Eddie Jones: "Respect is much more important than harmony"
England rugby coach Eddie Jones knows a thing or two about leadership, having also been in charge of Australia and Japan. Here he talks to Kate Magee about the management lessons he’s learned in the competitive world of sport.
By all accounts, Eddie Jones is full of contradictions. The Tasmanian considers himself an outsider, yet if he sees out his contract, which ends after the 2023 World Cup, he will become the longest-standing head coach of the England rugby team, with eight years under his belt.
There are questions about whether he’ll stay in the position until then. Many believe his time is up, after another disappointing Six Nations tournament. These include Sir Clive Woodward, who was England’s head coach for seven years and gives Jones regular negative performance reviews in his Daily Mail column.
In his new book, Leadership: Lessons from My Life in Rugby, Jones talks about the importance of empathetic leadership, why leaders should be servants of the players and is disarmingly open about his perceived failures and continued desire to improve.