Sourav Ganguly offers some leadership lessons, is Virat Kohli listening?

Sourav Ganguly feels that sometimes as a leader one has to adjust to others in the team as well and not just do what he believes in.

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was known as much for his tactical acumen as he was for being a brilliant man-manager during his playing days. In a group consisting of stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh among others, Ganguly ensured that there was never any bad blood and everyone played like one big unit. And Ganguly feels that sometimes as a leader one has to adjust to others as well and not just do what he believes in.

File image of India skipper Virat Kohli (right) with head coach Ravi Shastri. (REUTERS)

“When you have exceptional players in the team, you will have to at times (to be a good leader) just follow the way they want to follow because sometimes they can be better than you. A leader, as I’ve always said, is not just ‘my way or the highway’. It is about adjusting to the greats you have in the dressing room,” he said in a video published by Cricinfo.

Ganguly also said that putting too much pressure on players isn’t the way forward as that unsettles them and the performance gets affected. “I am a firm believer that yes, you put pressure. Pressure is a must, and it’s going to happen in all professional life. But don’t put so much pressure that you crack. You have to allow them (players) freedom to express themselves,” he explained.

The former India captain feels that giving the players space and freedom is the only way that a leader can earn the trust of the players and that helps in building a team. “That is the only way they can become better and that is the only way you can have a good team where every individual feels that as the boss or the leader, he gives us space. So, if I perform, I will get his backing. And I think that atmosphere (that trust), is very important,” he said.