The former India captain and batsman, the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal and President of the Editorial Board with Wisden India, affectionately known as 'Dada', Mr. Sourav Ganguly graced the third edition of the Leadership Lecture Series, organised by The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 14th December, 2018 at the Williamson Magor Hall in the Bengal Chamber premises.

Mr. Subhodip Ghosh, Director General, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce, in this "rare" occasion, as he described, following an audio-visual containing the highlights of Mr. Sourav Ganguly's illustrious career, welcomed him along with Mr. Indrajit Sen, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Subrata Dutta, Chairperson, Sports Committee, BCC&I on the dias.

"The Leadership Lecture Series has the sole objective of enriching our stake holders by providing them the opportunity to hear the legends from different walks of life, speaking about their vision and perspective of their chosen fields of activity." Mr. Sen remarked in his Welcome Address. Subsequently Mr. Dutta, Chairperson, Sports Committee, also spoke about the rare privilege The Chamber had to have Mr. Ganguly, a true leader, to speak about leadership and team building.

Mr. Ganguly in his deliverance pointed out that in the journey of success there are little steps which takes a man forward and towards the top, and with those very steps a man evolves with experience and becomes a leader. He stressed that it is true for all scenarios, whether it is the cricket field or it is the corporate world. He added that team building has various aspects. When one is working in a team environment, the first thing is the identification of talent. Elaborating further and citing his experiences as the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Mr. Ganguly spoke about identifying the right talent, persisting with them, and lastly, trusting in them. It was his belief that no one becomes a success overnight. Once the talent is found and picked, it is important to manage and nurture it well. Another aspect of Leadership that Mr. Ganguly touched upon was in instilling self belief. According to him, it is the fear of failure that acts as a huge obstacle in our path to success. A leader's job is to take the fear of failure away from them. He said with emphasis that it is also the leader's job to ensure that every team member when performing is in the best shape of mind.

Mr. Smarajit Purkayastha, Assistant Director General, BCC&I, then welcomed Mr. Avishek Dalmiya, Honorary Joint Secretary, Cricket Association of Bengal, and Mr. Goutam Bhattacharya, renowned Sports Journalist on the dias for a group discussion and to deliberate further on the speech delivered by Mr. Sourav Ganguly. Mr. Ganguly elaborated how he had to manage the different dynamics in the team; from someone like a serious Kumble to someone like a sporting Yuvraj Singh. He also added that a good leader knows how to incorporate the ideas and differences from the other members of a team and transform them into something productive. He expressed that he holds transparency among the team members as an important facet of communication.

The session concluded with Mr. Purkayastha welcoming Mr. Sandeep Sharma, General Manager - Branding, Indian Oil Corporation, on stage to handover the mementoes to Mr. Ganguly, Mr. Dalmiya and Mr. Bhattacharya. This was followed by cocktails and dinner.