The very public affair surrounding Justin Langer’s tenure as the Australian men's cricket team coach has proved to be a divisive, fascinating & complex situation.
But is this just a case of the Cricket Australia board trying to fix a management problem?
Langer's intensity and rage is well-known and has been widely covered by the media. By his own admission, he's had to tone it down a bit. It would be easy to see how in a workplace (lets not forget that's what this is), behaviour needs to meet certain standards and I'm sure many of us have been in a situation where we've had a bad boss or seen how one can affect the workplace. Often these types of managers are moved around or moved on. Is that what we're seeing here?
I understand the players' perspective here and while many are being accused of being "soft" or "primma donna's" who just need to “harden up”, perhaps they're simply seeking a work environment where they can be their best, assuming that it was the players behind this decision. I don't know if it was and very few people actually do so we’ll be forever hearing different perspectives. Given the fact that the players don't have the luxury of seeking alternate employment as we all would in a similar situation, could this have been the catalyst for the whole debacle?
Obviously not knowing the full facts of the case makes it difficult but on the surface it seems Cricket Australia have taken the fastest course of action - move the problem rather than fix the problem.
Is it the right call?
We'll all see in time but leadership challenges are complex and difficult to solve and the easy way out is not always the best.
What would you do?
If you found this insightful be sure to read our previous word from leaders by Xaana.ai CEO Dan Saldi.