Unless support staff or players respect you, it’s difficult to get loyalty: MS Dhoni on leadership

Unless support staff or players respect you, it’s difficult to get loyalty: MS Dhoni on leadership

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always been known for his leadership skills as well as his calm demeanor during his time as captain in the Indian national team as well as the skipper of Chennai Super Kings, a role he still holds with the franchise.

“Loyalty has a lot to do with the respect factor. When you talk about the dressing room, unless the support staff or players respect you, it is difficult to get that loyalty. It is actually about what you are doing and not about what you are speaking. You may not actually speak anything, but your conduct can earn that respect,” Dhoni said at an event on Friday.

“I always felt that earning respect is important as it does not come with the chair or rank. It comes with your conduct. People are insecure at times. Sometimes, even if the team believes in you, you are actually the first person who will not believe in you. To sum it up, don’t try to command respect but earn it, as it is very organic. Once you have that loyalty then the performance too will follow,” he added.

Under Dhoni, India has won the T20 World Cup as well as the ODI World Cup and a Champions Trophy with the Jharkhand man even helping his Indian Premier League franchise to a record-equalling 5th title last year.

With rumours of his retirement doing rounds ahead of the 2024 season like it did in 2023, Dhoni’s CSK teammate Deepak Chahar backed his captain to play a few more seasons in the glamourous league, stating that Dhoni had kept himself really fit.

“I think he has a lot to give to cricket. He can play for another 2-3 seasons. I have seen him bat in the nets. Obviously, he had an injury that anyone can have, people at 24 have that same injury that he has,” Chahar had told news agency PTI in an interview.

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