Winning isn't everything

24^th March 2018, will go down as a monumental day in the history of cricket. On this day, sometime in the afternoon, a visual came up on screen of Cameron Bancroft, a young Australian cricketer trying to use a yellow coloured piece to alter the condition of the ball. A few minutes later, another visual came up on screen, where he was trying to push it down the front of his trousers.

A huge uproar broke out in the entire cricketing fraternity. It was speculated that if a young Mr. Bancroft was trying to alter the condition of the ball, this would never be without the knowledge of the team think tank. In the evening, the smokescreen cleared. Steve Smith the young Australian captain confessed that it was a plan from the team think tank to try and make some impact on the game. He confessed that some senior players in the team were in the know of the plan, and that they acted out of desperation.

While it was extremely brave to come out and confess, their hands were forced by damming circumstantial evidence. As an immediate impact, Smith and his deputy David Warner have been stripped of their captaincy and vice captaincy respectively. Australia as an entire sporting nation is in shock at this development. Even the Australian Prime Minister Michael Turnbull is outraged at this incident. At the time of writing this, the cricketing future of both Steve Smith and David Warner is uncertain.

The similarity of this incident to Corporate Behaviour is unmistakable. To me this incident isn’t any different from a Company trying to cook its books to show better profits. Or any policy to bribe an official to get that favoured contract. Or an action to mis-sell the product to achieve sales targets. There are two elements that need analysis.

Whatever the outcome, one cannot dispute the fact that Steve Smith is an extremely talented batsman, maybe among the best among his generation. While he has definitely put in the hard work and hard yards, there is no mistaking the fact that he is used to winning; used to get great returns from his batting. He sets very high standards of himself. This in itself is a double edged sword. When the expected results are in danger of not matching to the expected high standards, is there a fear of failure?  And if so can a high achiever cope with failure? If not, will he resort to unfair means to pre-empt failure?

A similar danger is very evident in Corporate Life where the high performer gets into a leadership position. For a supremely talented and intelligent person, initial success comes very fast. He / She is a high achiever both in school as well as University. Even when they come into the workplace, they are the ones who achieve targets, and even get promoted faster. However as levels rise, the challenge starts getting tougher. These super achievers are so talented that they will even surmount the tough challenges. However there will come  a time in their careers where the next target isn’t easily achievable. These people aren’t used to ‘not achieving’. I will not use the word failure but use it as ‘under achievement’ as per their standards. It is when these people may try to use different, maybe unethical methods to achieve their success.

So my piece of advice to managers and HR people is this. Whenever you see a super talented person and a super achiever, go slow on him or her. Delay that promotion. Tell him / her that even though their performance was great, they need to spend more time before they are eligible. This will be their first test of ‘under achievement’. See how they deal with this. It will be a test of their resilience. If they survive and come out with flying colours, you are creating great talent. If they leave in pursuit of greener pastures, be happy, you have protected your organisation from potential future damage.

The above is a generalisation, and some people will always do the right thing.

Let us now examine the role of Cameron Bancroft, the youngest player of the team. I am not sure whether he was entrusted with the task, or he overheard the conversation and decided to do it on his own. A lot of young leaders will blindly follow the instructions of the boss even if they are border on the infringement of the law or morality. Or some of them would try and achieve success to please the boss. As young professionals I would request them to use their judgement. Please do not do anything wrong or morally incorrect just to get success. It will impact you in the long run.

If I were part of the Indian cricketing fraternity, this would be an opportunity. As I say, Steve Smith has already stepped down as captain of Rajasthan Royals. If I was in charge of Indian cricket, I would recommend rescinding the contracts of Smith and Warner from the forthcoming Indian Premier League. Would the punishment be too harsh? Maybe yes. But for a sport which is flirting with controversy, it is time to send a message.

After all, winning isn’t everything. Winning in the right manner is.