What the BCCI can teach your boss

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is everyone’s favourite whipping boy.

Apart from a grudging respect for becoming one of the world’s most commercially successful sports organisations, the Indian cricket board hardly seems to inspire any positive sentiment.

The blame list is too long and serious — graft, bullying, amateurism, an acutely mercenary attitude that overrides a genuine love of the game.

I’m no fan either. But, over the last few days, I have begun to appreciate the one great service to cricket that the BCCI has done, one it has rarely, if ever, been acknowledged and congratulated for. It has given Sachin Tendulkar the space to fail.

I don’t know whether it was part of any great design by the BCCI or merely a refusal to alter status quo, but the breathing space and freedom to flounder has been instrumental in the success of the world’s finest cricketer.

In an atmosphere of chop and change, when the old era was making way for a brasher generation, knowing his position was unassailable would have been prized as a big enabler, preventing both form and confidence from reaching debilitating lows.

Now, at a time when his stature as best-ever is no longer in question, it is only befitting that his employers be thumped on the back. I believe there’s a lesson in this for all organisations.

Twenty-one years ago, the BCCI recruited a potential star. Happily enough, it was a smart hiring decision, one which helped the organisation reap huge returns.

But then, as with most productivity charts, Tendulkar’s too saw a downward slide. From riding high on a consistently upward moving graph, he moved into the uncharted territory of inconsistency.

One good series would follow a bad, injuries became frequent and controversy, a familiar friend.

Through it all, the mob called for his head; experts, who now claim to have predicted Tendulkar’s recent golden run, urged for stern action and, later, berated the board for not bringing in fresh blood to replace a clearly depleted hero.

The organisation was unmoved. We’ll back our proven star performer, blips and all. The selectors were called cowards for not having the ‘guts’ to remove Tendulkar. And the BCCI was termed unfair and partisan.

Why different rules for different players, asked the Bengal lobby which was batting for the out-of-favour Sourav Ganguly? But the snarkiness fell on deaf ears.

Yes, different rules for different players, indeed. Tendulkar is not your regular, run-of-the-mill player. If you over-expect from him, you have to give it back. So they gave him the best gift you can want from your boss — job security.

The nightmarish prospect of falling short became less scary, easier to get over. Success was a good night’s sleep away. And soon, he was living the dream again.

Time and again, sports gurus have said performance is a confidence thing. And what fuels confidence better than the unstinting faith of your employers? It isn’t easy to apply this philosophy across the board but choose your best and brightest, and empower them with your belief in them.

Propagators of egalitarianism will not agree but I think there’s something like too much equality. Sure, all employees deserve the same rights to the water cooler, canteen, insurance, office equipment and smoking room space.

No one should be denied respect, opportunity and dignity. But that should be the end to same-for-all at the workplace.

All organisations have a Tendulkar. The bosses just need to know who they are, give them wings and let them fly. They may not always reach the fancied heights at the first flight, but that’s when impatient employers go wrong.

They are too quick to clip wings or alter the flight path. Allow them to flap them around for a bit. They will soar, taking the organisation with them.

It’s an art, taking care of a special talent. But if the BCCI can, your boss can too.