Leadership quality 7/9

It was 2002. The sky was overcast. A man went to inspect the 22 yards which could cheer or send a billion hearts to despair. It was as green as a cricket pitch can get. It was the 2002, Indian tour of England and it was the 3rd test. England were ahead 1-0 and India needed to win this test to stay alive in the series. The man was none other than Saurav Ganguly.

India was expected to bowl first after winning the toss, as the pitch was green and it was overcast. But, Ganguly chose to bat.

Everybody was surprised. Some even felt it was an outright bad decision. Most thought, the series was England’s with that decision.

In his Memoir he acknowledges that he had made that decision for his Batsmen to soak up the pressure.

It was not the only bold decision Ganguly had made for that test.As India went on to post a mammoth first innings score, the light was becoming bad.

It was not advisable to bat in those conditions. But Ganguly and Sachin continued to bat boldly.

Ganguly made 128 runs out of 167 balls, one of the faster innings by test standards. Then, he had two spinners on the side (which was unheard of in seaming conditions), who made sure England were all out on both innings. India had an innings win in that test match. The series was leveled.

If we looked at history of Indian cricket captain, nobody came close to braveness shown by Ganguly. He took over the reigns when there was trouble brewing.

He transformed a meek team into a brave team which can compete on foreign soil.

He took some really bold decisions.

1) Making Sehwag open in test matches,

2) Making Dravid keep wickets in One-day internationals,

3) Sending Irfan pathan as a pinch hitter

4) Sticking to Kumble in 2003-4 border Gavaskar trophy

5) Fighting for Harbhajan in 2001 Australia series

6) Sending Dhoni at no 3.

He also brought in a wave of fresh talent into the Indian team which defied conventional logic.

7) Yuvraj and Kaif put on a late partnership in the Natwest Final to win the series after the usual suspects were out. This would be the first for India not depending on a few stars.

8) He brought in Zaheer Khan literally out of only a few domestic games and made him bowl to Adam Gilchrist.

In short Ganguly was the boldest captain India had seen.

Now, let us come to our topic of interest. How important is boldness for leadership? Is boldness same as fearlessness? Before we go there let us look at the couplet again

A sleepless promptitude, knowledge, decision strong:

These three for aye to rulers of the land belong.

These three things, viz., vigilance, learning, and bravery, should never be wanting in the ruler of a country.

There are two phases in business leadership.

1) The first phase is when you need to build something new or rebuild something.

2) The second phase is you have to build on what is there and hold fort.

Boldness is about having the guts to try new things. This is very much an important aspect of the first phase.

Having the temperament to analyze what is needed given a current situation and being bold when it is necessary is what makes some a leader. Given the level on uncertainty and rapidly changing world, leaders find themselves in the first phase quite often these days. Boldness becomes an important trait to be successful for leaders.

A few posts back we saw fearlessness as trait. Is boldness and fearlessness the same? Although they are related, one is about offense and the other is defense. Boldness is being pro-active and taking action. It is being innovative. Fearlessness is about handling difficult situations which come under way. Fearlessness is reactive, while boldness is pro-active. Leaders should possess both.

This post is dedicated to all the bold leaders of India who believe are taking their organizations to the new level. If you like this post, more than just clicking on the like button, tag a leader who you think is bold.

If you like this post, you will also like my other posts in this series.

Post #1, Post #2, Post #3, Post #4, Post #5, Post #6, Post #7