At the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2014 in Mumbai last week, Adam Gilchrist delivered a great keynote with some good humor and interesting anecdotes from the dressing room. He drew a lot of inspiration from his teammates and skippers in framing the lessons on leadership.
Belief
Attitudes are contagious – is yours worth catching?
At the first team meeting of the 2001 Aussie tour to India, Steve Waugh wrote this on the whiteboard.
Hope
A human being can survive:
40 days without food
3 days without water
8 minutes without air
But not a second without hope.
Trust
In the first season of IPL, Deccan Chargers has a great team on paper. However, they finished last in the league and the underdogs Rajasthan Royals won.
Gilchrist said that while the idea of the league was people playing with players from across the world with different cultures and routines, the team merely did lip service on the promise.
For the next season, Darren Lehmann joined the team as coach and declared the principle – Create an environment everyone wants to be a part of. The silos were amended, and Deccan Chargers won the season!
Focus
Wherever you are, be there.
What does he think of Sachin Tendulkar?
The way Sachin handled fame, fortune and expectations is awesome. He’s the only person who carried all that fame, fortune, and excellence together.
Being Lonely
On the famous 2001 India-Australia Test series…
We arrived in India in 2001; 31 years without a series win and my first one here. I score an 80-ball hundred in the first Test which we won. I’m like, this is very easy. What the hell have the guys in last three decades been doing?
The next Test match, the best Test I’ve played in my career, Laxman and Dravid spoil our party. I score ducks off first ball in both the innings. A king pair! As I walked to the pavilion, fans in the stands were lighting flares and cheering, and in the packed Eden Gardens, I felt very, very lonely.
On walking…
Whether you walk or not, when you have nicked, is an individual choice. Ponting has always respected that. But when I reached dressing room after walking after the umpire judged me not-out in the World Cup semi-finals, I had to hear a lot of things!
Team
Forge a relationship with team members beyond business.
It is very important to know your team… not just in their role in the organization, but as individuals.