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In the age of entertainment, sports is an industry and has a bigger story to tell. After all, star sportsmen like Michael Jordan and Roger Federer earn much more than an average, medium-sized company. Some of them like Sachin Tendulkar, Greg Norman and Michael Shumacher are industries in their own right.

These sport goliaths operate in a ruthless environment where success and failure are defined in the most unmistakable terms. You win or you lose. No amount of creative accounting can conceal the truth of that terrible moment - the final whistle. Smart business people will, however, have been taking notes throughout of the 'Men in Blue' extended home and away battle with the competitors - and will have learned important lessons from Indian cricket's ultimately brave efforts to lift the power of the Indian brand.

Lesson 1: Leadership

Any truly successful brand requires strong and committed leadership (backed by a stable and well-recognized succession plan) across the full scope of the organization.

Mohd. Azharuddin's match fixer's shadow loomed large over the Men in Blue brand, and continued to define the sport's troublesome leadership challenge. India tried its fate with Sachin, Kumble. But finally, it was Ganguly who came to India's rescue. Ganguly not only led the team with himself as an example, but also continued to motivate the team members. He supported Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Sehwag, the three jewels of Indian team's crown despite their earlier constant failures.

Lesson 2: Act as a Team

Some might think that too many cooks spoil the soup but then again two heads are better than one. So that the first thing decided would be that of who is in charge of the team and ultimately responsible for the final product. This decision will negate future discussions about what avenues the team will pursue and modes used for such.

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* Contributed by: -
Ashish Ohlyan,
MIB Program (Batch of 2005-2007),
IMT, Ghaziabad.