Earning the respect and loyalty of players with deeds formed the primary layer of leadership, legendary Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Friday.
Explaining how loyalty and respect are intertwined, Dhoni claimed that unless a captain has managed to win the respect of his team members and support staff in the dressing room, loyalty becomes out of the question.
"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," the World Cup-winning Indian captain was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. He was reportedly speaking at a function organised by Single.ID.
According to MSD, respect for a leader comes from his deeds rather than words.
"I always felt that earning respect (as a leader) 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 said.
But the first step for that, Dhoni said, is to understand each member of the dressing room along with their strengths and weaknesses.
Some people love pressure and some people don't like pressure. What is important is to understand the strengths of the individual and the weaknesses of the individual.
"Once you have done that, you will start working on the weakness of a player without actually telling him that this is a weakness.
"So, it keeps a player confident and keeps the player from doubting himself. They like to see how it works and that is the job of a captain or coach to figure out what works for who, he added.
Under Dhoni, India had won two World Cups and a Champions Trophy besides reaching the top of ICC Test rankings for the first time.