General Gambhir, the next Indian Cricket Coach?

Disclaimer 1: Swearing on the holy books of all faiths, I testify that this post does not offer grand HR and culture lessons from the IPL Final.

Disclaimer 2: This post examines intriguing events from the post-IPL celebrations and what it means for General Gambhir.

General Gambhir! Actually Gautam Gambhir (GG), who is touted to be the next coach of the Indian Men’s cricket team. Especially after his team, KKR, won the IPL title in some style...

But hold on! GG was not the coach of KKR but designated as ‘Mentor’ whereas Chandu Pandit was the titled coach of the team. Neither does the KKR website nor any publication specify details about the nature of these two roles (mentor and coach).

However, the post-final celebrations reveal interesting aspects. The KKR players waxed eloquence about GG (quotes available at www.cricinfo.com) and barely anyone mentioned the coach. A couple of players cited the role of the assistant coach. But GG loomed large. And it appeared quite spontaneous and natural.

Even the captain (Shreyas Iyer) was barely called out by one player (Starc).

What do these standalone events mean for Indian cricket, especially when GG is in the talks to become the next coach of the national team?

In the absence of primary data, I rely on psychology to generate hypotheses about GG as the next coach.

Based on the post-match events, GG’s role as a title winning KKR captain in the past and GG’s interview with Ravi Ashwin, here are 3 key hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1

GG’s style would well be military-like, one that calls for complete dedication to the principles and fidelity towards the collective.

GG is adept at building strong teams by instilling a culture of stewardship, contribution and fraternity. He comes across as an individual with very strong convictions, and with little tolerance for deviation from those convictions. One of those convictions may well be an insistence on no hierarchies within the team. Meaning:

·?????? No stars and Prima donna culture in the team!

·?????? Respect for every contribution, as unglamorous as it may be!

This style works effectively when individuals become ‘soldiers’. But are there individuals in the national cricket team who may (and legitimately) not appreciate the ‘soldier’ metaphor?

Hypothesis 2

The aura of GG will make him a figure of huge importance.

KKR’s success this season may well be attributed to GG, despite the fact that he is not the designated coach. This is likely down to the leadership presence and aura (due to past success as a KKR captain and knocks in the 2007/2011 finals).

This creates a potential paradox: for all of GG’s outrage about valuing the collective over individuals, GG emerges as a key ‘individual’ in KKR’s triumph this year. This could well be emergent than engineered by GG. But such are the power of group dynamics that an individual with strong convictions about forging a ‘collective’ can well reinforce the aura of the ‘individual’.

If this hypothesis were to be true, then the corollary would be that the coach and the captain have important, but secondary roles. That leads to the next hypothesis.

Hypothesis 3

The captain of a team coached/mentored by GG has a limited but specific role.

Note: in cricket, the captain cannot be a figurehead because of the need to take on-field decisions in quick time.

Shreyas Iyer’s role, based on observations, appears to be bounded and yet impactful.

He would do the heavy lifting in terms of reading the game and making agile decisions during the game.

He comes across as a good people’s person with a light-touch approach. He is unlikely to be the ‘inspirational voice’ in the dressing room because that role is performed by GG.

Most importantly, Shreyas’ with his low-key approach and low-intensity demeanor balances the intense intensity that GG brings to the room. In the absence of someone like Shreyas, GG’s intensity over time could have unintended consequences.

?

Conclusion

Based on these three hypotheses, two tentative conclusions emerge regarding the suitability of GG as the national team coach.

Team Structure & Climate

GG as the coach will be the supremo, the general of the team. The team structure is more likely to mimic an army platoon inspired by evocative rituals and a military-style leadership.

GG is likely to build a strong culture, a climate of high performance and a relentless drive for winning.

GG, by nature of personality, will demand complete control and autonomy. The dominant personality with little fondness for star-culture could trigger angst in some parts of the dressing room.

This could be mistakenly termed ‘dictatorial’. A more apt term would be ‘strong’ or ‘authoritative’. GG is unlikely to budge from his belief systems. However, within that canvass, GG is likely to create safe spaces to experiment, fail and improvise.

Captain

GG as the coach, in an intriguing way, sets the template for the ideal captain.

The captain of a team coached by GG is essentially a good tactician and an able manager with a less intense approach. The captain plays a crucial role of counter-balancing GG’s exothermic intensity.

Importantly, the captain cannot be someone like GG.

?

Summary

A combination of recency-effect and critical-incident bias means there will be understandable clamour for GG as the coach. This could extend to viewing Shreyas Iyer as captaincy-material for the national team.

This thinking ignores the effect of group dynamics, the complexity of the human personality, paradoxes and structural dimensions.

It ignores the teasing idea that GG’s success is also influenced by a certain type of team structure, member characteristics such as obedience and reciprocal partnership with a certain profile of captain.

Whether GG gets appointed and whether he succeeds, only time will tell!

For now, it will be interesting to note how Virat Kohli views these events!

#OD #dynamics #structure #leadership #cricket #Gautam_Gambhir