Leadership Lessons from Australian Cricket

The recent episode of Justin Langer's (JL) resignation from the post of Head Coach of the Australian men's cricket team has a lesson or two for the professional sphere.

A few days back, he resigned right after helping the team win the Test Series against England. He mentioned that while he was being offered a short term extension (for a few months) as the Head Coach, he felt that he no longer enjoyed the support of a majority of the players (which meant he was unlikely to get a longer term extension).

The issue centered around his leadership style, which in his own words and that of his team mates was 'intense'.

It was this same intense approach, and fierce competitiveness that helped the Australian team bounce back from the infamous Sandpaper gate episode where their team was caught on camera tampering with the ball. This was followed by a public backlash and three of the country's top cricketers were banned. It was at this all time low in Australian cricket that JL took over. Over the next few years, he rebuilt not just morale of the team but that of the cricketing community and the Australian public as well. In the years that followed, he took the team from being down in the dumps to the #1 ranked team, and winners of the T20 world cup. He re-instilled the fighting spirit that the Aussies are known for.

So when resigned there was backlash on his treatment by many former cricketers, who felt he had been unfairly treated for his contributions.

While I leave that judgement to you, there are three things that the current turn of events bring to the fore.

1. Leadership is contextual, and there is no great leader for all seasons.

In sports as in corporations, we need a different leader for different times. For instance, those that are great at building and exploring aren't always the best when it comes to maintaining or running a status quo. Just as JL's intensity was a much needed trait when things were falling apart in 2018, in 2022 as the team became more stable the same intensity was viewed not so favorably.

2. Public memory is very short

We have seen this time and again. In one moment we are a hero, and the next we are forgotten. Keeping this front and centre is important to continue focusing on our duty and call to action rather than doing things to please people.

3. We are evaluated for 'What' we achieve and 'How' we achieve it

While the 'what' is easy to measure and objective, the 'how' is about alignment with the group's values (which evolve over time).