So this evening I attended the BPP Vice Chancellor's Lecture which was delivered by the one and only Michael Vaughan. 

I heard about the event from my boyfriend, an LPC student at BPP university, as he knew that cricket is something that I loosely follow having been brought up in a family obsessed with the game!

Unsure of what he was actually going to talk about at the event, I was relieved that he mostly referred to cricket - specifically his captaincy in the 2005 Ashes.

Michael spoke of what it was like leading his team to a victory and how to succeed in communicating effectively with a team. 

His main points to help you succeed in leadership were:

1. Hard work

To succeed with most things in life you need to work hard, although sometimes luck may be on your side, when it comes down to it hard work always pays off. 

2. Careful planning

When Michael was planning for the Ashes series of 2005, he took over 2 years to plan out a strategy - drawing up statistics and targets for the team to aim for.

3. Managing all members of the team

This includes managing more disruptive members of the team effectively (maybe a reference to Kevin Pietersen perhaps), which would involve getting to know each member of the team so you know what makes them tick and how they manage pressure.

4. Getting all team members involved in decision making 

Michael used to ask new members of the team to contribute towards the field plan during matches to make them feel like they were integrating with the team. 

It also means asking members for feedback and advice; he used to get all players involved with team huddles at the beginning of the day.

If a team thinks as one, it is likely that they will work more effectively together. 

5. Positive attacking attitude

If you think you will fail in a task, then you probably will. 

The lesson is to look past your fear of failing and whilst sometimes an attacking attitude can be risky, sometimes this attitude can pay off. 

Sadly, we didn't win any of the raffle prizes (I had my eyes on the signed cricket bat) but Michael was a really good speaker - all those press conferences must have been great practice!

And finally to clarify, although Michael was born in Manchester, he is through and through a Yorkshire lad. 

Listening to Michael speak really enthused me to get back involved with cricket, especially since he spoke of how the women's game is really getting more and more popular.

Finding women's cricket clubs has been an issue for me in the past, but I hope with the wider publicity of the game such as with the 20/20 leagues, there will be more accessibility in the future so that generations to come can get involved in the sport!

I would love to hear your opinions about leadership skills or cricket in general! Please use the comment section below!