Members educated on leading from the front

Eighteen Professional Cricketers’ Association members attended a specialist introductory course to effective leadership in a first for the PCA Personal Development & Welfare Programme.

The one-day course which was developed and delivered by international training providers, Dale Carnegie, incorporated a number of sessions to encourage personal growth and empower the members in attendance to improve their leadership qualities.

Players from around the country travelled to Edgbaston for the bespoke Introduction to Effective Leadership course and were educated with sessions on understanding the fundamental skills of good leadership and how to draw upon their own experiences to improve themselves both on and off the cricket field.

Each county was invited to put names forward with the PCA asking for counties to pick players who would benefit most from attending the course with the aim of implementing the new skills ahead of the new season.

As part of the PCA’s Personal Development & Welfare Programme, the course was significantly subsidised by the PCA with 11 counties represented as well as the MCCYCs with ECB Umpire Alex Wharf also attending.

A number of current and aspiring captains attended the course including newly elected Nottinghamshire captain Steven Mullaney who is hoping to put his findings into practice.

“One of the biggest things is learning about different peoples personalities,” said Mullaney.

“You are probably going to get to the same decision in the end; people just need different ways to get there.

“I’m looking forward to leading such a talented group of players. I’ve got some really close relationships with some of the lads, and at certain points of the year there will be some tough conversations, no doubt. Hopefully days like today will help me towards that.”

24-year-old Yorkshire batsman Jack Leaning was one of the aspiring leaders in attendance and appreciated the opportunity to further his development.

“In the future, captaincy is something I’d love to have a crack at and there are a few lads in the room that have done that,” said Leaning.

“The PCA are awesome for helping lads develop themselves. The stuff we have done today – it doesn’t really matter if you are in cricket or going into business, you can always transfer the skills across.

“You can always have a couple of things running alongside to try and facilitate your cricket as well and if they can cross over and help your cricket then it’s even better.”

Senior Trainer and Engagement Specialist Mark de Stadler delivered the course on behalf of Dale Carnegie and he explained the rationale behind the day.

“The real focus was about equipping players with a little more insight about how they can be more successful in leading and captaining teams themselves,” said de Stadler.

“Today is about self reflection, finding out about ‘who am I’ as a leader and as an individual and how we can work together as a team and not an individual within a team.

“We’re hoping to give players insight and techniques so they can go back to their teams and start to put what we’ve talked about into practice. With anything, practice makes permanent.”

To find out more about the Personal Development & Welfare programme, click here.