Rahul Dravid, the current head coach of the Indian cricket team has been the epitome of success. He has a record of spending the most amount of time in the crease and also holds the record for the 2nd best run-scorer for India in Test cricket. He is probably one of the humble persons to have played the game of cricket. His strength was his immense concentration and he could deviate himself from any kind of media attention.
Dravid made his Test debut against England on June 20, 1996, at Lord’s alongside Sourav Ganguly and he went on to score 96 runs in his debut match. He is nicknamed ‘The Wall’ as he was able to save the team from precarious situations a lot of times. The team was able to depend on Dravid, the batsman whenever it was struggling. Dravid established himself quickly as a Test match player in the early years of his career. However, he struggled to make an impression in ODI, the shorter format of the game. It took him some time to become a regular member of the ODI team. Although it took time, his ODI records are still astonishing. He scored more than 10,000 runs in 340 ODI matches and is the 4th highest run-scorer for India.
Let us take away some of the leadership lessons from Mr. Dependable, his other colloquial name, from his 16 years of tenure in International cricket, and his coaching experience with the India U-19 cricket team.
1. Selfless Leader
Rahul Dravid always put the team first instead of himself. Once he was asked to do the role of wicket-keeper as India wanted to have an additional batsman. This strategy worked well for India during the 2003 World Cup and they went on to reach the final after 20 years. Dravid, as an established cricketer during that time, could have easily declined to the additional responsibility of keeping wickets. However, he understood the bigger picture and agreed to do the additional responsibility.
When a senior player takes up additional responsibilities, it inspires the junior members of the team as well. The same holds true in the corporate sector as well. A senior member of the team should pave the way for the junior members by taking additional responsibilities. This will inspire other teammates as well to perform well.
2. Performing well under pressure
Dravid played so many wonderful knocks for India under pressure. Players earn their greatness when they can save the team and even make the team win from a dangerous situation several times. That is why he is considered one of the legends. Everyone remembers VVS Laxman’s knock of 281 runs against Australia at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata during the 2001 tour of Australia in India. However, Dravid also played a scintillating inning of 180 and played an equal part in not only saving the Test match but also winning it at the end. How players like Dravid can consistently perform well under pressure? In one of the lectures, Sourav Ganguly mentioned that Dravid used to see pressure as an opportunity for him to do well. This is how one should look at life.
In the corporate sector as well, there will be immense pressure on your deliverables. Think of that as an opportunity for you to perform well. Never shy away from a pressurized situation. Team members will gain trust and you will earn respect if you are able to lead from the front when a critical project is underway and make sure the work gets done in a timely manner.
3. Being calm
If you have noticed Rahul Dravid during a match, you might have seen how calm he remains in the field. That’s one of the greatest traits of a leader. When you can remain calm under the most stressful circumstances, you can think clearly and make the right decision on the field. Off the field as well, Dravid was able to maintain his calm personality and was never involved in any controversies.
Similarly, in the corporate sector as well, a leader should exhibit the quality of calmness. Remember that a decision taken in haste is most likely to go wrong. Remain calm when you have to take important decisions.
4. Patience
Rahul Dravid had enormous patience during a match. He holds the record for the most number of balls (31,258) faced in Test cricket. This record shows his patience level. Test cricket requires a batsman to thrive in adverse circumstances and for a person to succeed in Test cricket, patience is a virtue. It did not matter to him if he faced 100 balls for scoring his initial 20 runs. The key was to remain in the crease for a longer duration. He knew that if he could tackle the initial phase, runs would definitely come later.
In a corporate life as well, a leader needs to remain patient with a new joiner. If the leader makes sure that the new joiner has the basic foundation that would be required to succeed in a project, it would be a few months or days after which the person will pick up his or her pace and start contributing to the project in an efficient manner.
5. Continuous improvement
Rahul Dravid never stopped learning. Although he established himself as a Test cricketer, he found himself in and out of the ODI team. Leaders know that they cannot remain complacent. There is always room for improvement. Dravid adapted beautifully in the ODI team and he scored more than 10,000 runs in ODI as well. One of his best ODI innings was 145 runs off 129 balls against Srilanka and he had a partnership with Sourav Ganguly on the other end of more than 300 runs but often his contributions got most of the time overshadowed by brilliant performance on the other end. For example, in the same match, Sourav Ganguly scored 183 runs and India went on to beat Srilanka by a huge margin.
Leaders in the corporate sector also need to improve continuously and they need to make sure their businesses are running smoothly without any bottlenecks. When you have a bottleneck, try acting on those and eliminate those problems. Bottlenecks cost huge for a business. Hence it is very important to analyse your issues and improve on a continuous basis else your competitor may gain an advantage over you and it may prove fatal for your business.
Conclusion
Here I have tried to list down some of the virtues which I personally feel made Rahul Dravid one of the living legends. However, there are various other phenomenal qualities in him. Currently, he is the head coach of Team India and I am sure he will bring those leadership qualities to the team as well.
Now that you have read about the top 5 leadership qualities of Rahul Dravid, you can also learn about the leadership qualities of Sourav Ganguly and the leadership qualities of MS Dhoni.
