As a long-suffering cricket widow I have limited engagement with the cricket news but this month I took particular interest in the ‘ball tampering scandal’ that rocked Australian cricket and the lessons it has for leadership. For those of you who have managed to evade the media circus on this topic, I will say only that three Australian cricket players were caught ‘tampering’ with the ball to gain an unfair advantage: All three have subsequently lost their places in the team and been vilified worldwide. However, the head coach Darren Lehmann was cleared of any involvement and yet eventually resigned despite his apparent lack of participation. Lehmann explained his decision in part as “I’m ultimately responsible for the culture of the team…..”. Absolutely correct!
The leader has to be ultimately accountable for the culture and practice within that team and ignorance is no defence. Even if he was not complicit, if the team were unaware of the cultural expectations, then the leader is at fault for not communicating that message: If they knew the expectations and ignored them, this indicates inadequate systems and controls. I am not an expert on the Lehmann coaching methodology but clearly there was a failure of communication or control. Teams take their lead from the person in charge and ‘how we do things around here’ stems from the actions, behaviours and decisions of the leader. The leader sets the standards by which everything happens and this depends not just on what they say, but how they operate. They cannot advocate fair play and then be seen to ‘bend the rules’ to suit. The messages transmitted by actions, decisions and behaviours are often far more powerful than the spoken word or any values printed on the wall.
What messages do your actions, behaviours and decisions communicate about ‘how we do things round here'?
How effectively do you communicate your cultural expectations to your team?
Where might what you say and what you do be out of line?
The leader has to be ultimately accountable for the culture and practice within that team and ignorance is no defence. Even if he was not complicit, if the team were unaware of the cultural expectations, then the leader is at fault for not communicating that message: If they knew the expectations and ignored them, this indicates inadequate systems and controls. I am not an expert on the Lehmann coaching methodology but clearly there was a failure of communication or control. Teams take their lead from the person in charge and ‘how we do things around here’ stems from the actions, behaviours and decisions of the leader. The leader sets the standards by which everything happens and this depends not just on what they say, but how they operate. They cannot advocate fair play and then be seen to ‘bend the rules’ to suit. The messages transmitted by actions, decisions and behaviours are often far more powerful than the spoken word or any values printed on the wall.
What messages do your actions, behaviours and decisions communicate about ‘how we do things round here'?
How effectively do you communicate your cultural expectations to your team?
Where might what you say and what you do be out of line?
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