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As I write this piece, the Cricket World Cup fever is at its peak and Team India has won its first two matches convincingly. Thanks to my employers, I had the privilege of watching India’s opening fixture against South Africa in-person, and, India’s victory aside, it turned out to be quite an exhilarating experience overall.
When I thought of the reasons that made this experience memorable I found a single guiding philosophy at the root of it: Respect people, believe in their good side and repose your trust in them if you wish to get them to give their best.
I am sharing certain nuggets from the treatment that was meted out to us (the spectators) at the Rose Bowl and how we collectively responded to it. The hypothesis here is that the same causality holds in other spheres of life including our places of work, and that there is no better way for an organization to remain successful than to treat the people connected with it – its employees, its suppliers and its customers – with the thoughtfulness and courtesies they deserve.
Upon arrival at the stadium, the ticket-checkers spent more time in greeting us with a smile than checking our tickets or scanning our belongings. We could move freely in more or less any part of the stadium, but for the more exclusive zones like players’ and hospitality areas. Even these areas weren’t barricaded or cordoned off or screaming out their elitism in any other way. And, if you accidently happened to walk into any such zone, at most you risked being redirected by a smiling security personnel. These guards even thanked us for visiting when we finally exited the stadium.
I am not sure what the correlation coefficient was, but this treatment certainly contributed to the crowd behaving far more responsibly and sociably than I had seen at other sporting venues previously. There were no scuffles on account of conflicting passions or someone else occupying a latecomer’s allocated seat. I saw members of a group counseling their own to maintain decorum when their cheers began to get loud enough to disturb others. There was happiness and joy all around, even among supporters of the team that finished second on the day.
Some might argue that the stadiums back home are far more crowded or that those watching a match in Southampton are likely to be more cultured and better educated. But what difference does it make if there are 20,000 people packed into a stadium or 40,000? Both are large enough congregations to get unruly if they so wish. And I have little doubt that like me you too have witnessed the most cultured of folks behaving badly on more occasions than you would have liked.
By the time this article reaches you the CWC finals would be around the corner, and I sincerely wish that Team India’s performance has kept your interest in the game high enough for you to read a related piece. And if you do read it, I hope it encourages you adequately to at least test the hypothesis that treating people well is an investment that yields disproportionately high returns.
First published in Suburb Life Magazine, July 2019 Issue!