How Sports Helps Build Better Workplace Leadership -

How Sports Helps Build Better Workplace Leadership with Lt. Gen. Balbir Singh Sandhu.

Lt. Gen. Balbir Singh Sandhu – soldier, sportsman, and leader – has been a proud member of India’s prestigious armed forces for 39 years, having held key positions in all arms operational environment. He has served as an instructor at all premier defense institutions in India including the National Defence Academy, which sparked the passion in him to become a speaker. A prodigious young achiever, Lt. Gen. Sandhu possesses a rare blend of sports and professional achievements at the highest level, having attended all professional army courses. Besides functional responsibilities, under his stewardship, sporting teams performed in an exemplary manner. He has represented the Army and the Indian Polo teams in both national and international arenas.

He served as Director General of Information Technology for the Indian Army and also held one of the most important positions in the army as Director General of Supplies & Transport. He was responsible for framing logistic policies for the Indian Army including supply chain management and quality control of resources deployed across India, and training army officers in operations, logistics, administration and jointmanship.

For his exemplary service, he has been bestowed with several honors, including the Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Army Commanders Commendation Card. After serving in the army across the country, Lt. Gen. Sandhu superannuated and decided to pursue his passion of sharing his experiences, learnings, and ideas from his time in the army with a wider audience.

This zeal to pass on his wealth of knowledge, pushed him to start working with strategic think tanks such as USI, CLAWS, IDSA and ORF and give back to the community, along with becoming a motivational and leadership coach – something that comes naturally to him. He firmly believes that soldiering and sporting spirit have a deep relationship with being a leader. He says there is a soldier and a sportsperson in everyone, and they inform your decision-making ability and capacity to deal with difficult situations as a leader.

Looking at his experience through a corporate lens, Lt. Gen. Sandhu has designed programs to manage strategy, human resources, supply chain management, training, team building at enormous scales. A natural leader, he now describes himself as a leadership coach who teaches you how to treat your work as a sport and succeed in playing it as a game.