5 Leadership Lessons from the Indian Meltdown (ICC Champions Trophy Final- Cricket)

ICC Champions Trophy Final June 18, 2017; India lose by 180 runs

Pakistan 338-4 (50 overs) ; India 158 (30.3 overs)

1. The Game Is Not Over Till It Is Over: Play till the End.

While the Pakistani team even after building a clear path to victory continued to play with the same vigor; the Indians had essentially given up after their first few wickets fell in quick succession. Only one player (Hardik Pandya) took the fight to the other camp but he too was let down by his own team-mate in a disastrous run-out.

Turnarounds are possible in any game.......and in business and life.

For a successful leader the zeal to recover from losses, regroup and fight till the end with an indomitable spirit needs to exist at all times.

2. All for One, One for All: No First Among Equals.

Over-hyping the contributions of some players like Virat Kohli and M.S. Dhoni made the team mentally over-dependent on them resulting in a situation where the team was psychologically undermined when these players were quickly knocked out of the game.

Also, players need to be willing to take one for the team and sacrifice their own personal agenda in case another player is better suited to take the cause forward (Seeing the way Hardik was playing; Jadeja should have been willing to sacrifice his own wicket as the run-out fiasco played out)

A successful leader needs to acknowledge and recognize key contributors but not at the cost of undermining the efficiency and efficacy of the entire team. No one is indispensable and the game needs to go on even if some key players get knocked out early.

3. Manage Expectations.

The Indian Team had tried to temper the unrealistic expectations that had been created for them by the media. However, the weight of the nation’s over-hyped expectations was like an albatross around the team-member’s necks. The Pakistan team despite the expectations from their own nation managed to create an under dog image. As a result every win of the Pakistan team was a bonus for the fans (esp. after a string of early losses, including one to India).

A successful leader needs to manage the expectations of the stakeholders, ground them in reality and also shield the team from the unreasonableness.

4. Be Flexible, Creative and Responsive: You are only as good as your Plan B.

The Indian team failed to respond flexibly and creatively to the Pakistani onslaught. They seemed to be caught in a warped game-plan and were not able to modify it once they saw it unraveling.

Successful leaders war-game different scenarios and the options to switch between them. Even if the real life scenario may turn out to be different, the practiced ability to switch between scenarios will come in handy. Very rarely will a one trick pony come out on top.

5. Stay Calm, Stay Focused and Execute.

Unfortunately the game played out to the stereotypical “Fail Under Pressure Indian Team” vs. “Go for the Kill Pakistani Team”.

I am not sure wearing ones emotions on one’s sleeves and creating hype ahead of the event is the best approach for high stress scenarios. There is something to be said about staying focused and keeping the emotions bottled up till after the game when they can be all let out.

Successful leaders have the ability to channelize their teams emotions – anger, sadness, joy towards achieving the goal at hand rather than wasting that energy on unproductive displays.