Recently, I got an opportunity to watch 83, a movie on the Indian cricket team’s journey towards winning the cricket world cup.🏏🏆

Now, I loved the movie so much that I ended up watching it three times in one week ( me being a cricket fanatic 😁 )

It has all sorts of lessons to offer, but the ones that really stuck with me were the leadership lessons. But wait.

What is leadership exactly?

Whenever we hear the word ‘leader’ or ‘leadership’, the first thing that comes to our mind is perhaps the president, the prime minister or the CEO. Isn’t that a very limited form of leadership?

Imagine the place where you are sitting right now, reading this Linkedin post ( I appreciate that you are still reading 😄) and a fire🔥 suddenly breaks out. You are the only active member, and you need to get people together and make quick decisions to solve the problem.

This situation demands leadership skills as well, doesn’t it?

I think the best definition of leadership is given by Simon Sinek:

‘ There are leaders and there are those who lead.

Leaders hold a position of power or influence.

Those who lead inspire us.

We follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to.

We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves. ‘

Here are the 5 leadership lessons I learnt from Kapil Dev:

1) Communication is the pillar of leadership

We can divide communication into 3 parts:

a) Speaking b) Listening c) Doing

Speaking is the most spoken about (pun intended 😁 ) when it comes to leadership.

However …

Listening is the most underrated aspect of leadership.

When leaders speak, they repeat what they know.

When leaders listen, they learn.

When learning happens, understanding happens.

A deep understanding of the team is at the core of leadership.

‘Actions speak louder than words.’

We have been taught this since we were in primary school, and rightly so.

If the actions of the leader don’t match the words, they lose their weight and impact.

‘ A leader is someone who knows the way, shows the way and goes the way…’

2) Team Bonding comes before Team Performance.

In the movie, whether it was on the ground or off the ground, no one can deny the bonding between the team members.

All the tough times, all the good times, everywhere you could sense the feeling of unity and bonding between the team.

Why is this important?

This quote by Kunal Shah explains this in a good way:

Teams are productive when they’re sharing useful information.

Teams are bonding when they’re sharing useless information.

Bonded teams are more productive.

3) Trust is Must

In the world cup final, after being hit out of the park for 2 continuous overs, it was time to change bowlers.

However, Madan Lal requested Kapil Dev to give him just one more over, to prove himself.

Kapil could have easily gone the other way,but he did not.

Kapil trusted Madan. He ended up picking the most crucial wicket of the match- VIV RICHARDS. A turning point in the game.

Sometimes, as a leader, you have to make decisions from your gut.

If there is no trust among the team members, does the team even exist in the first place?

Trust can take a team to places where rationality cannot…

4) Awareness unlock Advantage

Again, it was the final. Clive Llyod was batting.

While he was running between the wickets, he was limping.

Kapil observed this and asked the bowler to bowl in a way such that Clive would have no option, but to come forward to hit …

India soon got his wicket.

As a leader, this little attention to detail can go a long way.

Whether it is sports or business, awareness is the key to unlocking that advantage.

5) The team rises and falls to the leader’s expectations:

Before anyone else, it was Kapil’s ambition to win the world cup.

This inspired the team to prepare and perform accordingly.

Perhaps, this is the most difficult part of leadership…

Most of the time, the leader is the most ambitious in the pack.

To have a grand vision is one thing. To bring others on the same page is another skill.

It is the belief that the leader has in his own vision, which is reflected by the team.

I would love to know your thoughts on this:

Q) Who is your favourite leader? What separates him/ her from the others?

Thanks for reading this article till the end!

If you are a video person or an audiophile, I run a YouTube channel and a Podcast as well.

Consider checking them out: PORTFOLIO IN LINKS

BELIEVE.