Kieran Read on The All Blacks, the Haka, and Why Rituals Matter More Than Leaders Think

Kieran Read isn’t just another former All Black. He’s one of the greats. Over more than a decade, he earned 127 test caps, captained the All Blacks 52 times, won two Rugby World Cups (2011 and 2015), and was named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2013. But what struck me most in our conversation wasn’t the resume, but the way he talked about leadership. Calm. Grounded. No theatrics.

What I consistently heard was the idea that elite performance is built long before the spotlight arrives. As Kieran put it, “If you get Sunday to Friday right, the performance takes care of itself on Saturday.” That mindset alone should stop most business leaders in their tracks, because it quietly exposes how much leadership is much more than just showing up when the cameras are on.

The Haka isn’t about intimidation, but identity.

Before we even talked about the Haka, Kieran was emphatic on one thing: “Outcomes come from a great culture, and culture isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s performance-based.” That context matters because the Haka is one of the most recognizable cultural rituals in world sport and one of the most misunderstood. Right before it begins, there’s a kind of charged stillness. The air feels tighter, like the stadium is holding its breath. From the outside, it looks like intimidation. Inside the All-Blacks environment, it’s something hugely different.

It’s spiritual and physical, and Kieran described it candidly: “The Haka draws up your ancestors. You’re connecting to the people who came before you.” When the All Blacks perform it, they’re not thinking about the opposition. They’re thinking about legacy, belonging, and the player standing next to them. “It’s about breathing in that person next to you and knowing you’re connected,” he said.

That matters. Research backs this up. Studies published in Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes shows that rituals quiet the noise in your head. Stop the second-guessing, the rush, the spike of adrenaline and improve execution when it counts, precisely because they anchor people emotionally and cognitively before high‑pressure moments.

Business lesson: The best rituals aren’t theatre. They’re a tether, and something teams can grab when the room gets tense and the outcome starts to slip.

Why rituals work: Preparation, control, focus, humility, & confidence.

As we unpacked the Haka, Sweep-the-Sheds, and other renowned All Black rituals, five things kept surfacing: preparation, control, focus, humility, and confidence. These aren’t fluffy concepts. They’re performance levers.

• Preparation: “Structure and routine wire your brain to be ready,” Kieran told me. Neuroscience supports this. Rituals reduce cognitive load and decision fatigue, freeing the prefrontal cortex for higher‑order thinking.

• Control: This is about managing what you can when the environment is chaotic. Kieran said it simply: “In pressure moments, you can only control yourself.” Rituals give you that sense of agency.

• Focus: Follows naturally. Whether it’s a Test match or a board presentation, rituals help people “get in the zone.” Optimize Mind Performance explains how ritualized behaviour increases attentional control and emotional regulation.

• Humility: This is where the All Blacks really stand in a league of their own. Sweeping the sheds isn’t symbolic, but practical. “If we stop doing those small things, we start thinking we’re bigger than who we are,” Kieran said.

• Confidence: It comes from familiarity. When you perform something meaningful repeatedly, you step into moments already grounded.

Business lesson: In volatile business environments, rituals act as stabilizers. They give leaders and teams a repeatable way to reduce emotional noise, focus attention, and perform consistently, even when conditions are unpredictable.

When rituals go stale, and how the All Blacks prevent it.

One of the smartest questions in leadership is how to stop rituals from becoming empty gestures. Kieran was clear: rituals only work if they stay anchored to identity. “They have to be behaviours that show who you are.”

He told me an engaging story about the All-Blacks’ post‑win bus ritual. After every victory, coach Steve Hansen played The Gambler. At first, it was a joke. Then it became annoying. And eventually, it became the thing. “Halfway through the song, everyone’s singing,” Kieran said. That’s when it stopped being performative and started building a connection.

Research published in Springer Nature reinforces this point, and explains how rituals strengthen social cohesion and shared meaning, especially when they’re repeated over time.

Business lesson: Rituals fail in business not because they’re simple, but because they’re borrowed, inconsistent, or disconnected from how leaders behave. The ones that stick are authentic, shared, and lived, especially by those at the top.

Individual rituals: Flipping the switch.

What fascinated me most was how rituals manifested at the individual level. Kieran described his game‑day routine in almost obsessive detail. Same breakfast, same card game, same locker layout. “I’d lay my jersey out with the number eight showing. That was the switch.”

This isn’t superstition. It’s neuroscience. Repetition primes the brain for action and reduces uncertainty. As Kieran said, “Your brain loves things that are the same, and it puts you in a great state to perform.”

Elite performers across domains, from athletes to CEOs, use similar structures. They help regulate stress and sharpen execution under pressure.

Business lesson: Leaders who ritualize their own preparation, for example, before board meetings, negotiations, or critical conversations, reduce uncertainty and show up calmer, clearer, and more decisive when it matters most.

Conclusion: What leaders should take away.

When you step back, what becomes clear is that the Haka is not a one‑off ritual. It’s the visible expression of a much deeper system. One built on consistency, identity, and deep respect for the unseen work that precedes results.

As Kieran Read puts it, “You can’t just place a ritual there. It must have true meaning.” That is the real leadership lesson. Rituals matter not because they are dramatic, but because they reinforce values, regulate emotion, and connect people to something bigger than themselves.

The All Blacks are the most successful sporting teams in history, and don’t dominate solely because of talent. They dominate because they deliberately design environments where preparation is sacred, humility is non‑negotiable, and confidence is earned daily.

The Haka isn’t magic. It’s a reminder of history, and the responsibility to be worthy of it. And that is precisely why it works.

For leaders, then, the question isn’t whether rituals belong in business. It’s whether you are intentional enough to design them with meaning, and brave enough to live by them.

To learn more about Kieran Read’s high-performance mindset visit his website.

Dr. Lance Mortlock is the author of Outside In, Inside Out – Unleashing the Power of Business Strategy in Times of Market Uncertainty, EY Canada Managing Partner, Industrials & Energy, Strategist & Adjunct Associate Professor.