Barrett offers guidance at Emerging Leaders Summit

New Zealand - Almost two hundred high school students spent the day at Lincoln University learning the art of leadership on Monday, which concluded with a talk from All Black Scott Barrett.

The annual Youth NZ Emerging

Leaders Summit brings promising young pupils to Lincoln for a wide range of workshops, leadership panels and to explore the campus.

Workshops covered a wide range of topics including exercise and yoga, teamwork and connection, and safe and effective social media use.

Pupils were able to snap a pic with All Black Scott Barrett after lunch, who was the keynote speaker for the event. Barrett captained the team from 2024 to 2026 before taking a break due to injury. He graduated from Lincoln University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Agriculture. He shared the importance of focusing on your personal life and goals.

“In both the All Blacks and the Crusaders, they have this concept of ‘me-we’. It’s a simple leadership concept: you have to lead yourself first.

“When it comes to leadership, this order matters. If you don’t know who you are, what you stand for and how you show up every day, then you can't lead anyone else.

“Leadership starts with knowing your values, strengths, identity and purpose, because that’s your foundation. That will keep you grounded when things go really well and lift you up when things get tough.

“Who I am first is a husband and a father, and then a rugby player. When you know that, a bad game or a tough loss doesn’t shake you. It doesn’t define you.”