INTRODUCTION
Mahela Jayewardene is one of the most successful cricketers in the world today with a sound track record both on and off the field. He is a role model for millions of young cricketers around the globe. The objective of this discussion is to explore the personality traits that helped Mahela to become one of the most successful Sri Lankan cricketers all time so that others can learn and inculcate some of the personality traits to their own life, helping them elevate their personal and professional status to a new level.
This interview is conducted by well-known Marketing personality Mr Ravi Jayewardene ( CEO – Sales & Marketing Maliban Biscuit and Milk Manufactures) and Consultant - Glendinning Group (UK)
What s your Motto in life?
I am doing something that I really love and passionate about. I feel very lucky to select something as my profession that I really love to do.When I was around 20 years old I had a beautiful dream of playing for the country. I really worked hard day in and day out to achieve that dream. Unlike in the cooperate world there are no stages in cricket.
You have to keep on improving and run harder to remain competitive on the world stage. Hence thinking outside the box and experimenting new ways of doing things, and putting your mind and soul to what you do, will definitely help you to achieve your long term goals. Hence I guess my life’s motto might be to“work hard and be passionate whatever you do ”
How you define“success”?
For me, success is “continuous improvement”.I do evaluate my journey in cricket on a continuous basis, looking back at “where I have started and where I am right now”. From school days up to now, all my improvements that led to my achievements are success for me. It’s not how many records you have broken or milestones you have surpassed, or indeed what is your bank balance, for me success is a “continuous journey of improvement”. One day you should be able to look back and be happy about your past confident and satisfied that you gave everything you had to being the best you could be.
Three key words that contributed to success?
Focus + Discipline+ Hard work = Success.
Focus on the big picture, have a disciplined approach towards your goal and work hard continu ously whatever obstacle may come your way. Then the success is guaranteed. An exclusive interview with Mahela Jayewardena
Describe you as a Brand?
I like to describe myself as “person who takes responsibility for his action all the time”. I strongly believe people should take responsibility for their actions no matter whether right or wrong if you want to be successful on the long run. I learnt this at very young age from my parents and this was further strengthened at Nalanda Collage. I think everyone should take the responsibility for their actions. If something goes wrong based on one of my decisions, I will be the first person to put my hand up and take the full responsibility for any repercussions based on that decision.
You have taken the Sri Lanka to a World Cup final and led the team very effectively. What’s your Leadership style?
I have been adopting a very simple leadership style. Make sure equal treatment is given for both junior and senior players whilst respecting the seniors. Implement a transparent set of simple rules and adopt a clear communication style. For example, if I take a tough decision of dropping a player I make sure the reason for that decision is clearly communicated with the respective player and I make it very transparent.
This ensured players had a clear idea about the rationale of decisions and everyone knew all decisions were made in the best interests of the team and country in a given situation. Basically I had two roles: the captain’s role and the player’s role. I have to contribute to the team as a player whilstalso leading the team. That’s the balance you should have and that I really enjoyed.
What’s your decision making process?
You must create a culture where players contribute their ideas to the team but end of the day, as a leader, you must take the final call and be fully responsible of that decision. Encourage people to ask questions and contribute off the field. However, on the field, time is limited for decision making so most of the time decisions are made on my own or after consultation with only a few players. Some decisions work; some don’t. But the success depends on your strike ratemeaning simply you should be able take more right decisions than wrong decisions.
You are one rare cricketer who has adjusted yourself to different type of cricket formats with a resounding success. What’s the secret of that adaptability?
Adjusting my game to different format is entirely up to me.As a kid I dreamt of playing Test cricket for the country. After about twelve years, now playing 20:20 cricket at the highest level is another new dimension. Actually in school I was anaggressive player and I liked to take risks and score fast. That natural style really helped me to adjust my game in 20:20 cricket. Betteradjustability means better success, but that does not come easily. In the process you may make lots of mistakes.
Learning through mistakes is one of the fastest and effective ways of learning. I feel situational adjustability is crucial for success. Planning in advance is good, but out on the field you may come across a completely different situation. Then you have to adjust and make decision fast based on the situation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But in the long-run you will be making more right decisions if your adjustability is high.
You have been successful at the highest level for more than a decade. What is the technique you use to motivate yourself on a long term?
My love for the game and passion to improve my game on a continuous basis really keeps me going. On a regular basis I am thinking of doing something new to improve my game. The day I lose the passion and hunger to improve the game that day I will hang-up my boots without any hesitation. That’s beauty of the game. Every single day you keep on trying pushing yourself to a new level and to a new dimension.
We have noticed that you don’t lose balance when people criticize you; how have kept that balance temperament?
If the criticism is baselessI just ignore it.I am basically not bothered or don’t get worried for that kind of criticism. My mantra is to focus only on the things I can control and it is impossible to control baseless or unfair criticism. However, if the criticism holds water then I am keen to learn that. Constructive criticism gives a different perpective of a situation and it helps you to improve yourself.
How do you manage conflicts due to different points of view?
I might have an opinion and it is not bullet proof. If someone has a different idea you have to listen to it carefully and try to understand it. If the other idea is better than yours then respect it. Sometimes you have to compromise your ideas if it’s better for the team and the country. The problem is most of the time people can get emotionally hooked to an idea and then it’s very difficult to drop it. That type of inflexible, emotional decision-making is dangerous.
As a player on the international stage, there is a tremendous pressure to perform consistently. What is you advice on “Handling the Pressure”?
My advice is simply to always try to focus on the current moment. If you are focused on the situation and do the best at that point, pressure can ease out. As a batsman I concentrate on the next ball only.Off the field the best way to handle the pressure is a “try to be yourself and be a normal person.” Then handling the pressure is very easy. Artificial behaviour can create problems.
As a celebrity,it’s extremely important to maintain disciplinesfor longer term sustainableperformance. How you manage disciplines against all external temptations?
The disciplines can come in different ways: the diet, exercise, the social life etc. It’s a total package. I have to be honest and I enjoy myself with my friends and the family, but I know my boundaries. Having fun is fine,but the important thing is knowing your boundaries and not crossing them. I do have to think about my game all the time and sometimes have to go through some short term pain for long term benefit, for examplemydiet or daily exercise regime. If you lose focus on key disciplines then you lose your competitiveness on the field.
Under your leadership Sri Lanka won the Spirit of the game award presented by the ICC; and in today’s highly commercialized environment how you were able to keep the right balance between sportsmanship and the performance?
If you want to perform at the highest level you have to be aggressive on the field. I must thank Arjuna Ranathunga for inculcating that culture to the Sri Lankan team. When a team is aggressive generally it’s always better to demonstrate it through the body language rather than words. Then you have a better control of the situation. However, you should not cross the lines. You could be aggressive and polite simultaneously.You cannot win this award unless every player demonstrated that quality and it’s therefore a team award. I was very lucky to lead a set of players who were very aggressive but they knew exactly where to draw the line.
What is a technique you used to recover fast when you are going through a bad patch in terms of performance?
When things are not going well one of the best technique you can use to recover fast is “getting back to basics”. This can apply to both professional and personal life. For example, in cricket, if Iam not middling the ball the way I want, I look at the basics. Sometimes my foot may be not in the right position or the angle of the head may be slightly out of line. Understanding the basic root cause and correcting it is the key to overcoming bad situations.
I have noticed some young players when they are out of form with the bat they try to get first 20 runs fast so that they feel relieved and comfortable. I feel that’s a wrong approach. When you rush you can make additional mistakes and make the problem even worse. It’s better to focus on the basics, concentrate hard and get the first 20 runs patiently. Then you build confidence and that will help to build a long innings. Another point is that when things don’t go the way you want “avoid over analyzing”.
Core values?
They revolvearound three key areas: be disciplined, work hard and enjoy whatever you do. I have applied these set of core values for both cricketing and personal life. Sticking to these core values has given me enormous amount of success in both form of life. I am always trying my level best to lead a normal life so I can be more relaxed and enjoy lifewith my family and friends more peacefully. |
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