Journey Of A Charismatic Leader: Winning Like Sourav

Hello Friends,

Time and again we keep hearing about extremely successful cricketers. Through social media we get to know about their luxurious lifestyle, wealth, expensive possessions and what not. In a cricket crazy nation like ours a cricketer is considered as a superstar. But how many of us know about their journey towards glory, the extreme struggle they faced on their way or the tremendous grit shown by these modern day superstars to achieve the desired success? In our today's book review segment I am going to feature one book which narrates the extraordinary journey of one of the all time greats of Indian cricket.

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Indian cricket has produced a plethora of legendary cricketers over the years. All of them have contributed to Indian cricket immensely. But the book I am talking about depicts the story of a legend who has not only made our country proud through his batting but also revolutionized Indian cricket through his leadership. Any guesses?? Prince of Calcutta, Dada, Maharaj, God of offside are some of the names he is fondly known as in the cricketing world. Yes it's none other than Sourav Ganguly who laid the cornerstone of the success that Indian cricket is going through today.

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"Winning Like Sourav: Think & Succeed Like Ganguly " is not a biography of the former Indian captain. Rather it can be considered as a leadership masterclass with lessons worth implementing in corporate as well as personal life. Author Abhirup Bhattacharya, a management graduate & published author of sports leadership category has exhibited valuable leadership lessons from every phase of Sourav's illustrious career. First chapter itself sets the tone for the rest of the book. Rarely witnessed any cricketer's brand value being explained in such a manner including SWOT analysis, social media presence & endorsement details. Great to see the author's way of linking Sourav's life lessons to corporate life. You can find the same trend throughout the book. Loved his comparison of Ganguly, Dhoni & Kohli's era with early stage startup, funded startup & profitable startup. In general if we notice lot of similarities can be found the way corporates work & the game of cricket goes. Author has put across those similarities in the form of leadership lessons through the journey of a cricketing legend.

Every chapter includes a particular leadership trait & how Sourav fares in that particular quality. To explain his point author has taken the help of several leadership theories, graphical representations & loads of stats. Kudos to him for exhibiting such in depth analysis of the facts. On the other hand the author has not hesitated to highlight various controversies that the current BCCI president was involved in & how some of them could have been avoided or handled better. After all a leader grows through several ups & downs throughout the career. Showcasing the low phases is as important as the bright ones. We learn more from failures than success. Isn't it??

Author has been able to depict Dada's strong leadership acumen both through high & low phases of his career. Several examples from the business world have been added in comparison with Sourav's decisions taken for the betterment of Indian cricket. At the same time certain personal life incidents have also been presented to showcase his leadership style in personal life. Presented in extremely simple language the entire package becomes so exciting to read. Sourav is respected for being a visionary leader as much as for his extraordinary stats with the bat. His journey from a not so favored cricketer to one of the stalwarts of Indian cricket is worth a read. That is why this book is such a must have for all the leaders rather than just the cricket lovers.

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Personal Recommendation(Sports Leadership)