Success mantra of a passionate warrior

Hello Friends,

Who do you prefer to idolize in life? Is it parents, teacher, mentor, any of the family member or any public figure? Whoever that person may be, you must have substantial reasons to follow him or her. That person might have influenced you in more than one sphere of life. We find lot of people being extremely inspired by public figures mainly sports personalities. Today I'm going to talk about one such shining star from the sports world who is inspiring our generation immensely with his work ethics, dedication & passion for representing the nation.

Introduction

For our generation Virat Kohli is synonymous with passion, aggression, hard work and success. His extraordinary success at an age when most of us try to find our feet makes him the ideal role model to millions across the globe. His popularity and success can be compared to that of cricketing legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly or MS Dhoni in past. But what sets this Delhi lad apart from the rest? Why is he so successful? What are those qualities necessary for astounding success like this? All these and many more interesting facts can be found in author Abhirup Bhattacharya's book Winning like Virat : Think & Succeed Like Kohli.

Content is the king

Let me set the expectations right at the beginning. This is not a biography of the Indian cricket team captain. You will not get any information about his schooling or teenager days. Instead the book throws light on his grind during the initial days, inspiration behind this inspiring cricketer, his multifaceted leadership acumen and various other parameters that are testament to his extraordinary success.

At the same time the book talks more about the player Virat and his qualities rather than captain Virat. Hence this book can very well be an ideal resource for learning the basic principles for achieving extraordinary success by an individual. Author Abhirup Bhattacharya, a management graduate & experienced professional from various industries is author of four books. He also runs his own management blog ideasmakemarket.com for guiding B-school aspirants and students. Structure of the book is quite similar to the author's other piece of work named Winning like Sourav (click here for my review). Facts and figures have been narrated in a simplified manner. Throughout the book numerous charts, graphs and statistics have been included to make it a pleasure reading for readers. At the same time there have been quite a few quotations of other cricketers and Virat himself included throughout the chapters. One way to look at this kind of a structure can be that it's an accumulation of various facts, figures and opinions about Virat. Whereas it can also be opined that considering most of them are largely available in various online and print media, it could have been used a bit less.

Talking about the best parts of the book there are quite a few. The ones I personally liked are the explanation of SMART methodology of defining goals, narration of various concepts from the corporate perspective in comparison with cricketing ones, comparison of Virat's approach with that of various stages of product management, projection of Virat 5.0 and beyond to name a few. The first chapter starts with the mention of Virat's unimpressive scores in his debut domestic, ODI and test match appearances. That sets the tone for the rest of the book nicely. I am sure most of us wouldn't have been aware of those scores. Those scores and the current performance level of Virat are two contrasting parts of a story. What this book depicts is the process that joins those two phases.

One entire chapter has been included on mentoring emphasizing influence of Virat's coach Raj Kumar Sharma and in general the importance of mentoring in life. Felt it could have been narrowed down a bit. There have been sufficient information about Virat's work ethics, brand value, thought process behind managing finance and investments. What could have been icing on the cake is mention of some of his extreme low phases of career and the subsequent journey of overcoming them.

Conclusion

Overall this is a good piece of work and sufficient enough to make one believe that hard work and passion can take you far in your career. Whether you are a Virat fan or not grabbing a copy of Winning Like Virat to know the journey of his hard fought success won't be a bad idea.

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Cover image design: Balakumar

Personal Recommendation (Sports leadership)