21974814 Leadership Case Study on Saurav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly A Case Study in Leadership

SUBMITTED BYTUSHAR GARG-8164

ABSTRACTThis case is about the charismatic and controversial former captain of the Indian national cricket team Sourav Ganguly (Ganguly) The case outlines the emergence of Ganguly as a leader his spectacular rise and subsequent fall from grace Ganguly became the captain of the team in 2000 when it was in a deep crisis Over the next few years with the help of the coach John Wright he soon turned the team into a combative unit His team building skills impartiality and guts displayed in supporting his team members through thick and thin endeared him to the team Experts credited him with instilling a sense of aggression in the team Ganguly soon became the most successful captain in the history of Indian cricket

The case also discusses the fall of Ganguly in 2005 and his public spat with coach Greg Chappell (Chappell) which led to his exit from the team With a section of the media running a vilification campaign against him and the team management being clear that it did not want him back in the team the international career of Ganguly seemed to be over Since age was not on his side few felt that Ganguly could make a comeback into the team But Ganguly refused to announce his retirement and continued to fight to win back his place in the team despite all the odds

The case will help understand various issues in human resource management and organizational behavior such as leadership motivation team building etc

ISSUES

raquo Understand the issues and challenges in leadership and team building team management

raquo Understand the theories in leadership (trait theory etc)

raquo Understand and make generalizations on the various concepts of group dynamics change management conflict management etc

raquo Appreciate the importance of people skills for a leader manager

In a single day he can provoke exasperation infuriation and congratulationshellip[Sourav] is a mixture of dashing cricketer disdainful aristocrat protesting youth charming socialiser glorious leader and fierce competitor1

- Peter Roebuck former cricketer newspaper columnist and radio commentator

[Gangulys] deft management skills I know have also influenced many of us in the corporate world Saurav has demonstrated very effectively all the qualities of a corporate leader Saurav has demonstrated how to build and manage a team how to succeed at home and to replicate that success overseas Saurav has demonstrated the importance of getting the best resources and talent motivating them and to emerge as a serious player in a competitive environment2

- B Muthuraman managing director Tata Steel3 in 2004

Saurav is an example of an outstanding leader who was willing to take strong hard stands He also managed his team well and backed a number of young playershellip He failed because of a certain situation he could not handle Every leader succeeds and fails depending on the situation she is working under4

- Harsha Bhogle Television commentator and cricket columnist in 2006

A CHARISMATIC AND CONTROVERCIAL LEADER

In February 2006 after the Indian cricket teams tour of Pakistan Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly (Ganguly) was axed from the Indian test squad Earlier he had also been dropped from the one day international5 (ODI) team

Ganguly who was considered an inspirational leader and the most successful captain of the Indian cricket team found himself out of the team he had built and captained since the last five years

Ganguly who hailed from the city of Kolkata in West Bengal6 was first selected to play for the Indian national cricket team during the 1991-92 tour of AustraliaHowever after the series he was dropped from the national squad In 1996 Ganguly made a comeback to the national team and quickly rose to prominence in the international cricketing arena He was considered to be very competitive and often got under the skin of the opponent While he got the nicknames The Prince of Calcutta and the Royal Bengal Tiger and was affectionately called Dada7 by his team mates he also earned the nickname Lord Snooty from the competitors and the foreign media

Ganguly got the job of captaining the Indian cricket team in 2000 when Indian cricket was going through a turbulent phase The match-fixing8 scandal had left an indelible imprint on Indian cricket with some prominent players being banned from the game In addition to this the team had lost a rare test series at home and the morale of the team was at its lowest Bitter from his previous experience Indias cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar (Tendulkar) declined the captaincy By default the captaincy came to Ganguly Ganguly wanted a professional foreign coach and accordingly in November 2000 former New Zealand cricketer John Wright (Wright) joined the Indian team as coach

Under Gangulys leadership various cultural changes were brought about in the Indian team Ganguly who was considered a very aggressive player soon instilled aggression in the team and the team started performing well

The legendary former Australian captain Steve Waugh (Waugh) said I saw in Sourav a committed individual who wanted to inject some toughness and combativeness into a side that had often tended in the past to roll over and expose a soft underbelly11

The team members especially the young crop of players that Ganguly had helped groom were very loyal to the captain

The fact that Ganguly was considered the first Indian captain who was free from the ills of parochialism and his courage to stand up to the powers-that-be in the interests of team members endeared him to the team Under Ganguly the team started winning away from home something at which it had never been very good The crowning glory of Gangulys career came in the 2003 World Cup when India played in the finals after 20 years India was being viewed as the team that could challenge Australia as the leading team in world cricket Ganguly was considered as the best Indian captain ever due to the good run the Indian team had under his leadership

However his personal batting performance suffered during the mid-2000s With the team too not doing too well from late 2004 calls for dropping Ganguly from the team started gaining ground in certain quarters However despite his personal batting form his supporters in the team did not see any reason for a change in leadership The fact that the BCCI bigwig Jagmohan Dalmiya was a staunch supporter of Ganguly also helped him remain captain However by early 2005 Wright had announced his decision not to renew his contract and Ganguly lobbied to get Greg Chappell (Chappell) the famous former Australian cricketer appointed as the coach

1972ndash1989 Early life and introduction to cricketSourav Ganguly was born on 8 July 1972 in Kolkata and is the youngest son of

Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly[2][3] Chandidas ran a flourishing print business and was

one of the richest men in Kolkata[4] Ganguly had a luxurious childhood and was

nicknamed the Maharaj meaning the Prince[5] Since the favourite sport for the

inhabitants of Kolkata was the game of football Ganguly was initially attracted to the

game However academics came in-between his love for sports and Nirupa was not very

supportive of Ganguly taking up cricket or any other sport as a career[5][6] By then his

elder brother Snehasish was already an established cricketer for the Bengal cricket team

He supported Gangulys dream to be a cricketer and asked their father to get Ganguly

enrolled in a cricket coaching camp during his summer holidays Ganguly was studying

in tenth grade at that time[7]

Despite being right-handed Ganguly learnt to bat left-handed so he could use his

brothers sporting equipment[5] After he showed some promise as a batsman he was

enrolled in a cricket academy An indoor multi-gym and concrete wicket was built at

their home so he and Snehasish could practice the game They used to watch a number of

old cricket match videos especially the games played by David Gower whom Ganguly

admired After he scored a century against the Orissa Underndash15 side he was made

captain of St Xaviers Schools cricket team where several of his teammates complained

against what they perceived to be his arrogance While touring with a junior team

Ganguly refused his turn as the twelfth man as he reportedly felt that the duties involved

which included organising equipment and drinks for the players and delivering

messages were beneath his social status Ganguly purportedly refused to do such tasks as

he considered it beneath his social status to assist his teammates in such a way However

his playmanship gave him a chance to make his first-class cricket debut for Bengal in

1989 the same year that his brother was dropped from the team

2000ndash2005 Ascension to captaincy and accolades

The shirt that Ganguly took off at the finals of the Natwest Trophy on display at a store

in London

In 2000 after the match fixing scandal by some of the players of the team Ganguly was

named the Captain of the Indian cricket team The decision was spurred due to Tendulkar

stepping down from the position for his health and Ganguly being the vice-captain at that

time He began well as a captain leading India to a series win over South Africa in the

five-match one day series and led the Indian team to the finals of the 2000 ICC KnockOut

Trophy He scored two centuries including one in the final however New Zealand still

won by four wickets The same year Ganguly tried his hand at County cricket career in

England but was not a successful In The Wisden Cricketer reviewers Steve Pittard and

John Stern called him as The imperious Indianmdashdubbed Lord Snooty They

commented

At the crease it was sometimes uncertain whether his partner was a batsman or a batman being dispatched to take his discarded sweater to the pavilion or carry his kit bag But mutiny was afoot among the lower orders In one match Ganguly after reaching his fifty raised his bat to the home balcony only to find it deserted He did not inspire at Glamorgan or Northamptonshire either At the latter in 2006 he averaged 480 from his four first-class appearances

His Lancashire teammate Andrew Flintoff thought him to be aloof and compared his

attitude to that of Prince Charles In Australias three Test and five match ODI tour of

India in early 2001 Ganguly caused controversy by arriving late for the toss on four

occasions something that agitated opposing captain Steve Waugh[38] In the Fourth ODI

he caused further controversy by failing to wear his playing attire to the toss something

considered unusual in cricket circles However India won the Test series 2ndash1 ending

Australias run of 16 consecutive Test match victories in the Second Test The match saw

India looking set for defeat after conceding a first innings lead of 274 Waugh chose to

enforce the follow-on and V V S Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for the

entire fourth days play to set Australia a target of 384 on a dusty spinning wicket The

Australians were unable to survive and became only the third team to lose a Test after

enforcing the follow-on In November 2001 Gangulys wife Dona gave birth to their

daughter Sana Ganguly At the Border-Gavaskar Trophy of 2001 During the final match

of the 2002 Natwest Trophy held in Lords after a stunning performance by team

mates Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif Ganguly took off his shirt in public and

brandished it in the air to celebrate Indias winning of the match He was later strongly

condemned for tarnishing the gentlemans game image of cricket and disrespecting

Lords protocol Ganguly said that he was only mimicking an act performed by the British

all-rounder Andrew Flintoff during a tour of India In 2003 India reached the World Cup

Final for the first time since 1983 where they lost to the Australians[46] Ganguly had a

successful tournament personally scoring 465 runs at an average of 5812 including

three centuries

By 2004 he had achieved significant success as captain and was deemed as Indias most

successful cricket captain by sections of the media However his individual performance

deteriorated during his captaincy reign especially after the World Cup the tour of

Australia in 2003 and the Pakistan series in 2004[48][49] In 2004 Australia won a Test

series in India for the first time since 1969 It was speculated that Ganguly was in

disagreement with the head of cricket in Nagpur over the type of pitch to be used for the

Third Test The groundsmen went against Ganguly leaving a large amount of grass on

the pitch Some experts indicated that the reason for this was for spite or revenge

against the Indian captain When Australias stand-in-captain Adam Gilchrist went to the

toss he noticed Rahul Dravid was waiting instead of Ganguly leaving him to ask Dravid

where Ganguly was Dravid could not give a definitive answer saying Oh who

knows[38][50]

Following indifferent form in 2004 and poor form in 2005 he was dropped from the team

in October 2005 Having been nominated and rejected in 2000 when the game suffered a

tarnished reputation due to match fixing scadals the captaincy was passed to Dravid his

former deputy Ganguly decided against retiring and attempted to make a comeback to

the team Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004 one of Indias highest awards

He was presented with the award on June 30 2004 by then President of India Dr A P

J Abdul Kalam

2006ndash2007 Comeback and rift with Greg ChappellIn September 2005 Greg Chappell became the coach for the India tour of Zimbabwe

Gangulys dispute with him resulted in many headlines Chappell had emailed the Board

of Control for Cricket in India stating that Ganguly was physically and mentally unfit

to lead India and that his divide and rule behaviour was damaging the team This email

was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Gangulys fans Ganguly had

enlisted the support from the Indian media and eventually the board had to intervene and

order a truce between the pair BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra issued a

statement that

In view of the decision that cricket is to go forward both the coach and the captain have been asked to work out a mutual and professional working relationship For this performance will be the criteria applicable to captain coach and players [] Of course the captain controls the game the coach does his own job Mutual trust is important Henceforth no playercaptaincoach will write or have any interaction with the media Going to the media will lead to disciplinary action

Ganguly Chappell and the Indian team manager for the Zimbabwe tour Amitabh

Choudhary were asked to appear before the BCCI committee where it was reported that

assurance of working together was given by themConsequently due to his poor form and

differences with the coach Ganguly was dropped as the captain of the team with Dravid

taking his place Chandresh Narayan chief correspondent for The Times of India

commented that The row with Greg Chappell just added to the mystery but he was

going through a really bad patch then his only score [of note] was a hundred against

Zimbabwe and that didnt count for much Ten months later during Indias tour to South

Africa Ganguly was recalled after his middle order replacementsSuresh Raina and

Mohammad Kaif suffered poor form

Following Indias poor batting display in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophyand the ODI

series in South Africa in which they were whitewashed 4-0 Ganguly made his

comeback to the Test team Wasim Jaffer Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble had earlier been

selected for the one-day squad despite their recent poor performances Many saw this as

an indictment of coach Greg Chappells youth-first policy Coming in at 374 Ganguly

scored 83 in a tour match against the rest of South Africa modifying his original batting

style and taking a middle-stump guard resulting in India winning the match[ During his

first Test innings since his comeback against South Africa in Johannesburg his score of

51 helped India to victory marking the first Test match win for the team in South

Africa Though India lost the series Ganguly accumulated the most runs on the scoring

chart After his successful Test comeback he was recalled for the ODI team as India

played host to West Indies[ and Sri Lanka in back to back ODI tournaments In his first

ODI innings in almost two years he scored a matchwinning 98 He performed well in

both series averaging almost 70[ and won the Man of the Series Award against Sri

Lanka

Ganguly was alloted a place in the official team for the 2007 Cricket World Cup He was

the leading scorer for India in their first round defeat against Bangladesh After India

were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage there were reports of a rift

between certain members of the Indian team and Chappell Ganguly was alleged to have

ignored instructions from the team management to score quickly After Tendulkar issued

a statement saying that what hurt the team most was that the coach has questioned our

attitude Chappell decided not to renew his contract with the Indian team and left his

post as coach citing family and personal reasons On 12 December 2007 Ganguly

scored his maiden double century of his career while playing against Pakistan He scored

239 runs in the first innings of the third and final Test match of the series He was

involved in a 300 run partnership for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj Singh[76] Ganguly

remained prolific in both Test and ODI cricket in the year 2007 He scored 1106 Test

runs at an average of 6144 (with three centuries and four fifties) in 2007 to become the

second highest run-scorer in Test matches of that year after Jacques Kallis] He was also

the fifth highest run-scorer in 2007 in ODIs where he scored 1240 runs at an average of

4428

2008ndashpresent Kolkata Knight Riders and retirement

Ganguly with the symbol of the Kolkata Knight Riders flanked by Shahrukh Khan on the

right and Gauri Khan on the left

In February 2008 Ganguly joined as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team

owned byBollywood actor Shahrukh Khan On 18 April 2008 Ganguly led the KKR in

the IPL Twenty20cricket match They had a 140 run victory over Bangalore Royal

Challengers captained by Rahul Dravid and owned by Vijay Mallya Ganguly opened the

innings with Brendan McCullum and scored 10 runs while McCullum remained

unbeaten scoring 158 runs in 73 balls On 1 May in a game between the Knight Riders

and the Rajasthan Royals Ganguly made his second T20 half century scoring 51 runs off

of 39 balls at a strike rate of 13076 In his innings Ganguly hit four 4s and two sixes

topping the scorers list for the Knight Riders

On 7 July 2008 media reported that Ganguly was being projected as a candidate for the

post of President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) against his former

mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya Reports also suggested that he could run for the post of

BCCI President in 2014 as East Zones representative Ganguly himself did not deny the

reports and did not rule out any such move The same year in October Ganguly

announced that the Test series against Australia starting in October 2008 would be his

last and stated [t]o be honest I didnt expect to be picked for this series Before coming

here I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock

Ganguly played in every game of the four-Test series and amassed 324 runs at an average

of 5400 While playing the second Test match of a series in Mohali Ganguly scored his

final test century In the Fourth and final Test with India needing one wicket to secure a

victory the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni invited Ganguly to lead the side in

the field for the final time India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy winning the

series 2ndash0

In May 2009 Ganguly was removed from the captaincy of the KKR for IPL 2009 and

was replaced by McCullum The decision was questioned by media and other players of

the team when KKR finished at the bottom of the ranking table with three wins and ten

losses After that television channel Zee Bangla appointed him as the host of the reality

quiz show titled Dadagiri It presented participants from the 19 districts of West Bengal

who had to answer questions posed by Ganguly By August he was appointed the

chairman of CABs Cricket Development Committee The job of the committee is to

receive a report from the selectors at the end of every cricket season assess the

accountability of the selectors and make necessary recommendations He played for the

Ranji cup in the Bengal team in October 2009[ Ganguly scored 110 in the match against

Delhi team and was involved in a partnership of 222 runs with Wriddhiman Saha

In the fourth season of Indian Premier League Ganguly was once again given the

captaincy of Kolkata Knight Riders after the team ended at the bottom in season 2 The

coach John Buchanan was also replaced by new coach Dav Whatmore

Twelve Most important Achievements Of Sourav

Ganguly As a Captain Of The Indian Cricket

Team 1 When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing expose in 2000 he

quickly proved to be a tough intuitive and uncompromising leader It was a very

tough time both for the Indian cricket and Sourav taking over as captain Sourav

was appointed as captain when Sachin Tendulkar shocked everyone by stepping

down from his captaincy after Indiarsquos disastrous tour Down Under in 1999 As

vice captain to Tendulkar Sourav was the most obvious choice But he went on to

win the series against South Africa 3-2 Not just that the BCCI imposed a ban on

the former captain Mohammed Azharuddin and all-rounder Ajay Jadeja Then the

stalwarts in the team

2 ldquoThe Lagaan Comes Back Homerdquo was the headlines of a national daily when

Sourav led the team to victory in the Nat west trophy in 2002Chasing a target of

326 seemed impossible but was achieved by lsquoTeam Indiarsquo in an unprecedented

fashion and who can forget the shirt waving exercise in the balcony of Lords

The Mecca Of Cricket This Win Further resolved his ability as a leader

3 Beating Pakistan in tests in Pakistan in 2004This was undisputedly one of the

most glorifying moments in his captaincy

4 Again beating Pakistan in Pakistan in ODIrsquoS in 2004 This is a feat which was

not achieved by any of his predecessors before him

5 Leading the team to victory at the historic test match at the Eden Gardens against

the mighty Australians to halt Steve Waughrsquos ldquoFinal Frontierrdquo after being made

to follow on The world saw the emergence of VERY VERY SPECIAL

LAXMAN to complete the tally of the lsquoFamous Fiversquo Not just that In that

match itself for the first time in the history of Indian Cricket an Indian Bowler in

the form of Harbhajan Shingh took a hattrick in a test match

6 The Historic series against Australia ended in Chennai with another win against

Australia The series ended in Indiarsquos Favour with a scoreline of 2-1This marked

the emergence of DADAGIRI

7 Promotion of young guns in the team was another aspect of Dadarsquos captaincy The

current Indian team has many players who were brought into the team by

lsquoDADArsquo Players like Yuvraj Dhoni Harbhajan Irfan Sehwag and Zaheer were

some his key instruments in team building lsquoTEAM INDIArsquo

8 He till date is the most successful Indian Captain with 21 test wins as a captain

and with a success rate of 42 A feat unparalleled by any other Indian Captain

9 He led Team India to the Final of the world Cup in 2003 after a gap of 20 years

Although the team lost people could see an emergence of a force which can

stand up to the mighty Australians But If the team had won the match on the 23rd

of March 2003 Sourav would have remained the undisputed Champion of Indian

Cricket

10 During the 2003 World Cup The Indian Team had an enviable track record of 8

successive wins which is quite extraordinary

11 His natural ability as a leader comes to light when we notice that his

ability to handle seniors and greats like Sachin Dravid Laxman and Kumble

without any problems Leadership comes naturally to him Under Souravs

leadership India got back to the winning habit which the team had forgotten in

the past

12 But unlike his predecessors his most important trait as a leader was that he

was Impartial Non-parochial and always pushed his players to perform better

TEN MOST COMMON TRAITS OF A

SUCCESSFUL MANAGER

1) An Eye For Talent- It should be one of the most valuable aspects of a manager

To recruit the best person for the job This is also vital for every organization in

the business sense as well Having the right person at the right time at the right

place can make all the difference In Souravrsquos case it was all the same because he

always promoted the best guy for the position in the team and not someone based

on his religion caste or state he belongs tohellip

2) Competency ndash People would always follow someone who is as competent as

them or if not more than them But it does not mean that one has to be an expert

in every field of hisher organization but needs to demonstrate ample competence

levels Also in the Indian Team lsquoDadarsquo was always referred to as a bowler with

a lsquogolden armrsquo If he could not do anything with the bat he always came up with

a vital breakthrough for the team with the ball This showcases his competence as

an all-rounder

3) Honesty ndashIn todayrsquos modern competitive world this has become a major trait of a

successful manager in view of scandals Also managers need to display their

honesty to their counterpartspeers in order to win their appreciation When

Sourav was the captain he was always honest in his appraisals for his players He

preferred Harbhajan over Kumble as he was a better performer in ODIrsquos

However against Pakistan he preferred Kumble due to his better track record

against them We come to know this from the fact that the only match in the 2003

World Cup played by Kumble was against Pakistan in the super sixes

4) Nurturing Talent ndash This trait is vital for every manager and organization

Managers need to groom their people and help them develop skills vital for the

success of their organization When Sourav was the captain his persistence on

Dravid to hone up his skills as a wicketkeeper helped him not just to play an

extra batsmanbowler but also won many a matches for India until the advent of

lsquoMSDrsquo

5) Meritocracy- This is perhaps the most important trait of a successful manager

Managers need to promote people based on merit and only on merit Sourav too

always did the same

6) Forward Looking ndash A manager with this trait in hisher attitude can always lead

hisher organization or people from a difficult situation to a comfortable position

Sourav in 2003 having lost the world Cup to Australia came back strongly to

defeat Pakistan in Pakistan in both ODIrsquos and Tests in 2004

7) Awe Inspiring ndash People always love to be inspired and follow an inspirational

leader who can take them to greater heights Sourav too was inspirational either

with his performance or with his words on and off the field

8) Insistence for Continued Performance ndash This is one quality which sets apart

managers from others The objective here is to perform day in and day out For

example in Laxmanrsquos case he came into the one day squad after his historic

performance at the Eden Gardens in 2001 but could not cement his place in the

team because of his performance

9) Emotional Intelligence ndash In Todayrsquos modern competitive world this trait has

become the deciding factor between a good manager and an excellent manager

An excellent manager will always respond to people in a way they want himher

to Sourav always did the same and the prime example of this is his waving of the

shirt violently from the balcony of Lords in 2002 to Andrew Flintoff

10) Challenge Organizational protocol ndash Every leader must have the zeal to

challenge existing organizational protocol for the good This not only strengthens

his capabilities as a leader but also as a commoner Furthermore Sourav to a very

large extent handpicked his team defying SET selection procedures often leading

to discontent in the board

SIX IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF

SOURAV GANAULY

1) Indifference To Criticism ndash Gangly always took decisions which he felt right

without caring for the criticsrsquo sake It is perhaps this indifference to criticism that

led to his omission from the team

2) No personal Insecurity ndash Sourav felt that every young player should play two

years of domestic cricket before being selected for international assignments He

also said that every newcomer should be given at least five games to prove

himself Perhaps he being at a receiving end of a raw deal that threatened to ruin

his international cricket career enabled Sourav to understand the insecurities of

other newcomers in the team better than his predecessors Sourav backed the

youngsters in the team tremendously and thus gained the love of his teammates

3) Visionary- His vision was to win the world cup for India and indeed came very

very close to win one after a gap on 20 years

4) Preference for Match Winners - He relinquished himself to make the space for

the opening slot to accommodate Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar

Ganguly will most be remembered though for having forged a winning unit from

a bunch of talented boys

5) Emotional Intelligence ndash He as a captain always believed in replying on the face

and responding in an appropriate fashion Again the prime example of this is his

waving of the shirt violently from the balcony of Lords in 2002 to Andrew

Flintoff

6) Nurturing Talent- He always wanted his players to develop skills for their and

the teamsrsquo betterment For example He along with Sachin helped Harbhajan and

Zaheer hone up their batting skills which in the future has helped India save many

matches from the Jaws of Defeat Similarly When Sourav was the captain his

persistence on Dravid hone up his skills as a wicketkeeper helped him not just to

play an extra batsmanbowler but also won many a matches for India until the

advent of lsquoMSDrsquo

Three (3) important quotes of Sourav Ganguly

relevant to Todayrsquos Management Profession

I ldquo Now or Never rdquo- On having reached the finals of the 2003 World Cup reflects

his Visionary attitude

II ldquo I have to make this boy play for India rdquo ndash On seeing Dhoni for the first time

in a domestic match This reflects his Eye for talent

III ldquo I never try to make right Decision but I make a decision and make work

rightrdquo- On winning a test match This reflects his attitude of Indifference to

criticism

Can Sourav Ganguly teach Managers about

leading from the Front What can the leaders in

businesses learn from his successes and failures

There are primarily 3 basic aspects which we learn from Sourav from his

Illustrious Carrier which are stated briefly in the following -

1) He was prone to experimentation He promoted himself to the opening slot

and along with Sachin form the best ODIrsquos opening partnership in the history

of the game This showcases his ability to shoulder responsibility An

openerrsquos job is a specialistrsquos job and he took over the responsibility to display

his Flamboyant Panache as a southpaw

2) He always provided vital breakthroughs with his golden arm He became the

first player in the history of the game to receive 5 consecutive Man of the

Match awards in one-dayers in a series in the Sahara 1997 Cup which s a

world record till date He also won the Man of the Series

3) Again due to the lack of form he dropped himself from the opening slot to

accommodate Sehwag who was a more attacking player than him showcases

that he was an honest leader and is ready to make corrections for betterment of

the team

Future Leaders and entrepreneurs can learn a lot from Sourav His unprecedented Knack

for experimentation Indifference to criticism an eye for talent his Vision and not to

mention his extraordinary EQ can make every leader stand up and notice If someone can

accommodate few of the above mentioned qualities as we see in Sourav they can make a

whole world of difference to their respective organizations

ldquoEvery leader succeeds and fails depending on the

situation he or she is working under rdquo

We do agree with the statement because of the fact that success can always be measured

in any field by performance Also since success is dependent on the performance it also

incorporates the performance of the other individuals in the groupteam simply because

Business is also about teamwork Therefore the acceptance of the leader by hisher

team the internal and external forces which directlyindirectly affect the businesstask

the performance of his colleagues and peers are responsible for the success of the leader

Do all leaders have a ldquoShelf Life rdquo

Every leader brings with himher certain ideas concepts and theories which are pertinent

to the current working scenario However the only constant is change Therefore what

is contemporary now might be obsolete in future Therefore every leader must change

hisher outlook based on the business requirements

However those leaders who donrsquot incorporate these changes fade away only to be

replaced by a more contemporary one

All these facts remind us of the fact that all leaders do have a shelf life

• 1972ndash1989 Early life and introduction to cricket
• 2000ndash2005 Ascension to captaincy and accolades
• 2006ndash2007 Comeback and rift with Greg Chappell
• 2008ndashpresent Kolkata Knight Riders and retirement