Would Sports Help Us Achieve Great Workplace Skills?

uly 14, 2019 would go down the history books as one of the (if not the greatest) day in sporting history. Just like millions who hoped for an India involved final on the 14th, I was one of the disappointed sporting fans who witnessed this amazing day

• ICC cricket world cup being awarded to England based on the number of boundaries scored after they tied with New Zealand on the regular overs and super over.
• The longest and one of greatest of the Wimbledon final going in favor of Djokovic (in the first ever tie-breaker 5th set at 12-12)
• Redbull pit stop managing a new record of 1.91 second beating their previous record by 0.01 seconds

What are the odds of all this happening on the same day in the same country? Yet, It did.

What are the key takeaways for all leaders and teams from this one day?

Cricket - even though every single person on the field (and supporting staff) during the final were exceptional, three individuals stand out from this crowd of great achievers.

Kane Williamson, for reasons have been the exceptional gentleman. Even on a day you could have blamed the law, rules, or even hard luck, the man who focused on dignity, character, and 100% professionalism shows what a leader should be like. You don't hear him talking about Guptil's throw, taking him for the super over, Boult's catch. At the end of the day it's cricket as a sport that wins, with Kane being a true leader who would be remembered forever.

‍

‍

‍

Ben Stokes, struggled with all his off the ground behavioral issues and was less than a year ago found not guilty of affray after a fight near a Bristol nightclub. He would now be known for this great WC victory. The British team would certainly qualify as the other bunch of gentlemen who played ICC WC 2019. Focus and discipline is what made this team winners. Transformational leadership and fact that we can indeed let the past behind us are two takeaways from this team.

‍

‍

‍

‍

I wonder how many working professionals have the deep expertise like that of Simon Taufel. I strongly think no one on the field nor the commentators/ referees outside field knew there was an umpiring error which could have changed the course of the game. How many of us work like Simon? Most the enterprises work with the limited knowledge and decisions tend to be based on this available knowledge. Deep domain or business knowledge indeed can change the course of any action.

Do not forget ever to mention the creators of those ICC rule book - someone even thought about the fielding obstruction and set out rules on it. Every single organization should have such business rules and more importantly awareness of such rules across all stakeholders. No one can blame anyone on why England were ruled the champions based on lame rules, the rules were already there - unquestioned, never disputed.

It’s a part of the game that we play - well said Kane and Simon!

‍

‍

‍

Tennis - if anyone felt the intensity of drama at Lords was not enough, there was more at the Wimbledon. If not on the new rule of tie breaker at 12-12, this may have ended up as an Isner final. Djokovic won four games and fourteen points less than Federer but ending up as the champion. Four games broken in the final set with the champions coming back at the time of challenge. Even with your great performance you may not end up remaining a champion and without performing at your best you would never end up putting a fight. Great effort will always remain admired.

British GrandPrix - The Red Bull Racing team made history at Silverstone on this same day by stopping the clock at just 1.91 seconds during Sunday's race. No one would know the names of individuals behind the scenes. But a TEAM just made everyone realize there is nothing impossible. It may be 100th of a second, but a team just made it possible to achieve something better

‍Do we strive for such great things at work everyday? Do we have a 14th of July to remember?

‍