Kieran Read is more than just a former All Black player. he is one of the greats. Over a decade, he won 127 Test caps, captained New Zealand's All Blacks team 52 times, won the Rugby World Cup twice (2011 and 2015), and was named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2013. But what struck me most about our conversation wasn't his resume, but the way he talked about leadership. I felt calm. Grounded. There is no theater.
What I consistently heard was the idea that elite performance is built long before the spotlight shines on you. As Kieran says, “If you do it right from Sunday to Friday, your performance will take care of itself on Saturday.” That mindset alone should stop most business leaders down that path. Because it quietly reveals that leadership is more than just showing up when the cameras are on.
The haka is not a threat, but an expression of identity.
Even before talking about the haka, Kieran emphasized that: “Achievements come from great culture. Culture is not a nice-to-have, it's based on performance.'' The context is important because the haka is one of the best-known cultural rituals in world sport, but also one of the most misunderstood. Just before it begins, there is a certain tense silence. The air is tense and it feels like the stadium is holding its breath. From the outside, it looks intimidating. Something is very different within the All Blacks environment.
It's both spiritual and physical, and Kieran put it bluntly: “The haka evokes your ancestors. You're connected to those who came before you.'' When the All Blacks do it, they don't think about the opponent. They think about legacy, affiliation, and the players standing next to them. “It's about breathing the breath of the person next to you and knowing that you're connected,” he said.
Research supports this. A study published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that rituals can quiet the noise in your head. It stops presumptions, impatience, and adrenaline rushes, and increases the ability to execute when it matters most. Because they anchor people emotionally and cognitively before the very moment of pressure.
Business lesson: The best ceremonies are not plays. They are like a tether, something a team can grab onto when things get tense and the result starts to tilt.
Why rituals are effective: preparation, control, focus, humility and confidence.
When I unpacked the haka, the shed cleaning and other famous All Black rituals, five things kept coming up: preparation, control, focus, humility and confidence.. These are not vague concepts. They are performance levers.
- Preparation: “Structure and routine prepare your brain,” Kieran told me. Neuroscience supports this. Ritual reduces cognitive load and decision fatigue, and frees up the prefrontal cortex for higher-order thinking.
- control: It's about managing what you can do when your environment is chaotic. Kieran said: “In moments of pressure, all you can do is control yourself.” Rituals give you that sense of agency.
- concentration: It will follow naturally. Whether it's a test match or a board presentation, rituals help people get 'in the zone'. Optimizing Mind Performance describes how ritualized behavior increases attentional control and emotional regulation.
- Humility: This is where the All Blacks really stand in a league of their own. Cleaning the shed is not symbolic, but practical. “When you stop doing those little things, you start thinking you're bigger than yourself,” Kieran says.
- Confidence: It comes from familiarity. Doing something meaningful repeatedly can help you step into a moment where you are already grounded.
Business Lesson: In volatile business environments, rituals act as stabilizers. They provide leaders and teams with repeatable ways to reduce emotional noise, focus attention, and achieve consistent performance.
When rituals become obsolete and how will the All Blacks prevent that from happening?
One of the wisest questions in leadership is: How do we keep our rituals from becoming empty acts? Kieran said clearly. “Rituals only work if they are firmly anchored in identity.” “They should be actions that show who you are.”
He told an interesting story about the All Blacks' post-victory bus ritual. After each win, coach Steve Hansen would play “The Gambler.” It was a joke at first. Then it became a hassle. And in the end it turned out like this case. “In the middle of the song, everyone's singing,” Kieran said. That's when it stopped being performative and we started building connections.
A study published in Springer Nature reinforces this point, explaining how rituals strengthen social cohesion and shared meaning, especially when repeated over time.
Business Lesson: Rituals fail in business not because they are simple, but because they are borrowed from, inconsistent with, or disconnected from the way leaders behave. What sticks is what is real, shared, and lived, especially by those at the top.
Personal ritual: Switch on.
What interested me most was how ritual manifests itself on a personal level. Kieran explained his match day routine in obsessive detail. Same breakfast, same card games, same locker layout. “I unfolded my jersey to reveal number 8. That was the switch.”
This is not a superstition. It's neuroscience. Repetition prepares the brain for action and reduces uncertainty. As Kieran said, “The human brain likes the same things and it puts us in the best condition for performance.”
Elite performers in a variety of fields, from athletes to CEOs, use similar structures. These help you regulate stress and improve your ability to perform under pressure.
Business Lesson: Leaders who ritualize their own preparation before board meetings, negotiations, and important conversations, for example, reduce uncertainty and appear calmer, clearer, and more decisive.
Conclusion: What leaders must learn.
If we take a step back, it becomes clear that the haka is not a one-time ritual. It is a visible expression of a deeper system. It is built on consistency, identity, and a deep respect for the invisible work that precedes results.
Kieran Read says: “It can't just be a ritual; it has to have real meaning.” That is the lesson of true leadership. Rituals are important not because they are dramatic, but because they reinforce values, regulate emotions, and connect people to something bigger than themselves.
The All Blacks are the most successful sporting team in history, and they are not ruled by talent alone. They have an edge because they intentionally design an environment where preparation is sacred, humility is non-negotiable, and confidence is earned every day.
Haka is not magic. It reminds us of history and the responsibility it deserves. And that's exactly why it works.
So for leaders, the question is not whether rituals belong in business. It's whether you are intentional enough to design them with meaning, and brave enough to live them.
To learn more about Kieran Read's high-performance mindset, visit his website. Website.
