Time and again we look up to a leader who can guide us, motivate us, understand and develop us, to grow in a better way. The best part is we do have one of the best leader-captain, rather former captain of Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has been one of the best, versatile captains of the team, who led the Indian cricket team to lift up the 2011 ICC Cricket world cup and many more such achievements. Recently, Virat Kohli took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team. The fact that Virat Kohli has been successful in leading the team after taking over charges as captain is visible by the victories Indian team has achieved under his captaincy in Test crickets and ODIs.

M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli are contradicting personalities in terms of behavioral characteristics and leadership skills. While Dhoni is referred to as ‘Captain Cool’ due to his cool, calm and composed attitude, Kohli is known for his aggression. Here are a few pointers depicting the leadership traits of M.S. Dhoni which can help every leader to lead efficaciously and which Kohli can pick up as well while leading the Indian cricket team.

Being confident

The foremost and utmost important quality every leader, infact every person should have is confidence in self. If the person would be confident enough about oneself, he/she would pass on that positive energy to others. That is why Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team. Likewise, every entrepreneur, manager, team leader, etc. must first cultivate the confidence and boost morale of others which will automatically open doors for victory.

 Competence to handle pressure

The most admired and acknowledged trait of Dhoni is his competence to handle pressure. No wonder he is known as ‘Captain Cool’, he is indeed the coolest player with the competence to handle pressure and this is indeed an essential trait for every leader. Every leader should pick up this attribute from Dhoni as it’s very important that the leaders do not buckle under pressure. A leader should stay calm under every situation so that his descendants or employees can tackle the pressure and perform well. If the leader himself will defy tackling the pressure, entire team led by him won’t be able to do well and would lead to failure instead of victory.

Proficient to handle failure

Another most visible trait of Dhoni is his capability to handle the failure. The first two traits are somehow linked to this characteristic of handling failure. If a person is confident enough and is competent to handle pressure then he can surely handle failure. A good leader must take the failure in the true spirit and must consider it as the stepping stone to success- an opportunity to understand what went wrong, what and how to improve and to excel further instead of going haywire over the failure.

 Connect individually

Dhoni has not just been a good captain but has also been a mentor to young and new players who had joined the team. This should definitely be espoused by all the leaders. Playing a leader is undoubtedly very difficult but to understand the flaws and weakness of each of the team mates and to guide them is the toughest task. Knowing the best and the capabilities might lead to success  but not understanding the flaws to overcome it can definitely lead to failure.

Leading a group of people with different interests, nature, characteristics, etc. is actually a very difficult task but the onus lies on how the leader gets the work done to attain the organizational objectives. Considering the above points could steer every team towards success and each one can become a good leader to keep the team going.

Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai