Playing to Win

I used to follow cricket quite a bit when I was younger. The innocence and fun and excitement was all shaken after the several fixing scams that were unearthed. I even wrote about this a long time ago where I likened a cricket match to a WWF wrestling bout, where everything is play acting. Frankly, IPL is almost there in that aspect and I have started to treat IPL matches like any other serial on TV. Web series like Inside Edge have only confirmed my thoughts and views; after all movies are likely reflections of reality.

Anyway this post is not about cricket. This one is about using cricket as an example to discuss leadership styles in the corporate world. Not that there have never been such articles. Every time some team (especially India) wins under difficult circumstances, there will be a flurry of posts and tweets about the management lessons from the win. The last one that resulted in a stream of such posts was the Test match win by India in Australia, coming from behind.

I wanted to go back to the World Series Cup that happened in Australia in early 1985. Sunil Gavaskar was the captain, but he had announced that this would be his last series as captain. Kapil Dev was in the team as a lead all rounder. Kapil had earlier been captain of the team and for this series, Gavaskar had been named captain, replacing Kapil - a touchy situation. And hence Gavaskar's announcement served to provide some sort of a logical end point for Kapil to come in back as captain and lower the tension in the team. India won the cup comprehensively and clinically. And this is where the contrasting leadership styles came into focus.

Kapil Dev was this passionate, high energy and talented leader who could personally bat, bowl and field outstandingly. His leadership narrative and style was -->

"Don't we all want to win? All of us need to bowl, bat and field well as if our lives depend on it."

"What's there to discuss? Lets go out there and play to win."

And he precisely did that in the World Cup win in 1983! The team rallied around and things fell into place - less of method and more of passion, energy, optimism and ownership. The result was spectacular.

And just 2 years later, with Gavaskar at the helm, method leadership came into play. Gavaskar broke down the roles and defined clear responsibilities.

• Ravi Shastri please hold on to one end. Don't lose your wicket. Scoring runs quickly is not your responsibility. Do rotate the strike though.
• Kris Srikanth - go for runs in the first 10 overs. Don't worry about losing your wicket.
• Chetan Sharma & Madan Lal please ensure you do not give away more than 80 runs between the two of you in your 20 overs.
• Kapil Dev & Roger Binny - go for the jugular, don't worry about runs.
• L. Sivaramakrishnan - I want 3-4 wickets from you. Don't worry too much about runs.

I am sure there were roles / instructions for others as well. The team performance was clinical and barring the last match, every team that we played against was All Out. I remember that by the time I would get up in the morning, brush my teeth and turn on the TV, Boon and Marsh would be out to Roger Binny, many times clean bowled!! :-)

When teams are small it is easier to get into the Kapil Dev mode, but as organizations grow, there has to be a method and a structure. Expecting folks to be as passionate and committed as the captain, may result in disappointments. I think Indian cricket has now evolved far beyond those early days and method / process are now par for course.

But this example from cricket from my early days, does serve as a good pointer to two contrasting leadership styles. Many times team mates wish to specialize and perform defined tasks, knowing full well that someone they trust & respect is orchestrating their efforts towards a win.

"Just do this much well and leave the rest to me" is a very comforting and non threatening place to be in, within a team. Being caught in a bind when things do not go your way and being told, "didn't you want to win. You should have thought of and done whatever it takes to win" is a very disconcerting place to be in and team mates end up not knowing what is to be done going forward.

I know that the VUCA world we are in, perhaps does not allow for this certainty and simplicity especially in the corporate world. And in start ups and small teams, passion, ownership and playing multiple roles is to be expected. But large successful firms that have grown predictably and durably have demonstrated that method and structure and predictability does work well alongside passion, ownership and initiative, most times.

What has been your experience? Do write in with your comments and ideas on what you have seen work well with teams in your corporate life.

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