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.

5 Leadership Lessons from the Brazilian Meltdown

Germany 7: Brazil 1 (FIFA World Cup Semi Final 1)

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

While the Germans even after building an unassailable lead of 7-0 were playing as if the game was to last another 90 minutes; the Brazilians had essentially given up after the first few goals were scored against them.

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 Neymar and Thiago Silva made the team mentally over-dependent on them resulting in a situation where the team was psychologically undermined when these players were not available to play in the final game.

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 need to go on even if some key players are missing should be the mantra.

3. Manage Expectations.

The Brazilian Coach had done nothing to temper the unrealistic expectations that had been created for the home team. The weight of the nation’s expectations was like an albatross around the team-member’s necks. Contrast this with the approach taken by the US coach who had right at the outset of the tournament stated that there was no chance of his team winning (much to the chagrin of US sports-media pundits). However, as a result every win of the US team was a bonus for the fans.

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 Brazilian team failed to respond flexibly and creatively to the German 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 “Emotional Brazilian” vs. “Methodical German”.

I am not sure wearing ones emotions on one’s sleeves is the best approach for high stress scenarios. One may ascribe the display of emotions to socio-cultural reasons but 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.

Leadership- Projecting Warmth....the socio-cultural perspective

The July/Aug 2013 Harvard Business Review lead article "Connect, Then Lead" focuses on the role of "warmth" in leadership.

They then talk about various ways of "projecting" warmth including body language cues.

My feedback to the authors on this Interesting article was " What I found missing was a juxtaposition with the socio-cultural context. In some cultures a firm handshake is a sign of confidence while in others it may be perceived as rudeness. Similarly maintaining eye contact may be a sign of straightforwardness and honesty in some cultures while it may be a sign of disrespect in others.

The over-generalization of body language cues as indicators of warmth vs. confidence can lead to disastrous consequences unless they are overlaid with the socio-cultural context. Also, these over-generalizations can help perpetuate stereotypes which can result in sub-optimal decision-making (e.g. people prefering tall people over short for elected positions in the US because of the perceived projection of strength and confidence)."

An abridged version of my observations alongwith the authors' response has been  published in the October 2013 print issue of the Harvard Business Review. 

HBR October 2013 Page 20