Top 7 leadership lessons from Sourav Ganguly

I am very much excited to share with you the leadership lessons one can learn from Sourav Ganguly. Sourav Ganguly was the God of offside cricket. His elegant cover drives were breathtaking. Also, who does not remember his lofted sixes out of the ground against spinners? I feel like watching those innings again and again.

Sourav started captaining Team India when some of the players were involved in match-fixing scandals. It was definitely not a conducive situation for one to lead the team amidst these situations when the morale was low within the team. However, Sourav was determined to take this challenging role. Under his leadership, India have had numerous achievements. Let us look at some of those achievements and then list down some of his traits which one can implement in the corporate sector.

2001 India tour of Australia

This was one of the famous series in the history of Indian cricket. Australia was on a winning streak with 16 consecutive Test match wins. However, the fate of Australia turned upside down with this tour. India ended up winning the series 2-1 under the captaincy of Sourav.

2002 Natwest Trophy Final

India chased down a huge target of 326 runs in the final against England. Sourav had a good opening partnership with Sehwag and later on Yuvraj and Mohd. Kaif helped India to win the match in a thrilling final. One of the memorable moments of that match is Sourav taking off his shirt and waving it out from the Lord’s balcony. This was a great victory for Team India.

2003 ICC Cricket World Cup

After 20 years, India were able to reach the final of a World Cup. Though India ended up losing the final, it was a great performance by the team in the entire series. Sourav as a batsman had a wonderful series as well.

Rocking Youngsters

Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag – all of them went to become superstars in the future. Sourav backed them time and again even when they could not perform to their potential in few matches. He believed in them and they delivered the results on the field.

A new Indian Team

Sourav built the new Team India during his tenure as captain. When he started the captaincy, the team was in disarray because of match-fixing allegations. From there, he built a great team that went on to dominate the game in the subsequent years. He helped the team to develop a fighting spirit in any condition. Under his leadership, India started winning overseas. Sourav is one of the successful Test captains with 11 overseas wins.

Now that we have thrown some light on Sourav’s achievements as a captain, let us learn what made him a great leader and why he is regarded as one of the best captains India ever produced.

1. Visionary

A leader should always have a long-term vision and that’s what Sourav had as well. He built the team in such a manner that the team can win not only in home conditions but also overseas. He groomed a lot of youngsters who went on to become the future stars of Indian cricket.

In the corporate sector as well, a leader should have a long-term vision. By long-term, I mean the vision can be set for 10 years down the line. Once you have that vision set, you can take small steps on a regular basis to make sure the vision of the company is getting realized.

2. Coaching and Talent

Sourav constantly groomed and coached the youngsters of the team. He was the mentor for those newcomers. During his tenure as the captain, more youngsters came up with match-winning innings. He had the potential of identifying talents and he tried his best to support them.

In a similar way, a leader within a company should coach and guide the new joiners so that they understand their potential which might help them to perform better and one day they can also be in a position for leadership roles.

3. Democratic Leadership

Sourav used to follow the democratic style of leadership. He ensured that his team members could voice their opinion on any kind of issue. Sourav was approachable to his team members and therefore they did not hesitate to reach out to him to voice their concerns.

The same holds true in the corporate sector as well. When as a leader, you make sure that your team member’s opinions are getting heard, they will feel more comfortable in the team and a great sense of trust will develop within the team. Take actions based on their opinions. The main thing which I am trying to tell is to ensure that as a team, you are taking any decision. Don’t jump to a decision by yourself. Encourage your team members to participate. Don’t try to follow the authoritative style of leadership where your team members will not feel comfortable and eventually, they would end up resigning from your organization.

4. Leading from the front

Sourav in many cases used to set the pace of the match through his batting performances. This inspired the other players to perform better as well. When people see that their leader is trying his best to go above and beyond, it automatically encourages them as well to give their best shot.

A leader should always lead from the front. Imagine the leader in your team being laid back and not proactive. What kind of effect it will have on the team? The effect will be disastrous. Hence, as a leader, you need to make sure that your individual contributions to your company are as good as your leadership abilities.

5. Mentally tough

Sourav’s batting performance declined during 2005 and a lot of controversies happened between him and Greg Chappell, who was the Indian coach during that period. Sourav was eventually dropped from the team. He still had a wonderful career during that time. He could have retired easily. However, the Bengal Tiger was not willing to give up so easily. He was selected back in the team after his wonderful domestic performances. He did play some wonderful knocks after making his place back in the team. Since he was mentally tough, he took that as a challenge instead of giving up and retiring. He wanted to retire on his own terms which he did eventually in 2008. That’s how one bounces back from failures.

This is a great lesson for the leaders in an organization. Bad times come in everyone’s life. Instead of moving away from that phase, we need to learn how to face it head-on and overcome those problems. Leaders need to be mentally tough. Your actions during your bad times determine the true nature of your personality.

6. Recognition

Sourav never shied away from giving credits to the team members who performed well during a match. That’s one of the great qualities of a leader.

Similarly, a leader in an organization should give credit to the team members who did a very good job. Recognition is one form of motivation. When one recognizes an individual even for a small task that is well done, this will act as a motivation for that employee and the person will work even harder.

7. Focus

Sourav believed in focussing on things which are under his control. For example, when he was dropped from the team because of his lack of form, he focussed on improving himself instead of thinking too much when selectors are going to pick him back into the team. Improving your skill sets is under your control. Nothing else is.

The same goes for the corporate sector as well. A leader should encourage the team members to improve their skill sets on a regular basis. Improving the skill sets is under the team member’s control. What is not in your control is your promotion. However, if you can continuously improve yourself, promotion will soon follow.

Conclusion

Sourav built a great team during his tenure as the Indian captain and India reaped the benefits of having that team during MS Dhoni’s tenure as captain. MS Dhoni was another great leader. A leader should have all the qualities as mentioned in this article.

I hope this article was helpful to you. Feel free to add your thoughts on the leadership lessons you learnt from Sourav Ganguly in the comments section below.

References: “Winning Like Sourav: Think & Succeed Like Ganguly” book by Abhirup Bhattacharya