‘It’s possible to undermine someone who has done something, who has put in some effort, who has shown up. The act of undermining in itself is sucking the air out of someone’s efforts and making them feel like they haven’t done enough or that they are basically useless.’
During the 2011 cricket World Cup, India were the favourites to win and eventually went on to do so.
One member of that squad, in spite of being bestowed with enormous talent and ability, squandered everything and made himself a pariah in the ensuing years.
Sreesanth’s downward spiral ended when he undermined himself, his abilities and his team-mates and got himself a life ban for all his efforts and will go down in history as a player who didn’t realise the enormous talent and opportunities that he had been bestowed.
In that edition of the World Cup, India played Bangladesh in one of their encounters and won the match comfortably. In the press conference following the match, Virender Sehwag, who incidentally was also the man of the match, came to face the reporters. Known for his very blunt way of speaking, he was asked for his views on the game.
Paraphrasing what he said:
“Everyone did well, other than Sreesanth.”
While it was blunt and a tad insensitive, there was a reason for him making that statement. Sreesanth had, in fact, bowled a fairly underwhelming spell and went for 53 runs in his 5 overs, giving almost 10 runs per over.
What Virender Sehwag did was basically undermine Sreesanth’s performance. It should also be noted that Sreesanth’s antics had infuriated his team-mates and he had basically alienated himself and no one really came to his rescue.
It’s possible to undermine someone who has done something, who has put in some effort, who has shown up. The act of undermining in itself is sucking the air out of someone’s efforts and making them feel like they haven’t done enough or that they are basically useless. It is a far cry from giving positive feedback where you are trying to help someone lift their game and improve.
Why cheating and doping in sport is looked down upon is because it undermines the effort of everyone involved, especially those who are playing fair.
If you undermine someone long enough, they will stop putting forth the effort. Before long, they will start to doubt their own abilities and slink away further in order to avoid more bruising. When all efforts seem to hit a wall because someone is constantly negating your efforts, making you feel small, the effects of undermining are complete.
It works exactly the same way when you undermine others.
Undermining sometimes becomes a default mechanism and we do it without realising that we are doing it in the first place.
If you’re looking to get someone to step up, undermining their efforts won’t help.
If you’re looking to do your best work, being undermined will send you down a rabbit hole which seldom has a positive ending.
We sometimes see a person’s performance improve when they change jobs or work/play under someone who supports them.
We also see the same thing when teams get new managers or coaches.
What changed?
It’s not as if they drank some magic elixir or were suddenly bestowed with magical powers.
Many factors are at play, one of them being someone finally stopped undermining them.
