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Former Indian captain MS Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the best leaders the game has ever seen. He won the T20 World Cup, the ODI World Cup, as well as the Champions Trophy as India's captain. The legend has also won five IPL titles leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
While he is respected immensely in the cricketing fraternity, Dhoni has spoken about just how important it is for any leader to earn the respect of his teammates and ensure that they trust the captain completely.
At a promotional event in Mumbai, here's what MS Dhoni was quoted as saying by PTI about leadership:
"I always felt that earning respect (as a leader) is important as it does not come with the chair or rank. It comes with your conduct. People are insecure at times. Sometimes, even if the team believes in you, you are actually the first person who will not believe in you."
Dhoni added that once the leader was successful in earning the respect of his teammates, they would organically give their best for the team and success would follow.
"To sum it up, don’t try to command respect but earn it, as it is very organic. Once you have that loyalty then the performance too will follow," he said.
MS Dhoni on understanding players' strengths and weaknesses
One of the main reasons why MS Dhoni achieved unprecedented success as a leader is because he is an incredible man manager. He understands that each player has a different set of skills and also a different set of weaknesses.
On trying to identify players' areas of improvement, Dhoni said:
"Some people love pressure and some people don't like pressure. What is important is to understand the strength of the individual and the weakness of the individual. Once you have done that, you will start working on the weakness of a player without actually telling him that this is a weakness."
He added:
"So, it keeps a player confident and keeps the player from doubting himself. They like to see how it works and that is the job of a captain or coach to figure out what works for who."
After winning a record-tying fifth IPL title with CSK in 2023, Dhoni will be back leading the defending champions in the 2024 edition of the showpiece event in about a couple of months.
