#49 - One can’t be both a conformist and a rebel. There is no “one-size fits all” strategy to handle them.

“England needed the match-winner in him but England needed him to be a conformist. The two qualities haven’t always co-existed within one person. Indeed it is worth studying whether match-winners actually become so because they dare to question the given. These are nature’s freaks and that is why they are breathtaking to watch. And that is why they cannot be trapped by a system. They need to be handled differently; you cannot crack the whip and get them to sit on a stool as once-proud animals might in a circus. The best managers will tell you that the most effective way to handle such gifted mavericks is to befriend them and offer them challenges. Like everyone else they are in need of comfort, they want to be liked, their ego requires their achievement to be acknowledged. In effect, they are asking for an inch, and if you grant them that, they are ready to deliver a mile. Seek to bottle them and they will turn headstrong.”

Harsha Bhogle

P.S. Harsha Bhogle wrote about England’s Kevin Peterson problem in 2013. You can read it here — http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/662529.html