Team India chant the corporate mantra

NEW DELHI: When Sourav''s boys were playing out their revenge script with the Kiwis on Friday, some Maruti salespeople led by MD Jagdish Khattar were bonding on the beaches of Goa. The ultimate objective of both was the same: to be the masters of their turf.
Not just Maruti, companies like Hero Honda, Eicher and American Express have also used sports as a classroom for team-building and goal achievement.Indian cricket has now woken up to the need for mental trainers with corporate exposure.
Sandy Gordon, a psychologist from the University of Western Australia, fulfils that role for India XI. "There is a strong link between excellence in sport and business," he says.
Both involve stress and issues like leadership, decision-making and individual excellence. "The principles of elite performance in sport are easily transferable to business and my transition back and forth from sport to business consultant is seamless."
Gordon started working with the Indian team in March 2002 after coach John Wright discussed with him "the means of improving India''s form away from home."
"We mapped a document targetting management operations, team operations and competitive results. It included goals, measures, targets and results for the tours to WI and England," says Gordon.
His method has been to enhance self-awareness and promote individual empowerment. Personal pride is the cornerstone of improvement. Explains Gordon: "John, Andrew (physiotherapist) and Adrian (trainer) have now become excellent resources for players in their personal quest to get better. Only players can motivate themselves. I can''t do it nor can John. The senior players'' group has become the engine of the team, led by John and Sourav who have been fantastic."
The result shows in the team''s strengths. Gordon now believes India can lift the Cup. What could stop them? "Loss of faith, patience, poor execution of gameplan, lack of effort and passion," he replies.