Cricket Captain – the hardest job in the leadership business

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN.

Perhaps it is just my love for the game, or maybe it’s the effect of an all too rare mini heatwave in London and the start of a new Ashes series today, but it occurred to me that of all the leadership positions there are in the world, perhaps the most challenging has to be that of the captain of a cricket team.

(apologies for the jargon in this post. If you don’t get it…ask a cricketer!)

 

 

Sure, it’s hard to run a large company; an army general must have some pretty tough calls to make; and I guess being Prime Minister or President ain’t no picnic. But put those obvious candidates to one side for a moment and examine the case:

Is there a more phenomenally complex game than the 5 day Test Match? Think about all the things the cricket captain has to manage:

• team selection – working out the best 11 players for each game. Do you need fast bowlers, seamers or spinners, specialist wicketkeeper or wicketkeeper/batsman? what’s the optimum batting order?
• opposition – studying your opponents’ strengths & weaknesses; understanding their approach to the game, and likely team selection; what is their own captain’s game approach? how do you counter their plans?
• game strategy – planning the best tactics for the match; adapting those tactics during the match; what do you do if your bowlers are having an off day? what if there’s a batting collapse? when do you declare if things go well? do you use a nightwatchman if things look grim? do you stick with your field for all batsmen or move them around for each batsman? If there’s an edge to 4th slip, do you add one and lose your fine leg or stick with the plan? If you think the umpire’s got it wrong, do you use up one of your reviews at that time or save it for a more crucial moment?
• weather – if it’s cloudy and you win the toss, do you bat or bowl? if the sun breaks out and the wicket dries out, do you instruct your strike bowler to bang it in, or call up your spinner to beguile?
• man management – empowering each individual to help them perform to their highest level when it counts;  motivating when needed; soothing when called for; calling to order when necessary; supporting when under-performing; do you sack early to cut your losses or help the player work through a slump?
• dealing with management – protecting the interests of the team; agreeing pay & reward levels; discussing the vision for future success
• personal performance – leading by example with strong individual performance; maintaining your authority when your own personal performance suffers
• liaising with match officials – engaging with umpires; advocating for the team; controlling your team’s emotions against the umpire when an incorrect call is made

I could go on!

And the skills a captain must draw on to perform these duties are legion: great communication, courage, persistence, empathy, emotional intelligence, flexibility, strategic thinking, respectfulness, resilience, positivity, realism, adventurousness, instinct, clear-headedness and much more.

It’s a tough job, certainly the toughest in sports. Only the most impressive characters are fully up to the task.

You can keep your Winston Churchills and your Steve Jobses and your Nelson Mandelas.

Give me the charismatic Imran Khan, or the inspirational Steve Waugh, or the definitive authority of the legend that is Sir Clive Lloyd, every day of the week.

Come on the Ashes!