The euphoric and historic win by the U19 team gave Indians cause for celebration and joy. The future of Indian cricket is indeed bright. Coming from the behavioral sciences space, there were three aspects that caught my attention.

1)   Sachin’s congratulatory tweet- ‘With great teamwork, Big dreams work’

In industry today when so many organizations are struggling with the problem of working in silos and low trust levels, this is an important pearl of wisdom from the maestro himself. We need to get down to the ‘how’ of teamwork. India is on the brink of making a strong mark. We’ve got the world looking at us, in a way may I say the world is wanting to woo us. We are in the best place to dream big and make it a reality. Let’s get down to getting the art and science of teamwork right. 

2)   Rahul Dravid sharing his thoughts after the win.

Dravid gave credit to the support staff and the boys- great insight into his leadership style. His hope that the memory of a junior World Cup win won’t define careers of his team but they go on to create bigger and better memories for themselves is inspiring. A leader who wants his team to enjoy this big victory but really wanting them to truly discover and maximize their potential. Being aware that he attracts quite a bit of attention but refocusing it on the support staff and the team- a reminder of how important emotional intelligence is for a leader today. Daniel Goleman speaks of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and connecting with people as being core to emotional intelligence. In a world where media can truly command who gets attention, Dravid for me reminded me of the need to be self-aware, self-regulated and to put the team first.
(Check out the video of the interview with Dravid here)

3)   The team photobombing Dravid as he gave his interview

A news channel was speaking of this and I thought it was brilliant. Parthiv Patel, Shubman Gill as am sure the rest of the team too singled out and credited Dravid for his contribution. The respect Dravid commands amongst the boys is evident. Yet they were free enough to intentionally and spontaneously photobomb their coach as he was on camera and create a bit of a ‘celebratory ruckus’ for a little bit. For me, it separated fear and respect where maybe fear does not have to be a prime element in order to be respected.

Would love to hear from you. What were elements and aspects of the U19 win that touched a chord with you and what maybe lessons that we as a country and the corporate sector may want to mull on and action, from this fabulous experience these young boys have created for us!

Pearl D’Souza is a Director at PrePearl Training Development Pvt Ltd. If you are looking to explore the science and the ‘how’ of teamwork, join Pearl at the Belbin Masterclass.