[Applause]
New Zealand Olympian number one zero
four seven Beijing Summer Olympics 2008
Rachel Howard minutes played zero every
Olympian has a journey and a story to
tell about how they made it to the
Olympics some are turned into TV series
many dramas or movies and well then
there’s the rest of us who make it but
in my case didn’t quite cross the white
line onto the field of play it was
August 12th 2008 we were playing the USA
we had already lost two games and were
effectively out of the Olympics within
the first minute we went down zero one
actually things went decidedly downhill
quickly from there zero two zero three
zero four after 60 minutes I was on the
bench that day some of you might think
but I’d been there all tournament and
suddenly our starting goalkeeper got
injured I jumped up from the bench ready
to warm up and come on and do my part
but today I’m not telling you a disney
story I didn’t come on we didn’t win by
four in the last minute on a penalty
shootout she recovered continued to play
and I never played one single second
game over Olympics over my football
career over before the Olympics I had
decided that no matter what the outcome
was I was retiring from football I
couldn’t afford to have a full-time job
in a career and play football at the
same time but women in sport well that’s
a TED talk for another day yes I was
that person the crazy one the goalkeeper
the one who stood and go waved their
arms around like the guy at the airport
directing planes but on high-speed the
one who was never quite fast enough or
talented enough apparently
to play out in the field the goalkeeper
they always say is the crazy one but I’m
gonna let you in on a little secret
today everybody else who plays football
is crazy
I mean imagine running around the field
for 90 minutes chasing the ball like a
little dog give me the ball give me the
ball give me the ball you know what i
did i just stood there and waited for
quite often is the goalkeeper you can be
the hero or you can be the villain and
actually I’ve been both far too many
times to remember but it’s this roller
coaster ride that you go on as a
goalkeeper that helped me establish my
journey and made my success in the
business side of my career today I want
to share with you that leadership
journey and how ultimately not achieving
my Olympic dream enabled me to forge a
very successful business career and one
of the best sports companies in the
world I’m gonna take you back a little
while here to 1992 when Billy Ray Cyrus
had his number one hurt
achy breaky heart now for many of you
you don’t know who he is he’s Miley’s
dad okay so that’s something we want to
forget about 1992 but it was also the
year of the Summer Olympics in Barcelona
and that year it sparked something
inside of me
women’s football wasn’t even an Olympic
event at that stage but during that
summer I made a sign that said Sydney
2000 I hanging above the door in my
bedroom and every night when I went to
sleep and every morning when I woke up I
could see it even then as a 15 year old
I knew I wanted to go to the Olympic
Games and whether I knew it or not at an
early age I had stumbled upon one of the
important leadership traits that you can
use today the ability to visualize a
goal to state it and said about a plan
to achieve it on my journey from 1992 to
2008 I encountered many different
choices and many different routes to
achieve my dream
to make two big decisions that
ultimately impacted both my football and
my business career it also probably had
the biggest impact on my ability to
cross the white line onto the field of
play during the Beijing Olympics and
actually probably the biggest impact on
how I approach leadership today it was
April 5th 2007 and I was in camp with
the national team in Auckland in New
Zealand the next day we were flying out
to Papua New Guinea to participate in
the 2000 and women 2007 women’s FIFA
World Cup Oceania qualifiers at that
time I was the number one starting
goalkeeper and of course very excited
about the opportunity to be able to
qualify for the World Cup that evening
the girls that lived in Auckland were
able to go home and spend the evening
with their family and the rest of us
that were based overseas spent the night
in the training facilities accommodation
now to this day I can’t quite explain
why I woke up at midnight and turned on
my mobile phone but approximately two
hours later at 2:00 a.m. I received a
phone call I sleepily looked at the
phone and realized it was my mother and
like all good daughters hang up on her
and then went back to sleep
a few seconds later I showed up and
bared and realized as lovely and as
crazy as my mum was she wasn’t going to
be ringing me at 2:00 a.m. to wish me
good luck for the games coming in the
coming week I quickly got up snuck out
of the room that I was sharing with my
teammates and into the hall I called my
mum back and in their instant my life
changed forever she told me earlier that
at 5:00 a.m. the next morning I had a
choice to make
on one hand I needed to go to my
father’s funeral and then stay and
support my family on the other was a
significant choice that I had to make
about a step towards my Olympic dream
now for some of you in the room it
probably was an easy decision to make
and perhaps selfishly for myself it was
actually quite difficult in the end I
made the right choice I stayed and it
was the right choice for me and my
family but it was also a significant
turning point for me in my football
career from April 1st 2007 until the day
I retired I was never the number one
goalkeeper in New Zealand again I had
from sunset to sunrise life can have
unexpected turns and it’s the decisions
that we make and these critical moments
are that important not only for
ourselves but for the people around us
in leadership this is a lesson I took
with me no matter how good a bowl you
have or the path that you’re on to
achieving it life will throw something
completely unexpected at you it will be
totally out of your control and you’ll
have no idea what to do but it is so
important at this moment as a leader as
people look to you to lead you through
challenging times to take the time to
make those hard decisions of choosing
one option over another and being there
for the people who the difference makers
in your life and there’s so important to
make that decision using your head your
heart and I know you’re all hungry right
one year passed and I was living and
working in Germany at one of the best
sports companies in the world and I
don’t remember the exact day but I
received a telephone call from the coach
of the national team he said to me
Rachel you’re going to be in the final
team for the Beijing Olympics I was so
excited this was it my dream was coming
true I was going to be an Olympian or so
I thought
women’s football for me was a full-time
occupation but didn’t really receive the
Riu mination benefits that went with it
and like many female athletes
representing our country I was working a
full-time job whilst trying to make sure
I was making the national team I found
my business unit manager and I went up
to him excitedly and I say I’m gonna be
an Olympian I’m in the team I’m going to
Beijing he promptly informed me that he
was not going to approve my annual leaf
he said it was unfair on the team that
had been left behind to come to my work
like they had done a year before at the
World Cup I was shocked I couldn’t
believe it here I was being told by a
manager that I had to choose between my
Olympic dream and a job that I loved
very much so that evening I went home
and in the end actually it was a
no-brainer decision I could always get
I could go and achieve my ultimate dream
of going to the Olympics so the next day
I walked into work and I hand it over my
resignation letter he was shocked I was
and in fact he was so shot he asked me
not to give him that letter and give him
one day to go and talk to HR true to his
word he came back the next day and
offered me unpaid leave now many of you
might be saying unpaid leave no it
didn’t matter to me I was going to the
Olympics and I still had the job that I
really loved
so I promptly accepted his offer that
day I realized my Olympic dream was
becoming a reality but I also learned a
very valuable lesson that day that just
because it’s my dream doesn’t mean it’s
it’s an important leadership trait that
I’ve taken with me through leadership
today we have a world where we have many
visionary leaders Richard Branson Steve
Jobs in arm us and they’ve shaped the
world and continue to shape the world
that we live in today and they have big
dreams but not everybody who works for
them has the same dreams that they do
and as a leader it’s important to
understand and talk to your people to
understand what are their goals what are
their dreams and if you can enable their
dreams and goals while you’re achieving
your own then that’s a powerful way to
lead people for success after the
longest five months of my life I was in
Beijing I had made it I was there I was
an Olympian New Zealand Olympian number
one zero four seven I realized that like
the year before I was going to be the
number two goalkeeper barring some
miracle or some unexplainable kung fu
training incident but this time I was
much better prepared for the role that I
needed to play I knew that I had to be
the best number two goalkeeper that we
had ever had and in doing so raising the
level of the number one goalkeeper to
help raise the level of our team overall
as tough as it was I went to every
training and gave it 100% every training
was my game day it was my opportunity to
raise the level of my standards and in
doing so raise the level of the team and
it was my opportunity to put what’s best
for the team ahead of my own personal
ambitions and dreams and in doing so it
enabled me to play without inhibitions
fear of failure and ironically
made it more difficult for the coach to
choose between us when it came to the
starting lineup it allowed me to play to
my strengths and it also meant that I
raised the level of my game and in doing
so hopefully raised the level of the
team overall from the first to the last
game of the Olympics I never ever ever
gave up hope
that I was going to come on to the field
of play step up and play my part this is
quite often everybody wants to be the
number one all of the time it’s not
possible and as leaders it is our
responsibility to make sure that we
identify the unique skills and traits
that our team members bring to the field
of play and enable those to work
together to accomplish for the greater
good of the team and better together as
the core message that I would like to
leave with you today
is that the ordinary Olympian is inside
all of us for your face adversity we all
find a way to muddle through and
hopefully we come out the other side
stronger for it we all have our role to
play and we’re all leaders in our own
way not everybody is going to go to the
Olympics and not everybody is going to
be a crazy goalkeeper but what I would
ask of you is be crazy be crazy enough
as a leader to think that you can make a
difference that you can make a
difference to just one person’s world
even if that world is your own it’s been
worth every step to get there not lost
but finding yourself and your purpose
along the way
thank you [Applause]
New Zealand Olympian number one zero
four seven Beijing Summer Olympics 2008
Rachel Howard minutes played zero every
Olympian has a journey and a story to
tell about how they made it to the
Olympics some are turned into TV series
many dramas or movies and well then
there’s the rest of us who make it but
in my case didn’t quite cross the white
line onto the field of play it was
August 12th 2008 we were playing the USA
we had already lost two games and were
effectively out of the Olympics within
the first minute we went down zero one
actually things went decidedly downhill
quickly from there zero two zero three
zero four after 60 minutes I was on the
bench that day some of you might think
but I’d been there all tournament and
suddenly our starting goalkeeper got
injured I jumped up from the bench ready
to warm up and come on and do my part
but today I’m not telling you a disney
story I didn’t come on we didn’t win by
four in the last minute on a penalty
shootout she recovered continued to play
and I never played one single second
game over Olympics over my football
career over before the Olympics I had
decided that no matter what the outcome
was I was retiring from football I
couldn’t afford to have a full-time job
in a career and play football at the
same time but women in sport well that’s
a TED talk for another day yes I was
that person the crazy one the goalkeeper
the one who stood and go waved their
arms around like the guy at the airport
directing planes but on high-speed the
one who was never quite fast enough or
talented enough apparently
to play out in the field the goalkeeper
they always say is the crazy one but I’m
gonna let you in on a little secret
today everybody else who plays football
is crazy
I mean imagine running around the field
for 90 minutes chasing the ball like a
little dog give me the ball give me the
ball give me the ball you know what i
did i just stood there and waited for
quite often is the goalkeeper you can be
the hero or you can be the villain and
actually I’ve been both far too many
times to remember but it’s this roller
coaster ride that you go on as a
goalkeeper that helped me establish my
journey and made my success in the
business side of my career today I want
to share with you that leadership
journey and how ultimately not achieving
my Olympic dream enabled me to forge a
very successful business career and one
of the best sports companies in the
world I’m gonna take you back a little
while here to 1992 when Billy Ray Cyrus
had his number one hurt
achy breaky heart now for many of you
you don’t know who he is he’s Miley’s
dad okay so that’s something we want to
forget about 1992 but it was also the
year of the Summer Olympics in Barcelona
and that year it sparked something
inside of me
women’s football wasn’t even an Olympic
event at that stage but during that
summer I made a sign that said Sydney
2000 I hanging above the door in my
bedroom and every night when I went to
sleep and every morning when I woke up I
could see it even then as a 15 year old
I knew I wanted to go to the Olympic
Games and whether I knew it or not at an
early age I had stumbled upon one of the
important leadership traits that you can
use today the ability to visualize a
goal to state it and said about a plan
to achieve it on my journey from 1992 to
2008 I encountered many different
choices and many different routes to
achieve my dream
to make two big decisions that
ultimately impacted both my football and
my business career it also probably had
the biggest impact on my ability to
cross the white line onto the field of
play during the Beijing Olympics and
actually probably the biggest impact on
how I approach leadership today it was
April 5th 2007 and I was in camp with
the national team in Auckland in New
Zealand the next day we were flying out
to Papua New Guinea to participate in
the 2000 and women 2007 women’s FIFA
World Cup Oceania qualifiers at that
time I was the number one starting
goalkeeper and of course very excited
about the opportunity to be able to
qualify for the World Cup that evening
the girls that lived in Auckland were
able to go home and spend the evening
with their family and the rest of us
that were based overseas spent the night
in the training facilities accommodation
now to this day I can’t quite explain
why I woke up at midnight and turned on
my mobile phone but approximately two
hours later at 2:00 a.m. I received a
phone call I sleepily looked at the
phone and realized it was my mother and
like all good daughters hang up on her
and then went back to sleep
a few seconds later I showed up and
bared and realized as lovely and as
crazy as my mum was she wasn’t going to
be ringing me at 2:00 a.m. to wish me
good luck for the games coming in the
coming week I quickly got up snuck out
of the room that I was sharing with my
teammates and into the hall I called my
mum back and in their instant my life
changed forever she told me earlier that
at 5:00 a.m. the next morning I had a
choice to make
on one hand I needed to go to my
father’s funeral and then stay and
support my family on the other was a
significant choice that I had to make
about a step towards my Olympic dream
now for some of you in the room it
probably was an easy decision to make
and perhaps selfishly for myself it was
actually quite difficult in the end I
made the right choice I stayed and it
was the right choice for me and my
family but it was also a significant
turning point for me in my football
career from April 1st 2007 until the day
I retired I was never the number one
goalkeeper in New Zealand again I had
from sunset to sunrise life can have
unexpected turns and it’s the decisions
that we make and these critical moments
are that important not only for
ourselves but for the people around us
in leadership this is a lesson I took
with me no matter how good a bowl you
have or the path that you’re on to
achieving it life will throw something
completely unexpected at you it will be
totally out of your control and you’ll
have no idea what to do but it is so
important at this moment as a leader as
people look to you to lead you through
challenging times to take the time to
make those hard decisions of choosing
one option over another and being there
for the people who the difference makers
in your life and there’s so important to
make that decision using your head your
heart and I know you’re all hungry right
one year passed and I was living and
working in Germany at one of the best
sports companies in the world and I
don’t remember the exact day but I
received a telephone call from the coach
of the national team he said to me
Rachel you’re going to be in the final
team for the Beijing Olympics I was so
excited this was it my dream was coming
true I was going to be an Olympian or so
I thought
women’s football for me was a full-time
occupation but didn’t really receive the
Riu mination benefits that went with it
and like many female athletes
representing our country I was working a
full-time job whilst trying to make sure
I was making the national team I found
my business unit manager and I went up
to him excitedly and I say I’m gonna be
an Olympian I’m in the team I’m going to
Beijing he promptly informed me that he
was not going to approve my annual leaf
he said it was unfair on the team that
had been left behind to come to my work
like they had done a year before at the
World Cup I was shocked I couldn’t
believe it here I was being told by a
manager that I had to choose between my
Olympic dream and a job that I loved
very much so that evening I went home
and in the end actually it was a
no-brainer decision I could always get
I could go and achieve my ultimate dream
of going to the Olympics so the next day
I walked into work and I hand it over my
resignation letter he was shocked I was
and in fact he was so shot he asked me
not to give him that letter and give him
one day to go and talk to HR true to his
word he came back the next day and
offered me unpaid leave now many of you
might be saying unpaid leave no it
didn’t matter to me I was going to the
Olympics and I still had the job that I
really loved
so I promptly accepted his offer that
day I realized my Olympic dream was
becoming a reality but I also learned a
very valuable lesson that day that just
because it’s my dream doesn’t mean it’s
it’s an important leadership trait that
I’ve taken with me through leadership
today we have a world where we have many
visionary leaders Richard Branson Steve
Jobs in arm us and they’ve shaped the
world and continue to shape the world
that we live in today and they have big
dreams but not everybody who works for
them has the same dreams that they do
and as a leader it’s important to
understand and talk to your people to
understand what are their goals what are
their dreams and if you can enable their
dreams and goals while you’re achieving
your own then that’s a powerful way to
lead people for success after the
longest five months of my life I was in
Beijing I had made it I was there I was
an Olympian New Zealand Olympian number
one zero four seven I realized that like
the year before I was going to be the
number two goalkeeper barring some
miracle or some unexplainable kung fu
training incident but this time I was
much better prepared for the role that I
needed to play I knew that I had to be
the best number two goalkeeper that we
had ever had and in doing so raising the
level of the number one goalkeeper to
help raise the level of our team overall
as tough as it was I went to every
training and gave it 100% every training
was my game day it was my opportunity to
raise the level of my standards and in
doing so raise the level of the team and
it was my opportunity to put what’s best
for the team ahead of my own personal
ambitions and dreams and in doing so it
enabled me to play without inhibitions
fear of failure and ironically
made it more difficult for the coach to
choose between us when it came to the
starting lineup it allowed me to play to
my strengths and it also meant that I
raised the level of my game and in doing
so hopefully raised the level of the
team overall from the first to the last
game of the Olympics I never ever ever
gave up hope
that I was going to come on to the field
of play step up and play my part this is
quite often everybody wants to be the
number one all of the time it’s not
possible and as leaders it is our
responsibility to make sure that we
identify the unique skills and traits
that our team members bring to the field
of play and enable those to work
together to accomplish for the greater
good of the team and better together as
the core message that I would like to
leave with you today
is that the ordinary Olympian is inside
all of us for your face adversity we all
find a way to muddle through and
hopefully we come out the other side
stronger for it we all have our role to
play and we’re all leaders in our own
way not everybody is going to go to the
Olympics and not everybody is going to
be a crazy goalkeeper but what I would
ask of you is be crazy be crazy enough
as a leader to think that you can make a
difference that you can make a
difference to just one person’s world
even if that world is your own it’s been
worth every step to get there not lost
but finding yourself and your purpose
along the way
thank you [Applause]
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