A Winner's Mindset: Think And Win Like Dhoni By Sfurti Sahare

Hello Friends,

We have entered the 9th month of the year. Beginning of a brand new month..let us spread the positive energy across & help the world to recover from the ongoing pandemic. What the last few months have taught us is to survive during a crisis like this is a real test of character. Any critical situation in life whether personal or professional brings out the natural leader in us. Today I am going to talk about one such living example of natural leadership. The legend I am going to talk about has not only created his own legacy in the cricketing world but also set high standards of leadership which is an inspiration in every sphere of life. Any guesses?? Yes, I am talking about non other than the former world cup winning Indian men's cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, popularly known as MSD.

As we all know that MSD has recently announced his retirement from international cricket. The announcement was also made in his own unique way through a social media platform quoting one of his all time favorite songs. It came as a not so pleasant surprise for the entire country on the eve of Independence day. Next few days saw wishes pouring in from across the globe for a small town boy who made his mark in his own style. But what makes Dhoni so special? why even opponent cricketers also praise his leadership qualities? What is Dhoni's formula of success? Several such questions come across our mind when it comes to Dhoni. Over the years we have seen several theories coming from cricketing experts to decode his leadership style. At times he has been criticized as well for some of his decisions. But nothing bothers the great man from Ranchi .

He developed his own cricketing manual be it for batting or captaining the team, which at times has been considered as unorthodox. He sets the performance standards for him & his team so high that the rest of the cricketing nations find it really tough to match upto those standards. I have read so many articles, books, journals talking about Dhoni & his style. But I found a little masterpiece written by Sfurti Sahare ,an international motivational speaker named "Think and Win like Dhoni" really worth reading. Let's find out what all leadership secrets of Dhoni have been revealed in one of the National bestsellers.

Think and win like Dhoni by Sfurti Sahare

Sfurti Sahare ,an engineering graduate has been a cricket enthusiast since early age. Her cricketing knowledge has been reflected throughout the book while explaining various on field incidents. She has covered five different leadership traits of Dhoni in this book that makes him a winner. Each of these traits have been explained with various cricketing incidents. After going through the entire book we realize that these rules can help you to be a winner in any sphere of life if practiced properly.

First of these principles is 'The Right Attitude' which is so important for success in any profession. What sets Dhoni apart from other players is his hunger for winning whether its an international match or a small match in his locality. Approaching the game with single minded focus, preparing to the best of your ability & giving your best performance on the field without thinking too much about the result is Dhoni's mantra. Next is 'Goals'. In life or any sports having a proper goal is of utmost importance as that goal decides the direction of our journey. In Dhoni's manual goals should be small & simplified. A larger goal may look difficult to an individual or a team. But the same goal when divided into smaller ones & presented in a simplified manner can be easier to chase. Isn't it??

Third principle is 'Following the process'. Result is mostly a by-product of a properly thought & implemented process. Dhoni always believes in getting the process right. Whether winning an IPL tournament or world cup it's the process followed consistently over a period of time brings the success for him. The fourth one is 'A peaceful walk home'. The title may not sound as self-explanatory as the previous ones. In simple terms it is to be in the present moment. Not thinking much about the past or bothering about yet to come future. That is so true in our life too. Most of the times we clutter our mind either with memories of past failure or glory or thought of yet to arrive future. While doing so we miss out on cherishing the present moment. For Dhoni, being in the present moment makes him calm & allows to handle pressure effectively.

Last trait in the list is 'To be the chosen leader'. Not every individual is chosen as a leader in spite of possessing certain leadership qualities. Dhoni's calmness, trustworthiness as a team man, man management skills, honesty & ability to take tough decisions even in the darkest hours makes him a chosen leader.

Author Sfurti Sahare with M S Dhoni

Dhoni's leadership is probably much more than these few principles. May be we can say it can not be explained always in words what he does in cricket field. But all these principles mentioned in the book give us a picture of how a stalwart of modern day leadership prepares himself. Along with Dhoni several other prominent cricketers have been interviewed for the book. Everyone of them has their own view on Dhoni's leadership style. Quotes of the cricketing legends can be found throughout the book. Several lessons can be learnt from Dhoni's way of handling his on-field responsibilities.

At the same time it can be said that following these basic principles of leadership can help you to be a winner in any profession. Explaining each & every principle with cricketing anecdotes makes it a delight for the readers. Though written on a sportsman, this can very well be a self development book for anyone. Watching Dhoni winning the world cup for the country with a towering six or taking tactical decisions to change the course of a match is exciting for every cricket lover. But the hard work done behind the scenes to be tagged as Captain cool or Best finisher is something we must know. Read the book not to discover Dhoni's leadership mantra, but to reinvent & rebuild the leader within you.

Image credit:

amazon.in

Sfurti Sahare, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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