I am not talking about some Korean or Chinese badminton stars!
The case of Ku vs. Ko is the hottest topic in the minds of every sincere Indian Cricket fan over the last few weeks! And shall remain so till such time the next Coach is announced, appointed and axed!
Yes, you would have figured out these acronyms by now.
Sports & Corporate Management — Made For Each Other!
The world of sport seems to be the most sought after almanac for Management Pundits to draw parallels to the world of management. Seldom these days has any Corporate Strategy Planning event or team bonding session taken place without the screening of a few powerful, adrenaline pumping, videos of Usain Bolt’s famous arrows to heaven pose or Lewis Hamilton/Vettel on podium with those huge Champagne bottles! The worlds are so inseparable indeed.
Both have many well defined similarities; there are boards – the king makers, there are players and captains – icons but not captains, ordinary mortals who can be short changed, one season wonders, styles, idiosyncrasies, arrogance, an opposing side, metrics, spectators, feelings, analysts, views, count views, huge money, and ultimately a victor and a vanquished!
Surpassing all the scintillating events that are happening in the world of sports over the last few weeks across the globe, the one event that has garnered maximum eyeball/comment is the drama that was enacted at the once powerful, now tamed BCCI, with respect to the leadership succession plan of the Indian Cricket Team!
Many a times, issues such as hiring, promoting or terminating a leader raises the temperature, both inside and outside the organizations. Despite all the wisdom and experience that is brought forth to the table, there are mega blunders that happen at defining moments of an organization in transit. The TATA succession fiasco, the oft debated Infosys leadership transition murmurs and few more that garner less media attention, all point to the messy and fuzzy underbelly of such decisions, though the decision makers genuinely believe that they have taken decisions that are sound, logical and sustainable.
The mess around the exit of Anil Kumble, both preceding and succeeding, the sentiments that have been bruised in the process, the impasse that govern the selection of Head Coach even as of date, the drift it created to the team’s focus and morale during the Champion’s Trophy — all have a story to tell. This is what happens most of the times in the Corporate Boardrooms, the only difference being, the degree of visibility it gets is relative to the size of the organization, the suddenness of the events and the brand’s recall in people’s mind!
The intent of this script is not to really look in to the much hyped cricketing muddle, but to stay away and gather what could possibly be the lessons for the more revered boardrooms of the corporate set-ups!
Inadequate Communication Flow
In the Defence Forces, most of the times, it’s a communication from “One to Many” (Commander to troops) and by and large there exist a structured format of communication for all types of operations. Even in such formal/hierarchical structures, there is a fair degree of “feedback” to the higher echelons through which issues of relevance and significance surface.
In the case of Ku vs. Ko vs. Gu, one is disillusioned to see that the very basis of communication went for a toss! With Ku expressing surprise that he did not know the sentiments of Ko till the fateful meeting just before boarding for the Champions Trophy is the real height! Remember, they are not the typical soldiers’ variety in intellect and expression! If they are of a better and evolved class, then what has caused this breakdown of communication?
The lesson for the boardroom is that by simply putting a few intellects deemed as best in class in their domain together as a team, an organization cannot achieve coherence and focus.
It must get to a level of free flowing focused conversations with trust facilitated by a governance model to ensure consistency and clarity at all times. Suitable institutional frameworks such as strategy formulation/sharing sessions, team performance reviews, engagement audits, skip level meetings, team building sessions, formal and informal dialogue sessions with leaders, coaching and mentoring etc. can bring a certain degree of coherence and flow to the organizational life.
Generation gap
This is an angle which in my view is not really explored in full! Clearly, Ku at 47 and Ko at 28 have almost two decades of space in upbringing, exposures, and development of their respective personalities over the years! (Call it styles!) When the serious spat took place between Saurav Gangly and Greg Chappell, they were 30 and 52 years of respectively. It can be just a coincidence too. Yes, one can argue that if Sir Ferguson at 60+ and Arsene Wenger at 64 can successfully lead a bunch of highly talented and therefore prone to high ego state, what’s the issue out here? Because of this gap, it’s possible that the styles of relating with each other could have got strained!
Back at the boardrooms, huge debates take place whenever a leadership hiring decision needs to be taken. The type and profile of candidates to be considered is debated and eventually settled with a bit of compromise here and there! In India, with so many family-led organizations turning to their Ivy school educated kids to take on the leadership mantle, this reality shall continue to exist. And we will continue to see employees from three different generations work under one roof as a team. Thanks to the benefits of the demographic dividend that we are destined to reap till 2040!
Rather than fretting about this reality, organizations can prepare the foreground both for the young leaders and the trans-generational workforce to make this transition as smooth as it can be. Here again, facilitating a healthy and diverse organizational culture can help the navigation.
KO as captain in all formats?
“Every organization is also a political entity!” “Power” forms the bedrock of all the games people play. The power to prevail over other’s views in a way gives the monger the ultimate high of self-fulfillment! BCCI, is no holy cow on this aspect! Till such time, Lodha appeared on the horizon, it was touted as one of the richest and powerful body in the world of sport!
Ko, undoubtedly a product of the modern generation of Indians who wish to play big and loud too, is in many ways a rightful heir to the throne left vacant by Sachin! But the point is not just about his capabilities, it’s about the wisdom of making him the captain in all three formats of the game that’s a bit out of sync!
While one could argue that a single leader across all formats can spot/tap and draw talents from any of the formats, the underlying tone is that “a single person takes the calls.” That from many angles may not be healthy! To look at it differently, Ko can get more power hungry to a point of stifling a free flow communication and can dig in his heels to make his demands! If this situation perpetuates, it may not augur well for the next coach too!
Back in the boardrooms, there is an unwritten practice that no one gets the sole and absolute power over the affairs than it’s warranted. The role of the Board of Directors, the governance models in play coupled with a sensible governmental regulatory mechanism – all ensure that there is equitable distribution of power/authority and responsibilities.
Too much of power in too few a hands or power being distributed generously to all across, means anarchy in the offing!
Modern day corporates are quite clued in on this aspect and we are witnessing forced exits of some of the iconic leaders, which actually restores the Power Equilibrium in their environment.
Role Boundaries
Like in any game, in cricket too, before the match, lots of discussions take place between the coach and the captain, then with the full team regarding the strategy, SWOT of the teams, scenario planning, contingency plans, etc. Off the pitch, the Coach-cum-manager sets the pace and direction and on the field the Captain calls the shots!
If it’s so clear, then what happened between Ku and Ko? While various aspects are listed in public domain for the spat, they do point out to a situation of blurred boundaries or ingress in to each other’s territories.
Back in corporates, this syndrome is all too familiar though it drifts the organizational attention and focuses away from business. With emerging newer organizational models powered by technologies in a shrinking world, the notion of boundaries itself is getting under stress. In this era of hybrid models of organizational structures, we will see a rapid pace of integration and disintegration of structures thereby forcing the need to be nimble, supple and flexible! The notion of the VUCA world is an outcome of these rapid changes and developing appropriate organizational capabilities at all levels to wade through the choppy waters is the dominant theme in the world of leading and managing.
Organizations of any variety must recognize these dynamic shifts in the context of work, and continuously identify newer, better ways to transform such potential clashes into opportunities to excel.
Style vs. Style
An engineer by education and an admirable track record as a player, Ku, has all the reasons to flaunt a super CV with a string of victories in all forms of the game in 12 calendar months. No other coach has a track record as robust and coveted as that of Ku!
So why then a great performer in the role of the coach chose to exit in just a year when he has so much to give yet to the game! From the news in public domain, we gather that there were reservations about his style of managing the team (tasking/reviewing etc.) When faced with an equally assertive Gen X guy as Captain, it’s to be expected that the relationship will rock!
From the learning point of view, this aspect is perhaps the closest lesson amidst the many listed above that resonates with the happenings in the modern day corporates!
In work settings, we see so many successful career managers who claim the ladder so fast. Their performance achievement clearly sets them as the best vs. the rest. There is always a sense of achievement and aura around such conquerors who are showered with larger, wider and meatier roles as a reward for performance.
But unlike in the case of Ku, in corporates, a great performer is not allowed to exit that easily and every little avenue is explored to retain the star! Unless the star also is a toxic manager, driving people out or does something unethical, the exit is termed as a “regrettable exit”.
At a larger level, the lesson to gather is that style counts as much as the credentials of a leader and organizations should be able to clearly realize subtle variations in their leader’s idiosyncrasies and facilitate a safe navigation system to derive maximum value from these corporate rock stars!
Organizational Communication
In the case of Ku vs. Ko, this seems to be last straw on the camel’s back! The people in charge of the affairs of contract knew that Ku’s term was coming to close and had all the time in the world to apply their mind and time to devise a way to handle this part.
From what we gather from the published information, no such discussion on succession etc. was discussed with Ku and as the team boarded the flight to London for the Champion’s Trophy, they posted an ad asking for candidates to apply for the post of Coach! You can’t deny that it was an amateur way of handling a succession, that too for a role that is so visible and close to the Indian hearts! The messages and reports emerged since then from all quarters are there for all to see! The net impact of this fiasco was that Ku chose to opt out of the race after the Champion’s trophy even when asked to continue till the West Indies tour!
In corporates too, leaders face a great amount of pressure when handling exits. The pressure is more when the exit pertains to a member who is seen as a potential star, the exit happens all at a sudden, happens at a higher level and also the manner in which the company treats the person once he declares his intent to leave.
Actually, more than the tactical response on a case-to-case basis, what underlies the organization’s poise and manner of handling is determined by the culture it has weaved to govern its day today living. Every act of the organization is watched by all employees in silence and they infer various meanings about the organization basis the happenings that they see with an existing employee. The type of message leaders send to the employees with respect to a person’s exit also speaks volume about the culture of the company.
Without doubt, BCCI could have handled it professionally with due respect to the credentials of Ku and really set the tone for the successor to sustain the winning streak. They have clearly missed an opportunity in this regards and for sure it’s going to add that much burden on the successor.
To conclude, both the Dressing rooms and the Boardrooms have so many things in common. No action can be taken in a reckless manner without applying the mind on the robustness of the decision, the process of arriving at decisions and consequences of the decisions.
“When in doubt, pause” is the wisdom from the yonder! Organizations of whatever variety and intent can do well by dipping in to such treasures of wisdom to ensure sanity and respect to the decisions taken. Clearly BCCI has not cleared this test this time around!