The Indian cricket team won the World Cup 2011 and the nation enjoyed the moment. The country has been led to the victory under the able leadership of MS Dhoni who is believed to have captured all possible frontiers in his tenure as a captain by winning the T20 and ODI world cups alongside attaining the ICC rank #1 in test cricket.
I have always believed that sports are a perfect ground for displaying the leadership and a lot can be learned from the leaders and their actions in the field. The winning speech by MSD had some very valuable lessons for leadership. After listening to his speech my respect for him as a leader grew multi folds, given such an emotional moment and short time frame he effectively communicated his vision and journey. You can listen to his speech embedded below after which I present my five key lessons of leadership from the great captain.
1- Deliver- I think that is the most important aspect of a great leader. Before any leader can become great he needs to deliver the goals which were decided for him or by him. The results in present world are the most important parameter for a leader.
2- In Contingency Lead from Front- The way he decided to come at number four when two wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag had fallen shows a very positive trait. The situation was a contingency situation and his decision to come higher in the order and lead things from the front is what gives a lot of confidence to the team mates who might already be under pressure or under fire due to the situations and constraints beyond their control.
3- Exposure for Juniors- As he said in his speech that Dhoni himself was coming down the order to ensure the new or younger players can play up the order relatively free of pressure while he would field the crunch and the pressure. Despite affecting his personal performance his priority was providing exposure to juniors.
4- Take Calculated Risks-He took the risks of choosing players like Sreesanth in the final who hadn’t played a single match in the tournament. The decision was a risky one and he was well aware of it as he stated in his speech but he still took the risk and accounted for if it might have gone wrong.
5- Communicate- As he spoke that the decision like him moving up the line up was not only discussed with his mentor but also the senior members of the team. The communication within the team makes for a very important trait and also plays a crucial part in the uniting the team which is true quality of the leader.
So these were my five leadership lessons from the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, do you find any other lessons from him?
by Prats | on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 at 5:22 pm | 
General Management, Personal Management . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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April 5th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
I think one of his BIGGEST strength is he is his own man…
The media, former cricketers, analysts, commentators can go jump in the lake… Dhoni will do what he thinks is right… !!!! What he thinks is best for his team… People call him the gambler but its Dhoni’s own instincts that he backs and doesnt try to go for the popular choice.. !
Atleast even if he fails, he will not blame anyone else !!!
April 5th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
@Hitchwriter: I agree his choices are unconventional and he sticks by them no matter what the world says.
April 5th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
What nice post !! dito. I too was thinking the same after listening his speech and my respect for him has increased so much as of Sachin.
He is really a terrific guy who takes responsibility for what he has done or going to do. He accepts the truth ti.e. the main thing. Very rarely you would be able to see such type of leaders who accept theirs truth.
Last but not least he Believe in himself and his team (a most important thing ).
April 6th, 2011 at 4:42 am
Very true about all the points. Also he keeps a cool head and is balanced under all circumstances. That in my opinion is a very difficult thing to do but very important for a leader !