(Reuters) - Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster believes the crushing disappointment of failing with England at the 2015 World Cup has made him a better leader.
The 49-year-old was dismissed by the English Rugby Football Union in 2015 after the team suffered the ignominy of becoming the first host nation to exit the World Cup at the pool stages.
Lancaster has since revived his career as a senior coach at Leinster, guiding the Irish club to their fourth European Champions Cup last season.
"Failure is part of being a good leader," he told the crowd at the Pendulum Business and Self Empowerment Summit in Dublin.
"The best leaders use the hurt from failure to drive them. I failed on the public stage, and it's what made me a better coach.
"I'm not Joe Schmidt (current Ireland coach), I'm not Martin Johnson (former England captain and coach), I'm not Eddie Jones (current England coach), I'm Stuart Lancaster and it's important to be yourself. People want to see who you are, and pick up on that authenticity."
Lancaster, hailed as an inspirational figure by the Leinster players, said it was crucial for the club to build an identity with homegrown talent.
"When I joined Leinster, I told the players, 'There's no other team in Europe who will have a stronger track record as Leinster', and wanted to make the players believe they could achieve and win the European Cup," he added.
"Not once or twice beyond what they'd won already, our goal is to achieve five times, then we'll go for six or seven."
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)