Short Workshop With Young Cricketers - Imperial Cricket Club

Imperial Cricket Club has had an impressive run in the last three years getting promotions from C division to B division and again from B division to A division. Ravi's teams are made of young, promising cricketers, mostly from modest backgrounds. From what I have heard it's a rare team culture where team comes first and players play as one and manufacture results consistently without the pressure of winning at all costs. Perfect team culture.

I offered to do a small workshop on preparation and mindset for cricketers when he said he was planning to felicitate his players for their good show. He asked if he could get players from other teams as well and we had about 40 cricketers attending. The more the merrier.

I have often heard from young cricketers and students only two words when asked how they plan to play higher grade cricket - hard work. Beyond those two words they have no clarity on what to prepare in, how to prepare etc. Most do not know the parameters for physical fitness, have no idea of their strengths and weakness and how to correct them, no clue on how to train their mind. So sharing a few ideas could help them a bit. After all we have all been there at one time.

To begin with we discussed the values that built their champion team - honesty (playing the best XI with no preference to any player, team goals above individual goals (team spirit or playing as a team),  and certainly, hard work (resilience and hanging in there). We discussed why values are important - as principles we value, they guide our actions and choices. I also told them that though all of them may want to play for India, most may not make it. These values will at least help us become successful human beings. 

Everyone wants success and is seeking the success formula. Success comes to the best prepared. There is no luck as far as I am concerned. Your preparation reflects your preparation so if you are not delivering the results you want (500 runs or 50 wickets in the season) you have not prepared well. The successful formula then becomes Disciplined Effort. To get form point A to B and to show improvement every day, one must put in an organised and disciplined effort. I broke it down in the famous golden circle format - Why, How and What - so they could easily remember how to prepare. 

The Why is the purpose why we are playing - which is to help the team win (which is what gives us most joy and also helps promote our individual careers too). Next we looked at the HOW - Values and Processes. Processes include ways to gain expertise (deliberate practice), what to prepare on (physical (NCA parameters), skill (batting, bowling, fielding, strengths and weaknesses), mental (goal clarity, process orientation, resilience, learning mindset, effort, beliefs, owning their lives with no blame and excuse), what to work for (SMART goals for medium and short term). 

A cute memento 

We discussed how champions train the hardest. One has to work hard. If one is not getting the results one wants, one should look at one's process and figure where there is a shortfall. I also told them that as a selector I look for cricketers who have a good work ethic, who are match winners, team players, possess high skill in their category and bring good values to the team.

 

There were good questions from the cricketers. How to handle pressure, how to handle back to back failures, how to build mental strength and so on. After the session, there was a memento awarding session followed by lunch. Day well spent. 

 

Leadership Workshop with Backflipt 2!

 Sagar accompanied me to the workshop at Backflipt. Kumar came from Chennai and Rajeev's team was all ready for the workshop. It went well as we did the Timpson's test, shared some personal information, did a vision statement, set values, looked at 10x processes, set some 10x goals, looked at people management, did some communication exercises. We did some appreciation exercises, some role plays, had good discussions. Overall went off well.

We did not take a picture though. Next time.

  Thanks Rajeev and team. It was a fun experience and I hope you learned something about leadership by the end of it. 

Leadership Workshop - Panzer Solutions

 The leadership workshop with Panzer Solutions is finally on - one module a week. Titled 'Cracking the Leadership Code' it is about the basics of leadership that helps us lead better. Tariq coordinated the effort and joined the program along with Adil, Nizam, Raees, Santhosh, Satya, Vinay, Imran. Khaled and Ahmad. Kawal joined in at the end.

We had an interesting ice breaker based on each of us sharing some fun details about one another - favorite movie, last vacation, favorite book, what we fear the most, biggest achievement etc. It was good sharing. We discussed how important leadership was to a team result (more than 50%), that leadership could be taught (yes) and whether we consider our leaders.

Here we had a nice moment. We pondered on how we are influencing people with the way we live our lives - how many we already have influenced and how many more we can influence from now on. It was an interesting exercise and Nizam actually said that we should document these so we remember the good we had done. I asked them to make a list about who they can help going forward too.

A small insight into how leaders evolve - from insecure leaders who have authority but no clue or experience drawing our insecure reactions from them, to personal leadership where one takes his own role and the responsibility of the team and then a secure leader who allows the entire team to contribute and grow as a whole. I also shared how they say that a leader is one who holds the team's energies like a vessel.

I then revealed the leadership code or my leadership black box - why, how, what and who. To understand the 'Why' we looked at Simon Sinek's TED talk 'Start with Why'. We discussed it briefly and I gave them an exercise to come with their grandest vision for their company, their team, their life. A good why helps us form a good strategy, choose values, builds culture, gives strength and conviction. We discussed the story of Disney, of the guy who broke stones with purpose.

It was a good session and I enjoyed sharing my experiences and stories with the team. Next week - the how.    

Clear Your Money Blocks - Workshop by Audrey Vaidya

 I attended this impromptu workshop by Audrey (we knew her from way back then - 15 years ago when we all started out on the journey inward). Audrey has since done many courses and is a qualified coach and facilitator. She did this three hour workshop for us on her recent visit.

Audrey in class

Money beliefs are pre-programmed she said. It is nothing but energy. So treat it as that and nothing more.

The five kinds of money we should be aware of are - Savings, Debt, Income, Income goals, Toxic money.

Then we looked at each one - how much do we have, how does it make us feel, what are the thoughts that come when I think about it, what is my history and my parents history with it, what are my beliefs about money (and what s my reality).

Class

We set income goals at a level which is achievable, looked at how we felt inside about actually achieving it.

Then she taught us a 'tapping' process on how it would help us stay focussed and how we can create the money.

I was very impressed with the way Audrey handled the workshop - with great control, patience, humour. She listened to everyone, offered solutions and ideas, was very clear on her basic principles, shared her own story as well.

Thanks Audrey.   

Leadership Workshop at Backflipt - January 10, 2023

 The leadership team (one part) got together for a leadership workshop 'Scripting the Blockbuster Backflipt Story'. Ram, Rao, Vijay, Vamsi, Sudhir, Hitesh, Neha and Ashfaq participated - Ram and Rao overseeing mostly and participating when needed. I had Sagar help me and we thought of some way to make it into a script. The workshop started at 10 am and went on till 630 pm.

The objective of the workshop was to have the leadership team figure out how to make their story a success.  And alongside, learn the basics of leadership.

There were five parts to the workshop.

1) Getting to know the team well

Taking off from the Timpson's test, we tried to know each other better by answering the Timpson's test questions and then sharing stuff about ourselves and our lives - stuff we fear the most, love the most, movies, books and such. The idea is that when we know our people well enough, we have a team.

I had them practice the 3As - Acknowledge, Appreciate, Ask for help

2) The Why

Taking off from Simon Sinek's 'Start with why' we started with why. 'What's the common purpose of the team?'

We did end up somewhere taking off from - building great products to...

It's work-in-progress but we all needed a common goal to aim at.

Ram shared some powerful 'why' stories from his past.

3) The How

Values - Behavior: 

We looked at winning behaviors and identified four - ownership, learning mindset, being bold and team work. Now we are looking at finding appropriate stories that match behavior to those values.

10 x Results

We played a ball game and figured how to crack 10x. The idea was that if we start with a big target we break the mould and devise new ways to achieve the same. 

4) The What 

10 x Goals - 3 Horizons

Back in the conference hall we looked at 10x goals to go for in three time horizons - 3 months, 1 month and 1 sprint. It was a powerful session.

5) The Who - People Management

We decided to practice the 3As to improve people relations and make people feel valued, that they belong, that they are in control and that they feel safe. 

We discussed concepts like psychological safety, feedback management, communication and did some exercises. It was a tiring yet fulfilling day for all of us. I am excited to be with this team and am sure we can achieve what we set out to  do - hone the winning mindset so we win.       

   

Team Building Program for Backflipt - Win By Design

We did a team building program for Backflipt on January 3, 2023. 31 participants participated in an experiential outdoor team building program through cricket at Sportsville, Madhapur. We played games, debriefed, shared our learning through the day. It was intense, energetic and full of fun. Our twin objective of 1) having the team meet, bond and have fun along with 2) experientially learning about teamwork and the winning mindset has been achieved.

The Backflipt team

Since there were 34 members (normally we play with 16 in this format), we changed the rules a bit. We formed two teams of A and B and made two sub teams of A1 and A2 and B1 and B2. A1 comprised of Sailaja, Pavan, Poojitha, Bharath M, Indravathi, Krishna, Sudhir, Rafi and A2 comprised of Vaishnavi,Bhargav, Yashwant, Neeraja, Pradyumn, Sindhuja, Ashwak and Aditya. B1 comprised of Sai, Sravani, Vijay, Pooja, Manideepak, Jairam, Anoop and B2 was Somsekhar, Ankita, Vamsi, Nikhila, Hitesh, Likhita, Bharath and Hemant.

The B team - winners

A Team - gallant fight

At work

The day's event consisted of three short games followed by a discussion and a short debriefing session after each game. The first game was about attitudes we carry to a team, the second game was about getting the team together and the third game was about employing and empowering all resources to win.

By the third game the intensity and energy was highest. It is a good experience for them to relate to. When challenged and when competing fully, that is how high our intensity gets.
Game 1 was an 8 hour, affair with both B1 and B2 batting first and scoring 34 and 61 (Pooja 24, Manideepak 10) respectively. A2 and A1 batted second and scored 33 (Ashfaq 12) and 28 respectively. B team won handsomely.

After the game the participants were given handouts to share their individual thoughts. After the first game, the question of ‘why were you playing’ asked, to understand our attitudes when we enter a team.

Reactions from participants to ‘why were you playing’ –

To enjoy and have fun
To understand team members
To understand myself
To bond with others
To compete
To interact with others from other teams and know everyone
To support my team
To get together
To refresh and get relief from work
To score for the team
To have a new experience
To do well for my team
To collaborate and break barriers.

Debrief – We discussed that this is how we approach any team - with different purposes. But if we have a common purpose, it becomes a binding factor. It could be ‘to win’, or ‘to give our best’ or whatever. Find a common purpose and your team effort increases by 20-30%. They all agreed that their common purpose as a member of their team was ‘to win’

Playing
Their learning after game 1 was as below

It is important that we –

Coordinate better as a team
Understand team members
Adapt to conditions
Communicate
Know our roles clearly
Know our strengths and weaknesses
Understand the opponent
Get everyone on the same page
Strategise
Know that we have hidden talents
Have good leadership
Be bold
Understand team potential
Encourage one another
Give 100%
Focus on a clear target
Enjoy the match no matter what the score is
Stay calm
Keep up the spirit
Train those who are not good
Provide opportunities for everyone to excel

In action

Game 2 began after the teams got more organised with a common purpose, leadership, role clarity, strategy, tactics etc. B1 batted first and scored 51 (Hemnath 14) followed by B2 which scored 44 (Vijay 12, Jairam 8, Nikhila 12) thereby totalling 95 for B. In reply A2 batted first and scored a decent 37 (Bhargav 8, Ashfaq 9) followed by A1 which scored 47 (Indravathi 11, Poojitha 8, Bharath 12) - thereby totaling 84. B team won again.


Their learning after the 2nd game

It is important to –

Have a common goal
Work as a team
Start well
Communicate
Encourage one another
Give inputs
Believe in team
Believe in leadership
Have team and individual targets
Set small goals
Create good team atmosphere
Have goal clarity
Convert weakness to strength
Have regular interaction
Give 100%
Execute plans
Look out for others
Don’t criticize and blame
Don’t give up
Have role clarity
Hunt in partnerships
Take ownership
Motivate others

Backflipt

In the final game where A and B were given more leeway to decide strategy - A cored 83 in their first innings to which B replied with 84. It was an incredible turnaround because B was in the doldrums at 27 at the end of 6 overs - credit to be given to Sravani and Ankita who added 16 runs under pressure. Then Hemant and Bharath combined to score 57 in 2 overs with Hemant scoring 31 and Bharath scoring 26. Though the second inning started on an even keel, A seemed to have lost some confidence after B's gallant turnaround and still mnaged a good score of 71 mainly helped by Ashfaq (19) and Rafi (16). A2 came to chase 71 and got 10 in the first 2 overs, 28 in the next two overs. At 38 in 4 overs it could have gone either way if the next pair performed poorly. But Nikhila (19) shored up the inning single handedly and took the team within striking distance of 57 runs, leaving only 14 to be scored. Vijay and Pooja comfortably knocked off those runs and B won a closely contested game.

Overall learning shared by participants at end of day was about

The importance of –
Team work
Right thinking
Hard work
Confidence
Encouraging one another
Giving inputs/training
Having a winning attitude
Communication
Coordination
Keeping spirits up in every situation
Understanding one another
Setting targets
Goal and role clarity
Pushing oneself to achieve target
Not blaming/ criticizing
Take ownership
You can win from any situation
Refreshing our minds when on backfoot
Defend each other
Enjoy the work
Give 100%
Good leadership
Planning
Listening to all opinions
Know what’s happening with the others in the team
Plan before entering work
Share ideas
Guide team in tough situations
Don’t fear big targets – break them down
Don’t be complacent
Stay strong
Have mutual discussions
Find ways to maximize resource utilization
It’s not over till it’s over
Speak up in the interests of the team
Give up individual goals for team goals
We work better as a team

….

After three hard fought games the B team won by a close margin. It was intensely contested and the participants shared their learning through the experiential workshop - team spirit, communication, helping one another, encouraging one another, giving 100% for the team, having a common purpose, importance of a good leader etc.

Feedback on the Leadership Program - Cracking the Leadership Code

 We did several of these open programs in 2016-17. Some feedback from those. Thanks everyone. I'll enjoy looking at these!

Feedback - Champion's Mindset

 This was a program on personal excellence we had done for Gap Miners and others. Some feedback.