Leadership Styles--Charismatic Leadership
Motivation in any form is key to performance of Individuals, Teams, Organizations and the world at large. Motivation when initiated by Leaders is ultimate since it is the most focused and most successful methods to venture into un-chartered zones or reach the tallest of peaks. When motivation is initiated by Leaders the result generally is fully rounded (negative or positive depends on the approach and result), holistic and all-encompassing. Such Motivational leaders require a very important characteristic and i.e., Charisma.
Charismatic leaders are those who can change situations suddenly and completely to exactly the opposite to what it was, the moment they are given the reins. Their reign is generally full of action with every single participant within their teams contributing in whatever manner they can and essentially the result can be attributed to the Leader.
Some of the greatest leaders in Cricket have been Charismatic and their individual aura held sway over every team member they handled. I personally felt drawn closer to 3 of these leaders and some of the qualities of these strong personalities have been extremely helpful to me when leading teams. Mike Brearley, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, Imran Khan. Three names, three extremely different characters, but result absolutely the same, they held sway over the teams they handled purely by the fact that they had an aura, which, others would give a portion of their wealth to have.
Some stark differences between the three were there for all to see, but still the one single quality of Charisma was so evident in the manner they produced results.
I personally felt that this post should be a longer one considering the fact that I am writing about three of the greatest Cricketers to walk the pitches and I would neither be doing justice to readers nor to the Charismatic style of Leadership, if I didn't provide a space, fitting enough, to these quality personalities.
One, a suave gentleman, a teacher by profession, with not much to show in terms of Cricketing achievements apart from being one of the Greatest Captains in the game's history was Michael Brearley. He was arguably the greatest brains of the game ever. He could make a down and out Ian Botham, one of the greatest all-rounders in Cricket, to suddenly and single-handedly change a series. The 1981 Ashes was simply the greatest example of Charismatic Leadership style, changing the course of the series with England ready for a white wash to Australia being thrashed in one of the greatest turnarounds in the game's history. All due to one indispensable individual Mike Brearley. In no other series or examples can one find a Leader being attributed so significantly for the success when he had done nothing seriously with the ball or bat. His mere presence in the field changed the situation for England. He incidentally was a Psychologist and read the mind did he? He simply motivated Botham, Bob-Willis, Chris Old, Emburey and Dilley to perform above expectations and these were not small picks either. Suddenly England looked an altogether different team and probably the only time they ever looked like a world-beater. Brearley had 3 characteristics key for a leader. He was intuitive, resourceful and sympathetic. Over and above these he was a clear-thinking leader and that helped him to simply ward of threats with a smile which is typical nature of charisma. Rodney Hogg a quality fast bowler of Australian team simply quoted "He has a degree in People". A stamp for his method of handling people. He had a simple way of dealing with critics. When his method of handling a situation was questioned, he would simply smile and say "you never know, the alternative could have been still worse", a classic Karmic principle.
The second Leader in this post was the most destructive batsman ever (Sehwag and Gayle included) Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. Yes, the most murderous, yet most stylish to wield the willow was Sir Viv. He simply did nothing other than create fear in the minds of the bowlers even before the serieshad started. The West Indian team's reign in World Cricket would have been considered colourless if not for Vivian Richards' display whenever he was on the field, either as batsman, bowler or fielder. He was the greatest batsman till the time he retired and probably Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara would vouch that he is still the greatest. His Captaincy just like his batsmanship was all Charisma. His individual skills were so great that Captaincy was something that came to him naturally even if he may not have been the best to lead the West Indies. He could not be compared with Sir Garfield Sobers, Clive Lloyd or for that matter another charismatic leader in Rohan Kanhai. But to have both the burdens of Captaincy as well as the best batsman in the team was not easy to carry, but Viv was special, he could simply give an impish smile or a great guffaw to make the ordinary of ordinary players to do his bit and that simply was because they respected Richards. Such was his sway over his team members which had greats like Greenidge, Haynes, the four great fast bowlers in Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshal, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. He had played his cricket with other greats like Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Garner and many others and at every point in his career, the Charisma hat fitted only his head. Charismatic Leaders are those who inspire enthusiasm in others. Viv, was simply that. He just inspired others to follow in his foot steps.
Finally, The greatest of Charismatic Leaders, Imran Khan. He did his bit for Pakistan Cricket and now the famed Charisma is playing the same tune in his Country. Success for these people is all due to the fact that they can focus on themselves so much so that this attitude in itself makes people look up to them time and again and perform as they wave their magic wand. Imran Khan was handsome, a broad shouldered Pathan, always having his way with women and a very strong attitude almost narcissistic in nature. But who really bothers when the results are there for all to see? He could simply egg his men to perform so differently in a single world cup, that from almost being down in the dumps they emerged as the Winners of the World Cup in 1992. Charismatic Leaders simply believe in themselves to change any situation. Imran and Sir Viv were individually brilliant players and second to none in their respective trades. Brearley was more of a technician and his success was all because he knew his people better than anyone.
Charismatic Leaders like Imran always felt that they could do no wrong and this quality seemed to brush on the teams they lead. Also in the eyes of the followers, success is directly connected to the mere presence of the Leader and this was true in the case of all these three Leaders whether it was Brearley in 1981, Sir Viv throughout his career (even when he was not Captain) and Imran Khan during the 1992 World Cup and many more other occasions. Charismatic Leadership requires the incumbent to shoulder great responsibility and significantly long term commitment, characteristics, which, all these three leaders had in abundance.
Charismatic leaders are those who can change situations suddenly and completely to exactly the opposite to what it was, the moment they are given the reins. Their reign is generally full of action with every single participant within their teams contributing in whatever manner they can and essentially the result can be attributed to the Leader.
Some of the greatest leaders in Cricket have been Charismatic and their individual aura held sway over every team member they handled. I personally felt drawn closer to 3 of these leaders and some of the qualities of these strong personalities have been extremely helpful to me when leading teams. Mike Brearley, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, Imran Khan. Three names, three extremely different characters, but result absolutely the same, they held sway over the teams they handled purely by the fact that they had an aura, which, others would give a portion of their wealth to have.
Some stark differences between the three were there for all to see, but still the one single quality of Charisma was so evident in the manner they produced results.
I personally felt that this post should be a longer one considering the fact that I am writing about three of the greatest Cricketers to walk the pitches and I would neither be doing justice to readers nor to the Charismatic style of Leadership, if I didn't provide a space, fitting enough, to these quality personalities.
One, a suave gentleman, a teacher by profession, with not much to show in terms of Cricketing achievements apart from being one of the Greatest Captains in the game's history was Michael Brearley. He was arguably the greatest brains of the game ever. He could make a down and out Ian Botham, one of the greatest all-rounders in Cricket, to suddenly and single-handedly change a series. The 1981 Ashes was simply the greatest example of Charismatic Leadership style, changing the course of the series with England ready for a white wash to Australia being thrashed in one of the greatest turnarounds in the game's history. All due to one indispensable individual Mike Brearley. In no other series or examples can one find a Leader being attributed so significantly for the success when he had done nothing seriously with the ball or bat. His mere presence in the field changed the situation for England. He incidentally was a Psychologist and read the mind did he? He simply motivated Botham, Bob-Willis, Chris Old, Emburey and Dilley to perform above expectations and these were not small picks either. Suddenly England looked an altogether different team and probably the only time they ever looked like a world-beater. Brearley had 3 characteristics key for a leader. He was intuitive, resourceful and sympathetic. Over and above these he was a clear-thinking leader and that helped him to simply ward of threats with a smile which is typical nature of charisma. Rodney Hogg a quality fast bowler of Australian team simply quoted "He has a degree in People". A stamp for his method of handling people. He had a simple way of dealing with critics. When his method of handling a situation was questioned, he would simply smile and say "you never know, the alternative could have been still worse", a classic Karmic principle.
The second Leader in this post was the most destructive batsman ever (Sehwag and Gayle included) Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. Yes, the most murderous, yet most stylish to wield the willow was Sir Viv. He simply did nothing other than create fear in the minds of the bowlers even before the serieshad started. The West Indian team's reign in World Cricket would have been considered colourless if not for Vivian Richards' display whenever he was on the field, either as batsman, bowler or fielder. He was the greatest batsman till the time he retired and probably Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara would vouch that he is still the greatest. His Captaincy just like his batsmanship was all Charisma. His individual skills were so great that Captaincy was something that came to him naturally even if he may not have been the best to lead the West Indies. He could not be compared with Sir Garfield Sobers, Clive Lloyd or for that matter another charismatic leader in Rohan Kanhai. But to have both the burdens of Captaincy as well as the best batsman in the team was not easy to carry, but Viv was special, he could simply give an impish smile or a great guffaw to make the ordinary of ordinary players to do his bit and that simply was because they respected Richards. Such was his sway over his team members which had greats like Greenidge, Haynes, the four great fast bowlers in Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshal, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. He had played his cricket with other greats like Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Garner and many others and at every point in his career, the Charisma hat fitted only his head. Charismatic Leaders are those who inspire enthusiasm in others. Viv, was simply that. He just inspired others to follow in his foot steps.
Finally, The greatest of Charismatic Leaders, Imran Khan. He did his bit for Pakistan Cricket and now the famed Charisma is playing the same tune in his Country. Success for these people is all due to the fact that they can focus on themselves so much so that this attitude in itself makes people look up to them time and again and perform as they wave their magic wand. Imran Khan was handsome, a broad shouldered Pathan, always having his way with women and a very strong attitude almost narcissistic in nature. But who really bothers when the results are there for all to see? He could simply egg his men to perform so differently in a single world cup, that from almost being down in the dumps they emerged as the Winners of the World Cup in 1992. Charismatic Leaders simply believe in themselves to change any situation. Imran and Sir Viv were individually brilliant players and second to none in their respective trades. Brearley was more of a technician and his success was all because he knew his people better than anyone.
Charismatic Leaders like Imran always felt that they could do no wrong and this quality seemed to brush on the teams they lead. Also in the eyes of the followers, success is directly connected to the mere presence of the Leader and this was true in the case of all these three Leaders whether it was Brearley in 1981, Sir Viv throughout his career (even when he was not Captain) and Imran Khan during the 1992 World Cup and many more other occasions. Charismatic Leadership requires the incumbent to shoulder great responsibility and significantly long term commitment, characteristics, which, all these three leaders had in abundance.
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