George is the magazine for St.George Bank’s corporate customers. Aimed at executive-level readers, it features customer case studies, news, articles on emerging business and management trends, product information, lifestyle features and more.
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E wen McKenzie has never been one to take the easy option. Best known these days as the man who took the Queensland Reds from chronic underachievers to Super Rugby champions in the space of just two seasons, Ewen has a track record of eschewing things served up to him on a platter. Given he was born and schooled in Melbourne, rugby union may have seemed as logical a career choice as being a snow skier from Fiji. But Ewen is the kind of motivated bloke who makes things happen. He would go on to play for NSW and the ACT Brumbies, and played 51 Tests for Australia, where he counted a World Cup win in 1991 and a then-record number of caps for a Wallabies prop among his achievements. As a coach, his star shines just as bright. He admits having no particular ambition to call the shots, but after becoming assistant coach at the Brumbies and then the Wallabies in 2000, the burly town planner was forced to come up with a new set of plans. A full-time gig at NSW ensued, in which he took the Waratahs to the top of the Australian domestic rugby pecking order. From there it was a brief stint in France; but it's been the two years at the Reds that's cemented his reputation. Not just as a coach, mind you. The fact he thinks about rugby as a business as much as a 15-man game sets him apart from many of his contemporaries. The culture club "At that point in time [when I started coaching] it was a fairly tactical and technical occupation but … I've discovered … it's a lot more about culture and business skills in terms of being head coach," Ewen says. "You have to appreciate the game but you have to be able to manage the people – and that's down the line, up the line. You have to understand the dynamics of the business and not just the team. You can function around the team, but the team is only one part and there are so many influences. To be able to influence it, you have to understand how it all works." While always learning, there's a certain continuity in approach to whatever Ewen tackles. Before he starts a new role, he speaks to as many people as he can about an organisation. Then, when he's at the coalface, Ewen likes to quickly establish what people's key drivers are and then the overall culture of the business. After Ewen on success Ewen says there's no point in being embarrassed by success. You should strive for it, embrace it but then focus on the next challenge – and get others to do the same. "As a player I had a lot of success, so you get used to it. I think it's a habit. I didn't get into things to not be successful. It's a challenge once you've succeeded. You have to overcome a mental barrier once people have ticked a box. So you need to refocus and get your minds on the new task. At the Reds, it's my job to work out what the key drivers are. By knowing and seeing things coming (like a drop in attitude or focus), you can deal with it, but that's the benefit of experience." that he'll work out who's likely to hinder and who'll help and from there he'll start building a team – on and off the pitch – based around the latter. It's a philosophy he's held since he began coaching, but it has developed into a much broader skill set that has Ewen viewed as something of a change-management maestro. He put it into practice at the struggling NSW Waratahs from 2003–08, with two grand final appearances (in the eight years of Super Rugby prior, the Waratahs had made just one semi- final). In an often difficult, surprisingly politically charged environment, there'd been four coaches in eight years. Ewen logged five seasons of his own. "I do a lot of learning by talking to people. You start to work out what the mechanics of the business are that way." 16 George www.stgeorge.com.au/george