"Commitment in the face of conflict produces character." - Mark Twain
I believe, being the vocal person I am, interpersonal conflict is as inevitable as a rainy day in February in Singapore. As believed by the great author of Huckleberry Finn, my defining moment will be the one when I will be able to solve my interpersonal conflicts.
I assume most of the readers of my blog will not be aware of what a game of Cricket is. For their benefit I will just say that Cricket is a game played with bat and ball involving 11 players in each team. For the more inquisitive readers, I would recommend this site- http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm.
I was the vice-captain of the TeamNUS cricket team some time back and we had an important match coming up against NTU in the Intervarsity league. On the eve of the match day, I and my captain H sat with our coach and manager to finalize the team from a squad of 15. We were all in agreement with the first 10 players but the selection of the 11th player got us divided. I wanted the 11th person to be a K, a batsman whereas H wanted J, a bowler. In cricket, you have bowler who throws the ball and the batsman who tries to hit the thrown ball out of the field with his bat.
My logic for playing a batsman instead of a bowler was the fact that NTU had a strong bowling line up and I wanted to counter that. H argued that J should be given a chance because he has been sitting in the reserve bench for a long time and letting him play would do his confidence a world of good for the upcoming semi-final.
Both the coach and the manager, however, thought along my lines about offsetting NTU’s strength and took K into the side. As both of them took leave, I noticed that H seemed slumped. I went over to him and put my hand on his shoulders and was about to say something about the next day’s strategy. To my utter surprise, H sprang up and said, “Do you think I am a fool? I know what you’re up to. You are trying to take over the captaincy by being Mr. Logical in front of the coach!”
Just as background information, J, the bowler, was a friend of H.
I believe, being the vocal person I am, interpersonal conflict is as inevitable as a rainy day in February in Singapore. As believed by the great author of Huckleberry Finn, my defining moment will be the one when I will be able to solve my interpersonal conflicts.
I assume most of the readers of my blog will not be aware of what a game of Cricket is. For their benefit I will just say that Cricket is a game played with bat and ball involving 11 players in each team. For the more inquisitive readers, I would recommend this site- http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm.
I was the vice-captain of the TeamNUS cricket team some time back and we had an important match coming up against NTU in the Intervarsity league. On the eve of the match day, I and my captain H sat with our coach and manager to finalize the team from a squad of 15. We were all in agreement with the first 10 players but the selection of the 11th player got us divided. I wanted the 11th person to be a K, a batsman whereas H wanted J, a bowler. In cricket, you have bowler who throws the ball and the batsman who tries to hit the thrown ball out of the field with his bat.
My logic for playing a batsman instead of a bowler was the fact that NTU had a strong bowling line up and I wanted to counter that. H argued that J should be given a chance because he has been sitting in the reserve bench for a long time and letting him play would do his confidence a world of good for the upcoming semi-final.
Both the coach and the manager, however, thought along my lines about offsetting NTU’s strength and took K into the side. As both of them took leave, I noticed that H seemed slumped. I went over to him and put my hand on his shoulders and was about to say something about the next day’s strategy. To my utter surprise, H sprang up and said, “Do you think I am a fool? I know what you’re up to. You are trying to take over the captaincy by being Mr. Logical in front of the coach!”
I was taken aback. Naturally, I wanted to compose him, “H, are you serious? I have no intentions of even continuing with the team after this season! I just voiced my opinion on what I thought would be best for the team.”
“Team my foot! I’ll see how you continue in this team!”
He continued in this vein for several more minutes. The more I tried to calm his nerves, the more he said about what a cunning fellow I am and how I always try to undermine him and how I choose players who are friendly with me. I was quite shaken after this encounter and as he left the dressing room, I was left to ponder where I went wrong. What could I have possibly told H that would have assured him that I was indeed speaking for the greater good of the team and had no ambition of captaincy?
Just as background information, J, the bowler, was a friend of H.
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