Insights In Hindsight - Edition 1

Remembering Shane Warne and his Leadership Lessons

On 4th March this year, we lost a cricket legend - the king of spin, Shane Warne. While we reeled from the shock and the suddenness of the loss, I found some comfort in thinking about the man behind the legend. As an ardent cricket fan, I have followed the game for as long as I can remember, and I must admit that few players have left an impression on me as Warne has.

One of my favorite cricket match stories is from the time when Shane Warne captained the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2008. RR were the underdogs, a bunch of newcomers; among them was Warne. During this one particular match, they were a few wickets down with a run chase of over 200 ahead of them. At that point, it looked impossible, but they did it and they won! When asked how they pulled it off, Ravindra Jadeja said,“Shane Bhai ne humko bola, if you are in this situation, rather than asking why am I in this situation, you should say that it’s a perfect situation, and how can I make the most of this situation and win from it and that is what we did.” RR also went on to win the IPL that year, no one gave them a chance. That was the kind of leader that Shane Warne was – he inspired the teams he led/played for, his mindset was attacking and positive.

Warne was a star; he could have chosen to be in any IPL team but he decided to go with RR and showed a new generation of cricketers what it really took to win. He was a man that I admired and have learnt a few leadership lessons from. No doubt he had his flaws, but that just made him more relatable. Here was a guy who wore his emotions on his sleeve. He often came across as vulnerable or insecure but one thing that everyone who knew him vouched for was that he was a great friend. This was one of the revelations from the many tributes that came pouring in after he passed away.

I had somehow gotten the impression that Warne, being one of cricket’s greatest players, would have a small friend's circle. But the legacy he left behind was one of being the guy next door – friendly, approachable, and someone everyone liked.

Leadership is about the impact you generate, the ways in which you touch lives either directly or indirectly, and Warne touched numerous lives with the smallest interactions he had with friends and fans alike.

Ian Chappell, one of Australia's finest cricket captains has remarked on numerous occasions that Warne was one of Australia’s best captains who never captained the Australian team. I agree. When he spoke as a commentator, his perspectives and his analysis was a breath of fresh air and set him apart from almost every other commentator, it felt like he was captaining the team even while he was commentating.

Even if we don't lead a company or are not in leadership positions at work, life often puts us in situations where we are pushed into a leadership role. Warne did this seamlessly. He was able to think intuitively and take control of various situations — a trait that only captains are typically credited with. Even as a player and while doing commentary he was thinking like a captain, a leader

He was someone who always backed his team 100 percent.

From young Australian cricketers to the likes of the inexperienced RR team that won the IPL in 2008, Warne groomed many players and helped their cricketing careers take off. It must have taken a lot of courage for Warne to agree to captain a team with virtually no big names but he did and turned them into winners.

Warne was a spin bowler but his body language and the mind games he played on the field were unlike any spinner. He was known for his aggression and gamesmanship. I remember a test match between Australia and Pakistan, Australia was not getting wickets and they had tried everything. The captain, Mark Taylor threw the ball at Warne to help get a breakthrough, the batsman was Basit Ali. Everyone knew that there were only a few balls before the end of the day and Warne decided to use this to his advantage things as he knew the batsmen would be anxious to get back undefeated. He decided to call Ian Healy and a couple of other teammates for a mid-wicket chat making the batsman wait. He comes around the wicket, bowls a leg spinner and the balls goes in between Basit Ali's legs to hit the leg stump, the entire sequence of events is still fresh in my memory. Warne later revealed that the chat was only a tactic to make the batsman anxious and do something that he would not have done otherwise, this changed the outcome of the match. Leadership is about knowing the key moments and grabbing them by the collar, a valuable lesson learnt

In order to be a leader, you need to be an excellent communicator, to be able to resonate with people.

Warne was a communicator par excellence. He was probably amongst the best with his ability to inspire and communicate. You will be missed Warnie. Thank you for the memories

#InsightfullyYours #ShaneWarne #Cricket #Leadership #IPL #RajasthanRoyals

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Updates From Practus        

Practus is now Great Place to Work? certified!

In its debut year, Practus has ranked as one of India’s Top Mid-Sized Indian companies to be a Great Place to Work! We are humbled and thrilled to be recognized for creating an organization that is characterized by trust and performance.

For an organization to get certified, 70% or more respondents should rate the organization as a great workplace in the ‘Trust Index Survey’ that is conducted by Great Place to Work? Institute. We got an overwhelming response, with 82% of the team responding to the set of 59 questions. Our score was 84, which means that?84%?of the respondents rated us 4 or 5. Great Place to Work? certification is a prestigious achievement and the gold standard of employer brand recognition globally. We are humbled and thrilled! More

We recently turned 15 and we could not be more excited about what lies ahead of us! More

Practus recently delivered 25x ROI for an electrical company through performance improvement services! More

That's all for this month. See you all next month!