Day 5-365 Challenge-10 Management Lessons to be Learnt From MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni announced his laying down the Captaincy post from the shorter versions of the game. Each of his decisions have been fast and on all ocassions has been taken with the team interest in mind top most. I have never perhaps seen a more selfless leader like him and this is singularly one of the reasons why I admire him a lot.  However without much of deviation lets head straight to the Topic of this Blog: "10 Management Lessons to be learnt from MS Dhoni":

1.Captain Cool:

Dhoni was almost like a monk, deep in meditation. He was almost the same in all situations, victory or defeat. In a challenging situation you could rely on his decision making skills as he would never get flustered. He had the ability to think out of the box and come out with solutions even in the most dire of situations. The ability to remain calm in difficult situations rubbed off on his team members and also could be perhaps one of the reasons he came out as one India's most successful captains

2. Humility:

Humility Thy name is Dhoni. Perhaps his middle class upbringing was a reason why he remained very grounded even when success embraced him. His state Jharkhand teammates would vouch for this. Even today he does not hesitate in playing low key tournaments where he tasted early success. He also does not miss an opportunity to counsel young budding cricketers. 

3. Team Player: 

Have you seen Dhoni in post match celebrations? For him collecting the winners trophy was a mere formality and then the trophy belonged to the team. He would never hesitate in encouraging good performance, and more than willing to protect and show his faith for players going through a bad form. For Him Team came above everything else and their collective talent was what he would want to showcase.

4.Exemplary Player:

He himself is still today an outstanding cricketer. He paces his game very well and mentally is up for any kind of challenge. Faced with an extremely steep run rate, a victory is still possible so long as Dhoni is at the crease. He is the World's best finisher and any country in the world would love to have Dhoni in their playing eleven. As a Wicket-keeper I would rate him as the best in the world. His split second stumpings are legendary. Quick reflexes, great hand eye coordination and the urge to try something new made him a stand out player

5.Innovative Captain:

As a captain he was never afraid of experimenting even in the most challenging or demanding situations. Recall the 2007 T-20 World Cup. With a rampaging Misbah at the crease his go to man was a little known bowler, Joginder Singh when he had the more experienced Harbhajan Singh to go to. He must have know the risk factor, any mistake at that stage would have meant disaster at the hands of arch rivals Pakistan, yet innovation came to his rescue.

6. Bold Decision Maker:

 The decision to remove Sehwag from the team as he wanted more young blood and fresh pair of hands. The fielding standards were dropping and it was very critical that the team has a look at the future. the Credit of building the current Team India goes to Dhoni, but for his bold decisions of seeking replacements, younger talent would have taken time to make an entry.

7. Detached Leadership:

He was never ever fixated to his captaincy role. Dhoni knew exactly when his time had come to call it quits. He quit the test captaincy when there was no pressure on him to do so. Similar was the case yesterday when he gave his captaincy of the One Day and T20 versions. A Good leader knows exactly when the time has come to hand over the mantle. Leadership transition has to be smooth which has been seen the way Kohli has taken over from where Dhoni left off.

8. Leadership that treats victory and defeat with Eqaunimity:

Dhoni has that very rare leadership quality of treating Victory and Defeat with equality, not elated when victory comes, neither deflated when overpowered by defeat. Dhoni was one who went with the flow. 

9. Clarity of Thought:

Dhoni has been very focussed and clear as a leader. He was never one who changed his decisions or his style of functioning. He sort of shut himself away from the outside world when it came to critical tournaments and tours. An example of his clarity of thought would be the way he would address the media is post match presentations. Such clarity of thought, the way he would justify his decisions and the learnings from them, the way only a true leader can. Crystal Clear Thoughts.

10. Leading by example: 

Dhoni led by example whether it was batting or wicket-keeping. He led from the front. One can never forget the way he promoted himself up in the batting order in the World Cup Final, 2011 in Mumbai against Sri Lanka. When he was at the crease the non existent run was always on, with his hare like sprinting skills between the wickets. Seeing him perform was an inspiration for his teammates, and they would up their own performance to match his standards.

Dhoni as a leader and as a player will be missed in the times to come. What he leaves behind is a legacy to follow for generations to come. His case history can be lapped up by management schools and leadership programmes. Dhoni has a very bright future ahead of him. Lot of corporates would maybe want him on their boards however the best role that would suit him would be that of a coach or a cricket administrator. If cricket needs to make radical changes and invest in the future, why not look at Dhoni as the BCCI President in the next few years to come.