, one strategy, or one “winning season”. They are built over time through trust, shared purpose, clarity of roles, honest feedback, and the ability to sit with discomfort when things don’t go to plan. Sound familiar?

In ECE, we often talk about collaboration, relationships, and collective responsibility – but when pressure hits, when outcomes aren’t what we hoped for, it can be tempting to look for a single point of failure. A leader. A teacher. A decision. A system. Just like sport, education can quickly fall into a blame cycle rather than a learning one.

What the All Blacks saga reminds us of is this: performance does not exist in isolation. Coaches don’t win games on their own. Neither do managers, team leaders, or centre leaders. Outcomes are shaped by culture, systems, resourcing, capability, wellbeing, and alignment – or lack of it.

In early learning settings, we see this play out in quieter but no less significant ways. A team under strain. A new initiative that doesn’t land. A period of change where results dip before they improve. These moments don’t automatically signal failure; often they signal transition, growth, or misalignment that needs attention.

Strong leadership isn’t about never losing. It’s about how teams respond when they do.

Do we pause and reflect, or react and replace? Do we ask hard questions about systems and support, or focus solely on individuals? Do we hold steady to our values, or abandon them under pressure?

As educators and leaders, we have an opportunity to model something different from the headline-driven narratives we see in sport and media. We can choose curiosity over criticism, learning over blame, and collective responsibility over individual fault-finding.

Because whether you’re coaching an international rugby team or leading an early learning service, one thing remains true: sustainable success is a team effort. And teams, like people, deserve time, trust, and thoughtful leadership to thrive.

Perhaps that’s the real lesson here – not just about rugby, but about how we show up for one another in the teams that matter most.

Now, this was a 'Team'!