Business conversion
Craig Hudson on life at Xero
Xero New Zealand country manager and former NZ Sevens player Craig Hudson, is probably one of the last businessmen one might expect of ever having had an inferiority complex.
The towering 1.98 metre 39 yearold, is one of a select group of Kiwi rugby players who have managed to forge a second successful career in the corporate world, the bestknown example perhaps being former Fairfax New Zealand boss and Trade Me chairman David Kirk.
On the field, Hudson’s career highlights included winning the Sevens tournament in Hong Kong in 2000, playing for Cardiff at the Millennium stadium in Wales, and downing Toulouse during a spell for the then semi-professional side La Rochelle in France.
As Xero’s country manager for New Zealand, Hudson is now responsible for a 40-strong team of sales and marketing staff and consultants, Xero’s pivotal local relationship with bookkeepers and accountants, and more than 250,000 customers.
There was no bridge built for him between the two careers.
Hudson snaps his fingers and says his life changed ‘‘just like that’’ after he was forced into rugby retirement and sent back to ‘‘ground zero’’ in 2003 by a virus that attacked his heart.
‘‘The transition out of sport into business life is hard.
‘‘I’d only gone to school to eat my lunch and play rugby. That’s your identity right? To have it all taken away was relatively difficult, not having that degree or profession behind me to fall back on.’’
Many of his former team mates in France and Cardiff have successfully moved on to different careers, but others have struggled with the loss of camaraderie and the sense of belonging and common purpose, he says.
Hudson admits he found it frustrating when he found new doors were closed because he did not have a university education, and has done away with a requirement for tertiary qualifications for some job roles at Xero.
‘‘In 2006, every single job application I went for had a requirement of having a university degree. I’ve only recently got over the inferiority complex that I don’t have a degree.
‘‘But times are changing. There are large organisations in New Zealand that have removed that need. I’ve walked into enough boardrooms around the world to realise that is a just a person sitting beside me, not this ‘higher being’ with a job title.
‘‘I am learning way more in this role than I think I ever would walking into a classroom,’’ he adds.
Hudson got his first ‘‘real job’’ as a part-time swimming coach, before moving into advertising sales, working for McFall Fuel and then returning to Britain and landing a job with Xero in 2014.
There, he was promoted twice to become responsible for its business in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and emerging markets, before returning to head Xero’s New Zealand business in January.
Hudson credits a spell under Steve Hansen at the Crusaders Academy for teaching him the ‘‘core of what ‘drive’ is’’.
As in sports, being ‘‘laser clear’’ on what everyone does for the organisation to contribute to the end goal is key, he says.
‘‘You have to make sure that what you are trying to do is measurable and attainable, and that you are able to celebrate the successes along the way. I’ve been able to bring a little bit of that culture into Xero.’’
Patriotism as well as an enjoyment of competition has been another constant in Hudson’s switch from sport to business.
‘‘New Zealand is one of the most digitally-connected countries in the world and we have an opportunity to create, test, evolve and export excellence to the world. That is what excites me most about coming home,’’ he says.
The transition out of sport into business life is hard.