Leadership Lessons from 83

I was not able to focus on anything and did not write anything for a month. My wife noticed it. She proposed, Lets go to 83. I was confused because there is no flat 83 in the whole society. When I asked her, who lives in 83. She replied, 83 is not a house number, it is a year. I was further confused. Has she discovered a time machine? She read my face and clarified that she was talking about the movie 83 made on India winning the cricket world cup for the first time. 

We went for the movie. This movie inspired my wife so much that she motivated me to write this article. Here are the 6 key leadership lessons which I gathered from 83.

1. Focus

If someone asks, Why are you here? What will be your reply? In a press conference, journalists asked, Why have you come to England? Kapil Dev replied, we have come to win. What else are we here for? 

Leadership is all about having that focus and clarity. This is like a guiding star (vision) which keeps you on your path to success.

2. Standards (Good enough is not good enough)

You lose when you start thinking that you have done enough. Good enough is not good enough if you want to win. These thoughts and emotions make a leader inspirational. You will have to watch the movie to see the impact of these words.

3. Channelize Emotions

People around you might not have the same confidence that you have in yourself. They may say things that may demoralise you. Shunning the criticism and channelizing the emotions to your strength is the key to success.

Everyone was criticising the Indian team. Team wanted Kapil to respond to criticism. Kapil Dev told his team, I am wiping my shoes with the newspapers that criticise us, we will not release a statement, we will answer them on the field with our game. 

4. Wordsmithing

Words do miracles. They inspire people. That is why team meetings are important. Speeches do miracles and one-to-one conversations are 10 times more powerful. 

Kapil Dev's short conversation with Ballu “Keep your personal problems aside” made a difference. The best example of word smithing was when he told Jimmy “Lala ji ko das saal aur jawan kar do”.

5. Feedback and Expectation setting

Leadership is not about being a Santa Clause motivating everyone. It is also about giving a reality check and helping people improve by providing genuine feedback and setting high expectations. 

Kapil Dev kept providing direct feedback to his team members. His feedback helped people become man of match. He kept pushing team and had set clear expectations that everyone must play beyond their capabilities, if they want to win.

6. Simplification 

All successful leaders are good at simplification. Simplification improves efficiency and effectiveness of the team and impossible starts looking easy. 

In the half time, the whole team was demotivated that they made the lowest ever score of 183 runs in finals. Kapil Dev simplified that they just have to ensure that the other team can not make 183 runs. Simplification created history.

Summary

There are many other aspects of Leadership like Risk taking, Leading from the front and many more, which were sprinkled all over the movie. I deliberated a lot and picked these six. The reason is that my wife kept me focused. She was focused herself because she promised her friends that I will write on 83. When I wrote the article first, she made me rewrite this 5 times. She pushed me so that I do not stop at writing a good enough article. When I tried to argue with her, she told me to channelize my energy in writing. She even taught me how to write it. She simplified that I have to just pen down what I genuinely feel "Dil Nikal ke Rakh do".

Her focus, standards, channelisation, word smithing, feedback and simplification motivated me to do a better job.

You now know who is the Kapil Dev at my home.

This is the author's personal point of view and is not influenced by any person or organisation. Image credit to the team of 83. #HR #Leadership #WinningTeams