Effective Leadership Through Cricket Analogy (Part - I)

“We could speak of the antinomies of leadership – passion and detachment, vision and common sense, an authoritarian streak and a truly democratic interest in team and points of view. One requires conviction, but also the capacity not to rush answers but to be able to tolerate doubt and uncertainty” – Mike Brearley

The purpose of this article is to understand the emotional side of a leadership in the terms of practicality rather rummaging through the eluding concepts of PMBOK theology. As many at corporate level who perceive commercial side of leadership, yet failing to demonstrate any concern towards the emotional side since it is presumed as a cost-ineffective or literally as waste of time. This article has been derived from the views of successful entrepreneurs and great cricket leaders those who have led their teams to the peak during the hay days of leadership. Before we proceed into the topic I would like to share my opinion. 

In my opinion, many professionals around the world seek motivation through sports people. The reason for it is that sports people are aspired and admired indefinitely. Therefore, based on that perception I have chosen cricket considering it is the best team sport one could think-of where leadership plays a very significant role. 

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people”. – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi)

Why cricket? 

After all what sport could define leadership better than cricket? A game of cricket would last for five days and yet with no result of success. The message it implies to our daily life projects is that, as a leader if one does not lead a team to its fullest potential through a medium of effective communication with proper orientation skills or not allowing the instincts to oblige oneself to take critical decision-making steps. Then it is harsh enough to say that word FAILURE would be tagged to a leader as a last name. As it has happened in the past and it would happen in the future if any imperative measures were not taken. Few examples of leaders in the game of cricket who were being at the wrong end of the stick: England’s David Gower and Ian Botham, India’s Sachin Tendulkar (who failed twice as a leader), unquestionably the greatest batsman of the 21st century but could not master the art of leadership and finally Australia’s Kim Hughes.  But why did they fail as leaders? And what that they lacked in them to lead a team of professionals?

Define Leadership

Leadership could be defined in many ways,

- “Leadership is lifting of man’s visions to higher sights, the raising of man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of man’s personality beyond its normal limitations”:- Peter Drucker, eminent management thinker and writer.

-Leadership is an essential component to a collective and effective team work. Therefore, it intrigues a question of what makes a good leader. In this case, a good leader who…

-Makes a team to feel bigger than the teams been in the past or in the future. This leads to a sense of electricity within the team.

-Creates a vision and inspiration.

-Manages team ambience by seeing-off hot and cold temperamental phases of project continuance.

-Creates a trust and gets backed by the members of the team during decision-making process.

-Keeps the senior management at bay from their constant chiding and sacking-hiring theory during the crisis. So that all the hard work and trust that had been put in building a team would not go in vain.

-Is very accessible and embraces the importance of understanding the team members’ strengths and weaknesses. 

-Creates ownership within the team to perform their tasks with the highest order of responsibility.

-Endorses new ideas and willing to explore them.

-Is flexible enough to address very ones’ views with utmost honesty and a hear-a-holic approach.

-Gives emphasis on the approach “We Can Do It”. In other words, injecting optimism within the team.

-Keeps team first during critical decision-making process. 

-Takes responsibility to carry the team forward in tough situations and willingness to share the success with the team, by dissenting to an individualist expression of success.

-Holds the team together from the start to the end of a project. To make a statement that a team is as good as its leader.