Kriss Akabusi steps into the arena

Kriss Akabusi bounds on to the stage and, in a fizzing, energetic hour, shares many stories from his own life and from the world of athletics from which he draws lessons for leadership and for new headteachers.

Akabusi argues that it's not just sportsmen who perform in an arena. We all do. And his recurrent message is a bold encouragement to all of us to "step in to the arena with passion, pride and a can-do attitude".

Akabusi quotes Roosevelt's poem 'In the Arena':

"It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."

Akabusi left a children's home in London at 16 "with 9 no levels" to join the Army in Northumberland. A key figure in his life and in today's talk is Sargeant Ian McKenzie. Mackenzie recognised Akabusi's potential and provided him with the opportunities and the objectives and the support for Akabusi to achieve, to become the British Army champion - the first time he felt himself to be a succcess at anything. For Akabusi, there are many parallels between the role Sargeant McKenzie played in his life and the role teachers and headteachers play when they nurture and take pride and delight in the achievements of thousands of young people.

Akabusi challenges the delegates to ask themselves whether they look for not only their own potential but also that which is around them in their teams.

He knits his stories together by talking about the importance of being FIT. Not just fit for sport but for for life. F is the importance of focus. I is the need for Innovation. T is the vitality of teamwork.

Akabusi talks of how he rose, through being stretched and supported, to achieve Olympic silver in the 400 metres in LA in 1984. Within two years, however, Akabusi was "the baggage man" slipping down the British rankings in the 400 metres and unable to make the team as new talent like Roger Black and Derek Redmond rose above him.

Here, Akabusi really presses home the message of the need to adapt to change, to refocus on different goals, to be prepared for new setbacks when you are faced with new challenges. He tells of how he struggled to find new direction and goals before deciding to become a 400 metre hurdler. He repeats a signature message of the talk: the past is for reference not for residence.

He had to go back to basics to learn the fundamentals of his new 'trade'. And to do so, he travelled to the States to learn at the feet of the great Ed Moses. His point here: when you really mean business, when you're really motivated, it helps to learn from the best available sources. Akabusi went on to break the British 400 metres hurdles record, which he still holds.

Akabusi finishes by focusing on the story of the British 4 x 400 metre relay team, taking on the undefeated Americans at the 1991 World Championships in Japan. This is a story about breaking the rules (by putting your best man out first rather than last), of new ways of working and of teamwork, and of what happens when the team is not held together, as Akabusi argues happened to the over-complacent, all-conquering Americans.

He shows the footage of the full race, in which he, as fourth man in the British team, pipped the Americans at the finishing line. It is hairs-on-the-back-of-your neck, inspiring stuff. You can watch the full race on YouTube.

Akabusi's final message to new heads, quoting from the film Gladiator, is that the things we do in this life leave echoes in eternity. Just as he is one of Sargeant McKenzie's echoes of eternity, so new heads in the hall who "step in to the arena with passion, pride and a can-do attitude" can and will create many such echoes in eternity.