[Editor's Note: Jolly Joseph is an Expert Author with EmployWise. He is currently the Managing Director of Kernox Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. An organization training and learning consultancy that enables organizations to integrate the hard and soft dimensions of work, and to effectively manage the technical and social challenges of implementing complex projects. You can follow Jolly @jjonline.]

Gary Kirsten coached the Indian cricket team to victory in the ICC World Cup 2011. He did what his coach, Duncan Fletcher had done for him when Gary was still a novice. Gary said about his coach: "He made me believe I was good enough to play for Western Province. Until then I'd never thought about it seriously.” Gary made the Indian cricket team believe that they were good enough to lift the World Cup. In the process he also made a group of good players into a great team.

Commenting about the victory, Gary wrote on his website: “Every single member of Team India did their part in achieving this victory. The side has now shown how successful they can be when pulling together as a team.”

Winning is a lot about the power of emotions channeled in the right direction. Mistrust drains off emotional energy. Mistrust makes everyone a loser. Trust makes it easy for people to focus their energy on making their best contributions. Team members can sincerely appreciate one another only in a trusting relationship.  Trust releases the best in people. Gary created trust. His work ethics earned the respect and trust of all the team members, support staff and BCCI officials.

Becoming a champion starts with a desire to be the best that one can be. The specific goal follows thereafter. Gary created an atmosphere where the team members really started believing that it was possible to be the best cricket team in the world. That belief comes with a discovery of one’s own potential. That is what a true coach like Gary enables.

One becomes a champion by being on a constant exploration to see what’s just beyond the limit. Becoming a champion is an exercise in risk-taking.  It has many things in common with participating in adventure sports, going on an exploration into an unknown territory, starting a new business venture and leading a business in uncertain times.

Gary brought in Paddy Upton to be the mental conditioning coach for the Indian team. Paddy has Masters’ degree in Sport Medicine and Executive Coaching and has ample experience as founder and director of companies. He enjoys wind surfing in his spare time. His spiritual pursuit is rooted in Indian philosophy. In an interview with Sriram Veera in 2008 Paddy said, “I have gone outside of sports into business, philosophy, theology, spirituality and taken the best of all of them and see how this works in sports.” Just the right profile to help a team deal with their issues in a holistic manner.

Central to the duo’s coaching philosophy was that ‘caring for the firm’ was very important. In other words, team members would have to really ‘play for the team.’ Another major change was from prescriptive coaching to a style where individuals take individual responsibility. Neil Manthorp, the South African writer and broadcaster wrote: “… players would not be told what to do. Instead, they would be told to find out — through hard work and self-analysis — what form of practice and preparation worked best for them, and then utilise the coaching staff to help them do it.”

Gary and Paddy together set up a coaching program with clear objectives. It was not just an exercise in techniques. They invested themselves for the team. There is a power that flows and inspires your team to give their best when they see that you are passionate about what you do. They made hard work into an enjoyable thing for everyone involved. That is a key to getting high performance.

During the press conference before the final match, team captain M.S. Dhoni said: "Well, irrespective of what the result is I am very proud of the team that I have got. .... Each and every individual is very special ..." Clearly, team captain Dhoni has learned what it means to be a leader. Players don’t become great just by winning, but by winning well. They become great by transforming themselves into better human beings, who value winning together. That is the lesson that the Indian cricket team and their coaches—Gary and Paddy—would teach us.

Photo by: PuriWaves