They say about close matches ‘it doesn’t end till it ends’ but what’d one say of persisting to watch the Kanpur Test Match after two and half days were lost to weather and a sheer draw was on the cards. Die-hards (and cricket buffs essentially retired) will never say die and sit down and watch players going through the motions. But there’s a twist in tales these days , ever since the ‘Hitman’ philosophy of attacking cricket has gained traction !
In the post match presentation, Rohit, winning captain of an incredible turnaround win talked of the strategy adopted and the targets set for everyone to follow, eyes wide open ! The Bangla Desh batters who didn’t know what hit them in the last two days, first the blitzkrieg from the openers led by Rohit himself with the unstoppable Jaiswal and then the bowlers doing the bundling job with deadly acumen in Bangla’s second innings. The crowds got their money’s worth but ‘leadership’ trainers can take a leaf out of this.
It reminds of the financial ‘targets’ that would be set for Branch Managers in terms of key parameters in the Bank during our time around a decade back. While a certain annual rise from the previous year’s figures is reasonable, authorities would demand rhetorically ‘Any target that’s easily achievable isn’t worth taking’ and exhort BMs, to their utter dismay, to take up ‘challenging targets’ along with normal targets. It was a clever ploy that if you aim very high, then you land up at least above the ground level ! What about the pressure of failure on Managers that given targets were unattainable ?
However, coming back to ‘Rohit’s challenging target for his batters’ there was cushion that failure to score wasn’t considered poor as long as the right intent (efforts) showed on the field. His rationale for high targets was attaining the ultimate goal of qualifying high for the WTC and that was shared in spirit by all players. Targets mean nothing but higher figures if there isn’t an underlying corporate philosophy of growth with quality.
In the ‘Rohit’ (and Coach Gambhir) case study is the trust and belief that was reposed by all the stakeholders in each other’s commitment and having the other’s back to fall on. While cricket is a team game where collective brilliance matters more than individual excellence, leaders in organizations look for big players and don’t emphasize role that team bonding, empathy, close camaraderie plays in putting together a great business result. Low performers will change to great with conducive and supportive environment.
Working on Living 