Be it, Shah Rukh Khan’s comeback movie “Pathaan” or world cup cricket, there’s a huge following for Bollywood and cricket in our country. Both, have great influence on people but let’s take some life lessons from cricket that touches everybody’s lives, almost definitely.
Cricket, an all-time favorite sport has something very fascinating about it. People across age groups like to follow it through, not just as a sport but as entertainment. There is a strong sense of unity and bonding that it brings together in people. In that sense it is a beautiful game.
While that is true, we can also look at it from another lens where learnings from a cricket ground may be applied to real life workplace scenarios. Cricket is a perfect example, showing passion and intent to get to extraordinary results – both on and off the field. There is a lot to draw from here in that respect, given that there have been considerate changes in the ways of working on the back of the pandemic.
It is one of the longest format sport in the world, in terms of duration. Even the shortest format, T20, takes more than double the time compared to a 90-min football match. It is like a marathon. It takes a lot of mental strength and determination to stay in the game. Nobody wins on the first ball and you have to keep going with the same intent if you want to win it on the last ball.
Taking example of India’s ace cricketer, Virat Kohli, he struggled with his form and output in the past 2-3 years, but got back in the game with flying colors as you saw in the recent T20 World Cup cricket. It just shows that you need to have a “champion mentality” and keep at it despite the many hurdles. Like him, while some are very driven and motivated, others look outside for motivation. The passion, the excitement, the team bonding, holding each other’s back, trust, belief and more importantly faith are some crucial takeaways from the sport which we should apply more often in our workplace. For that matter, we can see so many parallels on the cricket field that inspire us to perform better.
In a game like this losing early wickets seems like the end of the match. But, a rock-solid middle order or lower order partnership can get the team back in the contest. This is very similar to how we as leaders also see our line of force to back us up.
Another thing that it teaches us is being focused and centered on the ball. Losing track or distractions can get you stumped. Or, missing a shot may also cost you the game. This is so true in everyday work situation as well, as it gets more and more competitive for us.
And it is not just drawing parallels but literally, watching a cricket match together at work place can be such a stress buster, if you agree. It is such an unwinding techniques, and a great time for people to have fun, besides work.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Previously, as Head Communications and Community Relations Textron India, Arneeta led strategy and implementation for Internal & External Outreach in the region in close collaboration with a multi-stakeholder audience in TIPL and across Textron Business Units, globally. With over two decades of experience combining agency and corporate function, Arneeta has worked in a 360 environment and led multi-stakeholder and integrated campaigns in India and ASEAN region.
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