Kerr Describes Creating Culture of Army Excellence

Kerr Describes Creating Culture of Army Excellence

James Kerr speaks at AUSA2024
Photo by: Pete Marovich for AUSA

To craft a legacy of Army excellence, leaders can take inspiration from the culture and values of the All Blacks, the New Zealand national rugby team James Kerr analyzed in his bestselling book, Legacy: What The All Blacks Can Teach Us About The Business Of Life.

“The All Blacks say to leave the jersey in a better place. And it's this idea of legacy, ... of making our mark and making our difference with the limited time that we have here on Earth,” Kerr said Oct. 15 during a keynote presentation at the Leader Solarium at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition. “By no means is that the only reason that the All Blacks have been so successful,” Kerr said, but it has helped the team achieve “some quite extraordinary results.” 

High-performing groups understand that performance is determined by capability and behavior, Kerr said.

“Your capability [and] your talent … as an organization … will either be multiplied or not by the way you behave, by the myriad of small decisions and actions that you and your people make,” he said. “The higher those standards [are], the more of a force multiplier to your capability [they are].”

The Leader Solarium, hosted by AUSA’s Center for Leadership, is in its third year. This year’s Solarium participants include 55 battalion leadership teams from the Regular Army, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard and one team each from the United Kingdom and Australia.

The best groups also opt to focus on the culture they create, as opposed to results, Kerr said.

“The focus in high-performing environments is not on results,” Kerr said. “Results are the byproduct of doing it right, of creating the right culture, the right environment, right ethos, the right standards and expectations ... and aligning around that in a way that you're getting the accumulated character.”

Effective leaders also prioritize the voices of those they lead and are transparent, Kerr said.

“It's important to know what the troops are up to and what those perspectives are at that front line,” he said. “You're trusted to have a valid opinion, and you're trusted with other people's opinion. ... The more transparent you can be … the more trust you tend to build.”

The Army’s legacy to come is in troops’ hands today, Kerr said. “A legacy isn't something that's created conveniently for us, it's something that we have the … obligation to create,” he said. “How can you make your teammates better? And how can you leave your jersey in a better place?”

— Karli Goldenberg