26 February 2020

If you want to be different and better, you have to bear the risk of being different and worse

Statistical analysis can’t measure courage or tell you which individual has the capacity to lead.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 07: England player Ben Stokes celebrates after Day Five of the Second Test between South Africa and England at Newlands on January 07, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

I was at Sandhurst recently for a seminar on sport and leadership organised by Ed Smith, England national cricket selector, writer and New Statesman contributing writer. Smith is the co-founder of the Institute of Sports Humanities, which, in partnership with the University of Buckingham, has created an MA in leadership in sport, and the Sandhurst event was part of the syllabus.

The Royal Military Academy was an ideal setting for an event that explored how leadership can be passed on through traditions and institutions as well as by individuals. The line-up of speakers was engaging: Smith himself; Brigadier Bill Wright, former commander of Sandhurst; Andrew Strauss, the former Ashes-winning captain; and Nathan Leamon, who crunches data for the England cricket team and is a recent first-time novelist.