Management Lessons to be learnt from the Laureate Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra has achieved success who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it…

Sports always give an adrenaline rush to the players and the followers too. Be it a hockey or a football tournament, athletics, gymnastics or a cricket match, we all feel excited while watching our favourite sport. When merely watching raises the excitement level then what would be the state of the players on the ground playing and living the game. Sports have always been a great teacher in terms of management and life lessons. The trait of ‘Sportsmanship’ as we say is valued everywhere in all walks of life. Several management trainers and teachers have been evaluating various sportspeople who have brought laurels to their country and the game, to make others learn from their traits. One such laureate is Neeraj Chopra- the Gold Medal Winner in Men’s Javelin Throw at the Tokyo-2020 Olympics, who became the second Indian to win an individual sports at the Olympics.

Chopra did not only finish on top of the podium in the Finale but also did it with such ease and dominance that it was very uncharacteristically Indian, especially in a sport like athletics where the country’s athletes have notoriously underperformed. If we closely analyse the game that he played in the final round of the tournament, though there are several lessons to be learnt from the sportsman yet some have been picked for the article.   

Consistency: Neeraj exhibited a thorough consistency in the game. The first two rounds were deciding for him to remain in the game and the sprint to success.  He generated power through speed as he was neither the bulkiest nor the biggest among his rivals. To begin second in the starting list with a massive throw of 87.03mts, he laid the gauntlet in a tough field. The second throw of 87.58 mts. stunned the athletics world, which was farther from the first one which was enough to prove his consistency. After being bogged down by two disqualifiers he came back to the game and created a space for himself.

Focus and concentration: Focus is something which is required to win big games and so did it reap big for our sportsman – Neeraj Chopra. He was focussed to make some big shots one after the other which created pressure on the opponents especially the sport’s current star Johannes Vetter. The second farthest throw was the result of focus and concentration on flying it big and not crossing the border line. The gold medallist remained unfazed despite the towering presence of the German Sportstar who had a 90-m throw history to compete with. This was his focus towards the goal

Down but not out: The two dismissals in the final round also did not perturb him. He managed to be calm and gathered incredible grit and focus to remain in contention. This was this valour which glittered not only for him but the whole nation too. This victory saved India from distending the list of “almost there” players. The sheer grit led him to do the seemingly impossible task during the beginning of the tournament.

Maintaining grace: The poise, the demeanour, knee-weakening persona which the gold medal Laureate spoke for him in the whole competition. The grace he carried all through the competition was adorable and commendable. The composure despite winning it big for his country after 121 years made him stand apart from the others.

Teamwork: In a game of individual performance how can one be a team-player. A player is never playing alone in any competition. He/she has a whole contingent which walks along them. Taking everybody together with all your senses is where the team work comes into the picture. While on the field wrecking the opponents havoc requires the assembly of all your senses in a manner in which they perform miracles is where teamwork within an individual comes into picture. Focussing on one’s strengths and not ignoring the greys is what plays the wonder game for an individual.  This is what our Superstar Neeraj Chopra did by bringing in all his strength together to throw big and not falter.

Sportspeople have always been an inspiration for the common man. They have always infused the never say die spirit and commitment in their followers. This time it has been quite different and stunning. There’s always a lot to learn from a single game of a performer leave alone their whole life.  Neeraj Chopra held the National Flag on the last day of Tokyo Olympics making the Indian Olympic sojourn end on an all-time high and euphoric note.  May we surpass the Indian Tokyo Olympics 2020 Medal tally in the next season and leave it far behind to earn more laurels for the nation and make the countrymen proud and exhilarated.

GNIOT Institute of Management Studies (GIMS), Greater Noida acknowledges the true efforts of all these heroes who have inflated us with pride and respect and always endeavours to nurture the management skills exhibited by these true heroes to walk on their success spree among its future managers pursuing PGDM. 

Dr. Shalini Sharma,
Associate Professor, Area- Chair: Communication and Development & CRC
GNIOT Institute of Management Studies, Greater Noida