15 August was a day on which the entire nation united for two reasons. While the morning began with absolute energy, celebrating the Independence Day, the evening bid a heavyhearted adieu to one of the greatest captains in the cricketing world, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Joining the entire nation in bidding farewell to “Captain Cool”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a heartfelt letter to Dhoni, lauding him on illustrating the spirit of new India where youngsters make their own destiny irrespective of their background. Dhoni’s game, if analysed well, could verily be an academic curriculum to students pursuing management studies, for he personifies all the traits of leadership one must possess regardless of one’s individual pursuit of a profession. Rising from a humble background to becoming the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team was a journey that began from converting challenges into opportunities.
One of the most common traits of a leader is to deliver the best in the most adverse situation. While this is a fascinating lesson for most of the students in management schools, people like Dhoni have not only been learning this from their very childhoods but also inevitably practising it from the very beginning. For people with a humble background, overcoming failures with everlasting persistence, perseverance and conviction is a daily routine as seen in most instances; they have to turn the tables according to the desired directions with a great deal of effort and faith in themselves. While doing so, Dhoni not only had to channel his raw rustic style but also had to overcome the issues of ego management when among his senior teammates who were no less than the established stars of the respective format. It was certainly not easy for him to create his own space with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh around.
Every management rookie in their professional career has to face such challenges. What could be learnt from the Dhoni rulebook of management is from how he not only did proved his mettle in the game of leadership but also managed to convince these cricketing stalwarts to follow his leadership in a disciplined manner. Dhoni did not rush through with a change in personnel and team culture. He first established his credibility and dealt with this issue over time and managed the transition. Dhoni is an embodiment of the fact that one’s modest background is not a hindrance to success but it can also be instrumental in pushing oneself beyond set benchmarks and expanding horizons at the same time. All the players in the format received Dhoni’s leadership very well as it was one of his USPs to treat people and circumstances on their merits and not their reputations. Virat Kohli’s message for the retirement of Dhoni, which read, “You will always be my captain”, is a testimony to the abovesaid statement.
Despite having titles as no other captain in the history of Indian cricket, Dhoni wore his confidence – that came from successful results rather than blabbering arrogance – on his sleeve, but did so very modestly. His patience, even in the worst of situations, helped him decide his element of surprise, which often proved to be the best of his decisions. I recollect the T20 World Cup in which in the final over, MS tossed the ball to a rookie, Joginder Sharma, rather than to a more experienced bowler. One has to understand that leaders grab their chances, never mind the circumstances under which they get them, and Dhoni’s style of functioning was a perfect example of it. A leader is never afraid of managing failures. However, the risk that is required to be taken in a situation can only be taken by a leader who has become one, not by reading books or overnight, but through a consistent struggle where every opportunity was extracted out of challenges, and yet is modest about the best of one’s capacity. And that is Dhoni, a name that is going to be immortal in this format.
While analysing the traits of Dhoni, one can perpetually trace the same leadership traits in our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rising from a humble background to becoming one of the most powerful persons of the world, yet having absolute integrity and modesty in life, is similar to Dhoni, who rose from the small town in Jharkhand (then Bihar). PM Modi also came from a small town in Gujarat, and now holds the charge of the office of Prime Minister of India. Leaders always have their eye on the objective, unlike others who revolve around the periphery. In the pursuit of the same, leaders don’t deviate from their objective. Like Dhoni who had his eye on the World Cup and achieved it, PM Modi has his eye set on making India a five-trillion-dollar economy. Just like how Dhoni built his new team on the principles of “perform or perish” and empowered those with the potential, PM Modi has built his new team, and together the Government of India is now vouching towards achieving the target of an empowered economy. Navigating through the predicaments of Covid-19, the Government of India is making transformational changes in operations to ensure that the target of a five-trillion-dollar economy is achieved, just like how Dhoni, after he and his team suffered a string of embarrassing losses, always bounced back with great character and attitude.
Another common trait between leaders like Dhoni and PM Modi is that leaders always believe in the delegation of power. Dhoni always believed in empowering the strengths of his teammates rather than working on his weaknesses. This not only ensured better productivity for the players but also gave overall strength to the team. Similarly when it comes to governance, PM Modi knows how to delegate power to the best-suited person, be it a bureaucrat, a businessman or a politician, to achieve the desired result. Leaders are capable of doing so owing to their confidence in individual capabilities of pushing through all endeavours. Leaders extract the best from their teams and have the potential of leading the rest. Therefore, leaders are indeed the best finishers, be it in any format.
Dhoni will always be regarded as one of the best finishers in the game of cricket. His prodigious ‘Not Out’ innings in the 2011 world cup finals will always be a treat for every cricket lover. Similarly, Indian politics has not seen a better finisher than PM Modi, who in the most adverse of situations rose to win a thumping majority in 2014 and even a better one in 2019. Be it Dhoni or PM Modi, the traits of a successful era depend entirely on their approach to the game of leadership.
The author is media head and spokesperson of Maharashtra BJP. The views expressed are personal.