How to add “Extra” to Ordinary

Written by: Anurag Awasthi

About the author: Sales Head at SORIL Infra Resources Ltd. (An initiative of Indiabulls Group)

Whenever we think about Cricket world cup, A picture of Great Kapil Dev comes in our mind where he is holding the world cup trophy in his hand, a smile on his face and Lord’s gallery in the backdrop.

Was it possible to achieve this glory for an ordinary team without an exceptional leader against the Star-studded team of West Indians?

So how did an ordinary team transform into extraordinary to achieve monumental success & glory?

Only one answer surfaces in my mind – “Leadership & Team management”

The relationship between leader and team is dependent on two pillars: Trust & Responsibility.

And to make this objective oriented and to attain greater heights of success, the final aspect is mentoring. 

So we will discuss the three parameters of Team management

Trust, Responsibility & Mentoring

Trust –  It is a very unique emotion, it exists only in a binary number. Either it is 100% or 0%.

When the leader trusts the team and the team equally reciprocates then some portion of “Extra” is added to the ordinary team. A successful team has a common vision, shared values and one goal. It is about complete transparency between leader and team, 100% participation in the mission and carrying the single objective.

Responsibility –  Once the trust is developed then the leader should make every team member responsible for their deliverables. Take the example of the mythological Ramayan story,  where every team member did his bit as per the responsibility bestowed upon them by their leader Lord Ram. From Hanuman to Vibhishan to Angad to Nal-Neel & Sugreeve, everyone was aware of their role, responsibility & deliverables;

Because of the contribution of each member, an unattainable victory was attained. Once the team becomes responsible, then another part of “Extra” is added to the ordinary.

Mentoring-  The most important part of team management is coaching, time-bound assessment, showing the right direction, timely feedback and action. These are the pre-requisites for a leader to make his team successful. Every individual has to be handled distinctively to keep his part of the team. Another example from Ramayana, when Lord Ram assassinated the Bali (the father of Angad), Angad may have considered taking revenge against Lord Ram. But Ram handled him well, gave him responsibility for the final negotiation with the enemy and also made him crowned prince to keep his loyalty with Sugreeve and the Ram Army.

Mentoring adds the final share of “Extra” into Ordinary.

None of the managers ever got a perfect team, Imperfection is the prevalent virtue in every team. To make the team winnable leader plays a pivotal role. 

Always it is the leader who adds extra to the ordinary.

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