OVER three hundred top company executives, from CEOs to senior managers, thronged the Colombo Hilton Ballroom to listen to Dav Whatmore. The Sri Lankan coach shared his experiences and his recipe for success.
The event, which was organised by a young bunch of MBAs under the banner of Knowledge Inc, was well presented by past Test captain and highly respected match referee Ranjan Madugalle, who, with his Ceylon Tobacco Company, handled the proceedings with aplomb.
The motivator, the financial wizard, Dian Gomes, the Chief Executive Officer of Slimline, a major success story in the Sri Lankan business scenario, started the proceedings with an insight into his company's activities. He spoke about loyalty and people being the cause for his company's success.
Slimline is now internationally renowned firm, situated in the village Pannala, where everything revolves around the company. Gomes, a boxer of repute, is also busy trying to turn the talented lads in the village into Olympic boxing champions. Motivation, he believes, can bring down mountains and sport now appears to be showing the way for the better management of Sri Lankan commercial world.
Management 'Gurus' like Tom Peters keep the audiences spell-bound, all over the world, with their stories and techniques on how to succeed in business. Likewise the sports personalities and the coaches too have worked out successful plans. America led the way and today names like Pat Riley - who fashioned Michael Jordan, John Wooden to success - are regularly heard in the circuit. Kris Akabussi and Carling of Rugby fame are steadily making their way in England.
Cricket is a passion and a religion in South Asia and the name Dav Whatmore is synonymous with Sri Lankan cricket's success story. People are prepared to listen to him. According to Whatmore good management is no rocket science and success comes by merely doing the simple things right.
Preparation is the key. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. "I didn't expect Whatmore to tell us how to run our companies, and all I wanted to hear from him was what he was doing to make the Sri Lankan cricket team such an efficient, focused unit. I wanted to know the secrets which could be used to the advantage in my organisation on a day to day basis," said a Managing Director of a famous bank in the country.
Whatmore stuck to his image, explaining his tough beginnings as a kid, moving from Ceylon to new surroundings in Australia, where it was extremely difficult to adjust to start with. He stressed on his unsuccessful Test career. His success as a coach was due to his experiences he had gained and learning from the mistakes he had made. This he is now able to pass on to his charges. He knows how they feel. He admitted that he was not tough enough in the head when he played for Australia and that was the reason for his lack of success. This showed the need to recognise one's weaknesses and the determination to build on them. The time he donned the Baggy Green everyone believed that once he was picked he should be able to handle things entirely on his own. There was no one to ask and he dared not approach his teammates. The cricketing culture was different then. It was a question of working things out for yourself and a situation of swim or sink. He has no doubt that cricket is a mind game. As a coach now he is always with his team and they have a shoulder to lean on.
His Buddy System works. Entrusting a senior player to look after the interests of a younger one. This he picked up during his junior school in Australia and this method worked brilliantly with the lads. The Marvan Atapattu-Nuwan Zoysa combination has seen the system working at its best. In more complex management this may be called mentoring, but Dav has kept it simple and at a level which relates to the players and to their understanding.
Teamwork, relationship building and playing for pride have received priority on his list and these features are fast becoming more and more evident in the Sri Lankan team.
The methods and exercises have been pragmatic and basic. These are what cricketers understand. This is what communication is all about. Team dinners before every Test match or important one-day final would seem insignificant, but this is what cultivates the togetherness and the motivation to work for a common cause. The extent of the results is enormous.
With all the information gathered, thanks to the modern technology available to him, Whatmore also maintains his own manual record during a match, jotting down every ball bowled. He also uses computer to analyse and produce the graphics, to drill home the points in the minds of the players. He showed the audience what a difference singles can make in winning matches. This he highlighted with the graphics from the recent Sri Lanka-India Test series. He clearly indicated that small things can make a big difference.
All Whatmore spoke was about cricket and the passion and knowledge the Sri Lankans have for the game. The important factor was that the company managers went home with confidence, thanks to the uncomplicated man like Dav Whatmore who is generally seen in shorts and training shirt. These managers can now give it a try, in their business environment. Whatmore has taught them some simple, but effective techniques.
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