Leadership lessons from the cricket World Cup

While India’s dream run ended in the semi-finals, there are numerous life lessons our kids can learn from Team India and the game that will serve them well in the future.

Cricket has been on everyone’s mind the past few weeks. It has dominated conversations at work, amongst friends, on the street and at home. While India’s dream run ended in the semi-finals, I think we should walk away very proud of how well our team played through most of the World Cup tournament and how well they represented India on the world stage. Also, as a mother of a young boy who was glued to the television during all Team India matches, I realised there are numerous life lessons our kids can learn from this game that will serve them well in the future.

Virat Kohli’s behaviour and performance in this World Cup tournament was a masterclass in leadership and kids can so much to learn from him, (Action Images via Reuters)

Here are some of the key ones I could identify:

1. Our players were consistently recognized for their high level of fitness and the way it showed in their superior performance on ground. In today’s world where many kids unfortunately tend to spend a lot of time at home in front of their TVs or laptops, this is a reminder that no matter what your goals in life, physical fitness is essential. It is the foundation upon which you build your dreams and those of a strong, growing India.

2. The matches that stood out were the ones where one of the teams had a poor start, but managed to claw their way back into the game because of their sheer will power and commitment. Our kids need to also learn that to be successful in life, you don’t just need a plan to succeed, you need to be able to deal with failure, have the hunger to win and the ability to keep fighting until the very end. As parents, don’t just prepare your children for success, prepare them for failure, tell them that it is ok to fail, and then help them develop a mindset that lets them bounce back stronger.

4. I believe Virat Kohli’s behaviour and performance in this World Cup tournament was a masterclass in leadership and kids can so much to learn from him. Staying cool under pressure, thinking many steps ahead and having a clear plan to win, praising his teammates when they played well, defending them when they didn’t and leading by example on the field, these are the traits that our children should develop and practice as they grow up to become leaders.

5. The World Cup is over. But what I believe we will remember beyond the league rankings are the instances of true sportsmanship displayed. It is so important for us to teach our children that while winning is important, the desire and commitment to win is more important, and that being honest, compassionate, empathetic, and a warm human being is the most important.

If we can help our children develop and live by this mindset, then not only will they have happier lives, we will have contributed to creating a better world and tomorrow. My family and I will continue to bleed blue and hope for India to emerge as the champions in the next World Cup. Until then, we will work on helping our son learn these skills, become a better person and go running with him every day so that we can all get fitter.

(An advocate of women’s rights, Neela Kaushik started a Facebook community called Gurgaon Moms to create a local support network for mothers in the city. Today, it has more than 25,000 members.)