Not all heroes wear a cap. Some wear jersey number 7. When I used to get disappointed watching India’s performance in a cricket match, there was a feeling of optimism, and a gut feeling, which said  “don’t worry, Dhoni is there” which brought some sense of security. On 15th August 2020, that sense of security and trust was gone, when Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MS Dhoni), who wore the famous Jersey Number 7 for India, said goodbye to International Cricket. 

Each successful Leader has notable qualities and patterns, so did Dhoni. Here are the 7 leadership Insights from Jersey number 7

1.Take success as a Process: 

Dhoni, as a leader, was clear that success is something that is cultivated over time. As per one of his interviews: “In today’s world, we are so focused on results, we forget the process. The process is more important than the result, the result is just a by-product of the process. So, take care of the process, results will follow”.

As a leader, we need to understand that success is a daily grind, a daily commitment, that functions around your life purpose. To stand out as a leader in your own right, you must create the habits that back your success and good reputation. 

Once these habits become a part of your daily routine, you set yourself on the path of your own success and simultaneously, help others achieve theirs. 

2. Be a Change Agile: 

Dhoni’s ability to anticipate and create change was exceptional, and he could do this because of his capacity to take calculative risks, backed with robust knowledge and skills ( master of his domain). In the VUCA world, leaders must explore new options and take the necessary risks. 

Agreed, change is risky but not changing in this world is even riskier.  Dhoni said in one of his interviews: “Life is all about small decisions, sometimes we need to involve risk and luck too”.

In 2007 T20 world cup match with Pakistan (bowl-out game), he chose Robin Uthappa (not even a part-time bowler) to bowl, and in the same tournament, he chooses Joginder Sharma to bowl the death overs of the Final match. These were just a few examples of being the leader that has the agility to give up old practices and trends and take calculative risks. 

3. Emotionally Intelligent (EQ):

Dhoni could think with both head and heart. This ability helped him to manage distraction and negative energy in challenging situations. When things get tough, all eyes turn to the leader. That’s why, when the entire crowd was tensed, there was one person in the centre who stayed calm and focused, and that was captain MS. Dhoni. 

He ran faster than our heartbeats and showed no opponent is tough to knock and winning or losing is all in our Head and Heart. 

Dhoni managed his emotions well in handling success and failures. He kept his cards close to his chest. He knew, no matter what the situation was, he can always choose how to react to it (a great example of self-awareness and navigating emotions). 

He was called ‘Captain Cool’ as he did not succumb to the pressure, he stayed focused & his ability to make rational decisions (including countless successful DRS reviews) in the most challenging times accentuated this quality. Ability to stay cool and calm with a seemingly uncluttered mind is Dhoni’s greatest gift as a leader.

In complicated VUCA times, if the leader is calm and composed, it lends a great strength and hope to the team.

4. Be a Leader, Not a Boss: 

Dhoni’s ability to lead from the front, being fearless, managing egos, being empathetic, and the ability to back his team in the challenging situation, establishes him as an outstanding leader. 

He gave full credit to his team when they played well or won any championships. I remember the IPL celebration when Chennai Super King won the title, the person who lifted the trophy was the player who didn’t even play a single match in that tournament. In that picture, we can see the entire team, but Dhoni is hiding somewhere (only if you zoom, you can see him) as if he did nothing in that tournament. When asked, why did he do that, he said: “It’s a team sport, and the team has won, not an individual, so the team should be in a spotlight, not the captain”.  

For Dhoni, it was said that his room was always open for all the players. Anyone can walk in and talk to him without any hesitation. Only one thing was not allowed which was gossiping about the fellow team members. He didn’t like anyone talking or complaining behind someone’s back. These are some qualities that put him in a Leaders category and not in a Bosses category. 

5. Be a Learning Agile: 

Referring to the quote of Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”  

Always be a learner in life and keep learning – nobody can teach you this better than Dhoni. He learned “Helicopter Shot” from his friend. Dhoni was lauded for the gutsy moves (DRS reviews to some brilliant decisions), and out of the box thinking. 

As a leader, you must understand – “Thinking outside the box can only work if you know everything inside it” Reference: Boria Majumdar.  So, be a master of your domain. Be self-aware and know your and the team’s strengths and development areas.

6. A Power of Visualisation:

Dhoni’s winning attitude comes from his power of Visualization. This technique is used in sports. Muhammad Ali once said, “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it”. 

There is a study published by Neuropsychologia, that shows why the power of visualization is a miracle!.  In this study, they found that picturizing about moving certain parts of your body almost trains the muscles as much as the actual movement.  

Dhoni visualized and played the entire match before entering the playing field. On the playing felids, he just implemented and adjusted based on the situation – this brought results agility in his decisions.

Because of his ability to visualize, when many were tensed, there was one man in the center who was calm and composed. When he was present in the field, I have personally seen many introverts shouting with joy. Even in the most challenging game situation, he was in control, he stayed focused, demonstrated his winning attitude. He showed– “The biggest game you will ever play is the game in your mind. Master your mind, master your world”.  That’s why Ian Bishop said – “When you needed 15 runs in the last 6 balls, and Dhoni is batting, the pressure is on the bowler”. 

Anything you can imagine, you can create. When leaders learn how to visualize, it enables them to put the work into the proper context, helps them break down the tasks into small chunks, and take small steps. This little clarity allows employees to focus on what is required and simultaneously create some sense of security, this is the key attribute to managing “Uncertainty” in the VUCA world. 

7. Stay Humble and Grounded: 

There is a saying – “even a bird flying in the clear sky knows that there is no place in the sky to sit”.  You cannot stay powerful throughout your career, one day, you will come down.  Dhoni got glory, money and power at an early stage in his career, but he stayed and maintained his humbleness. 

Managers who gain success and believe “Now they have arrived” often lose their balance and cannot maintain the poise required for longevity in their careers. 

They give self-importance to such a high degree that they often lack self-awareness and can become easily caught off guard in the disruptive VUCA world. 

To perform at the highest level with consistency, we must remain objective, and ready to take the risk, learn and innovate. Otherwise, we stand a serious risk of allowing our arrogance to distort our reality.

We keep learning in leadership programmes to be a “Leader”, not a “Boss”. However, many managers fail to upgrade themselves from a boss to a leader. 

To upgrade yourself, you need to Transform. There is a formula of transformation:  

Transformation = What you learn (reading books, attending trainings, seminars, experience and school) + belief upgrade + Daily habits. 

Most of us spend time in learning and forget the last two.  As a leader, if you can handpick a few beliefs from Dhoni’s leadership booklet and incorporate them into your daily habits, you can transform yourself into a new world leader.