Dan Carter: The Autobiography of an All Blacks Legend

Product Information

My experiences held value not only in rugby, but beyond. My confidence grew when organisations like AstraZeneca, who were trying to develop a Covid vaccine at the time, and a team at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, part of the University of Oxford, wanted to hear my thoughts on managing pressure. I also spoke in Paris with the general managers of Louis Vuitton, at the invitation of their CEO, Michael Burke, about the importance of humility in a team environment.

This book is your new bible for life. This is the book that is going to give you the words of wisdom, the messages, everything you need to navigate your everyday life. It's not a book about rugby, it's a book about life. * Jake Humphrey, author of 'High Performance' * They asked me if I wanted to continue and I was like, look, I’m in my 30s now, I’ve got a couple of children. There’s a time to move aside.” Leadership is a skill that can be learned and developed, and in any strong organisation you need leaders “all over the team.” Dan says that he had to practise and train to be a better communicator; clear, precise and direct. He also learned to demand excellence from others, and have the uncomfortable conversations that this entails. With the “no individual is bigger than the team” as a core value, he did this in the best interests of the team. He also stresses that it all starts with listening – really tuning into what’s being said. At a time when many people are contemplating the next step in their career, working hard towards achieving their goals, those of us in sport are contemplating the end. Will it be a career-ending injury? The dreaded tap on the shoulder from the coach? Or will we get to choose the manner of our departure? Everyone wants a fairy-tale ending: only a privileged few achieve it.

Select a format:

Having Growth Faculty membership grants your employees 12 months of unlimited access to masterclasses and interviews with world-class coaches and thought leaders, engaging events, networking opportunities and an on-demand library of leadership resources. (See our 2023 line-up of live virtual and in-person events ) And then there was the anxiety, the self-doubt. I’d dabbled in business during my sports career, but if that was where I saw a future, where would I fit in? I never went to university, and a part of me had always thought, “I don’t deserve to be in these important business meetings. I’m not smart enough. My input doesn’t matter because I’m just a rugby player.” I wanted to be vulnerable about the difficulty of finishing something that you love and you feel like you were put on this planet to do. It's quite a challenging process, and not just for sports people. I wanted to document it, and I talked to various people to help me navigate this change.”

Throughout my playing career I’d always known what my purpose was. When I got out of bed each day I was striving to improve upon the player I was yesterday, to be the best rugby player in the world. It meant setting relentless standards for myself. And it also demanded great sacrifice: at times putting my career and my pursuit of excellence first, and my family second.

Suddenly, everything was put into perspective for me. Hearing this from my son, a 5-year-old whose only take is that he gets to have his dad around again, crystallised the thoughts that had been swirling around my head for years now. When is the right time to go? I was an aging athlete who had achieved everything I’d wanted to in the game. What exactly were my reasons for wanting to continue playing? In this book, I take you inside a journey that has forced me to look inwardly in a way I've never had to before. It's been challenging, frustrating, rewarding and left me full of gratitude. So, instead of “retiring” he began a process of repurposing – where he established his own set of values and beliefs.