Editorial: Courage - a trait that transcends disciplines

Ryan Nelsen. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

The men awarded the Herald's Sportsperson of the Year and Business Leader of the Year titles share several traits.

First, they are trailblazers. No New Zealanders have previously become fixtures in the highest echelons of their pursuits as have Ryan Nelsen, in English Premier League soccer, and Chris Liddell, in the American corporate world.

Additionally, they have both shown a willingness to take risks in their careers and to be innovative, characteristics that have played no small part in their success.

Ryan Nelsen was making a comfortable living in the so-so American professional league before he chanced his arm with Blackburn Rovers in one of the toughest of sporting environments.

He rose to the task, achieving the club captaincy and, this year, led New Zealand on its stunning unbeaten World Cup run. The utterly unexpected nature of that feat, and the novel way in which he cajoled the All Whites into believing they could foot it with Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay make him the country's top sportsperson of 2010.

Chris Liddell left the relative ease of his role as chief executive of Carter Holt Harvey to become chief financial officer at the company's parent, International Paper, then Microsoft and, today, American car giant General Motors.

At GM, he has been in the thick of the company's launch on the stock exchange, the biggest-ever initial public offer. For Mr Liddell, as with Ryan Nelsen, each step has represented a bigger challenge - and, finally, the chance to stamp their names at the highest level.