Story: Sandeep
I am considering Dhoni an epitome of a true leader and hence using him as a metaphor here.
A leader plays an important role in a team’s success. He is the person who finds, shows, and guides to move towards success. Even though talent, motivation, perseverance, and many others need to stand out in a successful leader, one factor that often is missed is the ability to support the followers, especially in need, and absorb their failures.
Let us see how it is a great illustration in the case of M.S. Dhoni supporting Rohit Sharma.
As everyone knows Rohit Sharma was first noticed in the 2007 T20 World cup. His ease of batting any kind of shot and his style drew immediate attention. Praises showered from the experts and the audience; many of us thought he would become a great player.
But the next five years were completely different for Rohit. Even though his batting elegance and style was reminding his talent, lack of performance, and inability to convert the starts into big scores were disappointing everyone. In 2-3 years' time, all of us were demanding his exclusion from the Indian team.
Overall, a great talent (when we see now) would have gone waste.
While Rohit was facing the heat due to lack of performance, MS Dhoni - Indian team captain - was heavily criticized for retaining Rohit in the team. With every cricket season passed, the questions on him were more critical. On the other front, the rise of other players was adding a lot of pressure. Overall, MS Dhoni had to bear a lot of pressure just for keeping Rohit on his side and been supporting him. At one point the criticism on Dhoni was more severe than Rohit.
With one of the best life-changing strategies, Rohit started playing up the order and performing brilliantly. He could take time to settle before accelerating the play. Added to that, the presence of Shikhar Dhawan helped him play in his own way and score big. Now, everyone sees Rohit be one of the best ODI players of all time. The way he scored in the last 7-8 years is comparable, if not better, to any other great player.
Overall, a great talent (when we see now) would have gone waste's performance, but I am disappointed to not acknowledge MS Dhoni in Rohit’s success. While Dhoni was pointed out in Rohit’s tough times, Dhoni is not equally appreciated in Rohit’s success. I am not aware of how harsh Dhoni was with Rohit during training sessions, but the way he supported Rohit in public is commendable.
Even though Dhoni does not crib about this issue and Rohit acknowledges Dhoni’s involvement in his success, it is the audience and MS Dhoni that taught a very good lesson to me.
A leader should have the ability to digest and absorb the failures of his team members. He should be so emotionally stable and not be disturbed by what others say regarding him and his team. Of course, he could think about the feedback from others and make the course corrections.
This post is dedicated to MS Dhoni, who I see as a true leader. Even though Corporate Unveiled is not related to Sports, Dhoni’s leadership is an inspiration to everyone and worth adapting.
Also Read: Are you a Good Boss?