PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad CMC – Noted sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster says for the West Indies Cricket Board’s five-year Strategic Plan to succeed, players must be fully involved in the venture. Speaking at the West Indies Players Association Awards (WIPA) on Sunday, Webster said while the plan was laudable, it was important that it encompassed those who were ultimately charged with the responsibility of performance.
“I was very pleased to read about the Board’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. It reads well. Let us hope that they implement it,” said Webster, who in the past served as a consultant to the West Indies team.
“Still, plans do not accomplish work. Goal charts don’t accomplish work. It is people who get things done. People breathe life into the organisation’s missions, plans and goals. At the end of the day, people are why the plan works and why the organisation rises or falls.”
He added: “Since the players are the Board’s most valuable assets and are the people who will have to implement a large part of that plan, it would be interesting to find out if the Board discussed it or explained it to them. I would hazard a guess that it didn’t.”
The plan, which covers the period 2011-16, was developed by the WICB management and is aimed at returning Windies cricket to international prominence through a streamlining of effective governance, enhanced commercial value and player development.
Webster, who has also worked with India, said it was important that the objectives of strategic plan were clearly communicated to players and a strong relationship established.
“Change is a funny thing. The person suggesting the change is convinced of its value but the persons who are going to have to carry out the change might not see things the same way, hence the need for discussion and persuasion,” he stressed.
“A strategic plan only gets the organisation so far. Competent, highly trained and highly motivated people are the key to its execution and success. A good relationship between the leaders and the led is critical for success and that relationship must be built on trust, respect and loyalty.”