It is only when you fail, that you can succeed!!

The last few days cricket aficionados have been treated to a blitzkrieg of phenomenal cricketing abilities. This #CWC2019 has given us all some brilliant sporting moments, surpassing physical abilities and mental strengths that lesser mortals only dream about. The Indian Cricket team has delivered so far and we are all pleased with reaching the semi-finals, we continue to bestow our faith on them and hope for #aurekbaar (#oncemore) with lifting the cup.

However, one incident that was disturbing was how several so-called fans used their positions behind the small screens to criticise a demi-god in our cricketing world, MS Dhoni. This man who has enthralled cricket fans the world over with his sporting skills for nearly 15 yrs, has stayed on top of his fitness – physical and mental and got glory for the country across the various formats of the game. As a commoner, it is not possible to even imagine what difficulty and sacrifices a great sportsman goes through to reach such pinnacles / milestones as MSD. So when he fails to perform in one match, or rather does not perform the way people expect it is pretty easy for audiences to slam him, to criticise him for his age, pace and what not. I would like to question this ‘invasion of idiots’ on social media if they have bought a ticket to watch the game live, if they have every stood in the middle of the ground for 2-3 hours in scorching heat, let alone run like your life is at stake – with the intent to win. Why do people get so critical of a single performance and choose to get so vile in their comments? It is this very myopic, short-termish views that several 1000s across the world post and gets picked up by media, which then trends to create opinions. Are these ‘experts’ comments even worth re-publishing.

MSD has delivered for the country and he does not need to prove it everytime, each individual has a tough day, a bad day and we are all allowed that privilege. India learnt from the England loss and they will surely put that into practice in further matches. That’s what good sportsmen do.

This entire episode led me to think about similar situations that we recruiters find ourselves in, while sourcing the best talent for our customers. When we begin on these assignments the intent is to surface the best and ensure they join. Even after being successful over many years, with several placements for all kinds of organisations there are times when we even the best of recruiters may not be successful, however that cannot be a reason to cast aspersion on their ability to deliver the best talent again. This is not in anyway equating to MSD but it's about a similar thought process. If you trust someone with their abilities then it is important to back them completely.