“Whatever you want to do, do with full passion and work really hard towards it. Don’t look anywhere else,”quotes the Indian Cricket Team Captain and the Sportsman of The 21st Century, Virat Kohli

Kohli’s youthful appeal, his belligerenceon the field and his sincere passion to cricket, is a source of inspirationfor not only the youth but for the entire nation. However, the lessons we can learn from him are as applicable in entrepreneurship as in cricket!All the way through his action-packed journey in cricket, Kohli has been able to effortlessly blend his managerial spirit and sporting ability — and it is important we analyze and take some cues from it, as we don’t want to miss out on how he does it all.

Here are the top 5 traits of Virat Kohli that teach you a lot about management skills beyond the book.

1. Leadership

Opener KL Rahul once said that India skipper Virat Kohli has already shown signs of being a “great leader” with his energy, passion, and penchant for leading by example. He added, “He is somebody who is not just looking to have great performances individually but he wants to take the team along. He is always showing us the way, sharing his experience and giving us feedback, telling us what he thinks we could have done better. That is the sign of a great leader.” Being a leader is not about feeling supreme, but it is how you take your team along. It is about you leading them, giving them a direction, and as rightly said, teamwork makes the dream work. In managerial life too we could use a few lessons on how to be a ‘great leader’.

2. Discipline

Virat Kohli once said, “Never at any point did I feel like missing a training session. I was very keen on improving as a cricketer and as an international player.” One of the biggest takeaways from Kohli’s cricketing persona would be the number of hours that he gave to succeeding at the international level. That’s the level of dedication he has. This is what it takes to be Virat Kohli. Ridiculously rigorous work ethics, coupled with an almost abnormal level of self-discipline, have propelled Kohli to the highest level of performance in the sport. However, he would’ve been just as successful in any other domain that he might’ve picked ahead of cricket, and that is because of the enviable and extraordinary work ethic of the 29-year-old.

3. Proactiveness

“I like to always lead from the front and set an example for whoever is playing with me or around me. I like taking responsibilities. That is my natural thing,” says Virat Kohli. Kohli expects the very best out of himself and does not settle for mediocrity. No matter the situation, he tends to believe that he can create positive results. A leader like him is self-driven, and is able to inspire others too. He is an epitome of loyalty, integrity, fairness, boundless hope and thoughtful compassion.

4. Excellence

Virat Kohli embodies anunshakeable commitment towards sport and fitness, which is evident in his relentless pursuit of excellence. He has pushed himself to the extreme to emerge as the best batsman in the world. With single-minded devotion, Virat Kohli has also transformed himself from a man with rich batting prowess to a world-class athlete with extraordinary strength and fitness levels.

5. Decision maker

“Decision making is very hard at times and it takes a lot of courage to do that,” Kohli in an interview insisted. “I learned a lot from Dhoni seeing the way he made decisions.” Great decision-making is one of the hallmarks of great leadership and Virat Kohli has made a benchmark for him and others. It may not be a walk in the park, but Kohli makes it seamless on the pitch. A key element of Decision Leadership is Ownership, which is what all aspiring leaders need to emulate from the Captain.

A cricketing over is unfinished without the sixth ball and when we speak of mighty Virat, a sixer can never be ruled out!

TheSixer

Cover drive, square cut, pull or hook — you name the batting shot, Virat Kohli has mastered them all. Behind all his success and fame, there’s sweat, self-discipline and endless hours of practice in mastering his strokes! Kohli’s cricketing brain and clever strategies at the hour of need couldn’t have made such a massive difference if it was not for his hard work off screen.As an entrepreneur, you have to spend an enormous amount of time, from ideation to execution and beyond, and you can certainly take a few pages out of Kohli’s book to coin your very own success mantra.

This is what Kohli stands for and this is what his legacy will represent. Virat Kohli is a big bundle of entrepreneurial qualities and a great inspiration to learn from. We wish him many adventurous and successful years ahead — a life that keeps inspiring millions!