Delivering results should be a major part of a leader’s function in an organisation. However, a leader need to be judged in the medium to long term, not just on one set of good or bad results. A successful achievement of a target may be due to the brilliance of an individual leader but more often is a consequence of a leader creating a high performing team around themselves.
I find myself pondering on the likely fate of Andrew Strauss, two weeks ago England’s all conquering Ashes hero but now Cricket World Cup failure. The England and Wales Cricket Board has thrown a ring of silence around the future of Andrew Strauss as captain after the 10 wicket thrashing by Sri Lanka.
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I find it amazing that, because of one high profile setback, Andrew Strauss’s captaincy is in question. Just as he is starting to develop his captaincy and leadership skills. One hopes that he will learn from this experience and use it to strengthen his skills if given the chance by the ECB. How Strauss copes with going from hero to zero is all part of his leadership development. It’s when things get tough that you learn the most about yourself and others.
It was a mistake by the ECB themselves to plan such a gruelling tour schedule. Of course they will deny this but the reality was that the England players looked somewhat jaded after many months on the road. No amount of brilliant leadership by Andrew Strauss was going to change that. They came up against an exciting and risk taking Sri Lankan side who deserved their victory.
I hope that the ECB start to realise that getting rid of the captain after the 1999, 2003, 2007 and now potentially 2011 World Cups has not been a strategy for success. Let’s face it, Andrew Strauss is by no means the best one day captain in the world. Today. Let us hope that the ECB will start to think about the long term development of a potential strong leader. One that could be the best one day captain in the world in four years time.
By Jon Davies | Righttrack’s Interim International Business Development and Marketing Manager