What do a 15-million-dollar baseball player, a rookie, a new hire, or a star performer all have in common? All of them need to have strong managers who will not only hold them accountable for what they need to do, but empower them to do even more. In Lead Me Out to the Ballgame: Stories and Strategies to Develop Major League Leadership (Major League Leadership Enterprises, 2014), we identified ten strategies for leadership success which were embodied by some of Major League Baseball’s great managers and should be a part of every executive’s leadership toolkit so that they can bring a championship to their organization!
Engage, Coach, and Set Expectations
When I asked retired MLB manager, Davey Johnson, what his philosophy on leadership was through all his years of success managing he quite simply said, “You win with 25, you don’t win with 15, so all 25 have to play to their capabilities. If they do, and you’ve got the talent, you win.”
You need your whole team to play their hardest and their smartest so the organization as a whole can win. This premise is certainly true outside of baseball as much as it is inside “the Game:” we need ALL of our employees to understand our organizational goals and understand how they specifically fit into those goals.
Each team member needs to know how the job that they do helps the team as a whole to succeed and ‘win,’ each and every day.
Lead by Example
The Chicago Cubs are favored by many to win the championship in 2016, and a large reason for that is their manager, Joe Maddon. Maddon does many great things as the leader of his team, with one of them being that he is the same person whether the team wins or the team loses a big game.
“I walk in the door and am the same person every day regardless; win or lose, good or bad.” – Joe Maddon
Maddon and other great leaders realize that mistakes happen. Employees at all levels make them, we as executives make them too! How we react to the mistakes we make and the mistakes others make however, dictates whether we will continue on a ‘losing’ path, or learn from the mistake and turn the page.
In baseball there are close to 200 games played each season (including pre-season and possible playoff games), if the manager allows a loss one day to impact his team the next day the team will not be able to turn the page and continue their pursuit of their championship.
If managers like Joe Maddon want their players to look forward and not back, they need to lead by example and show them the way. They need to focus their attention on managing but also leading; on understanding not only strategy, but soft skills and social competencies as well.
Graphic courtesy of Howard Fero, “Major League Leadership”
Purposeful and Strategic Communication
There’s no time to waste, every minute is important, every minute is scheduled. But we need to find time to develop authentic relationships and we need to find time to serve our people. It’s hard to find time to do all the managerial work we have and also to find time to inspire, engage, and ‘light the fire’ for our people.
Bob Melvin, manager of the Oakland As does a good job not only communicating with his people but communicating effectively with his people! He knows that just talking doesn’t do any good, he needs to say the right things that will empower his team to outperform and give them specific and actionable tools to do so.
Just as a manager in their firm might tell an employee that the employee has a lot to learn and is not a star yet, Melvin would tell a player, “hey look, ‘you’re not an everyday player’.” Melvin told me, “they might not like it but they’ll respect you for it. ‘Here’s your role, here’s what I expect you to do to stay ready for your role.” No matter what industry we are in we need to make a strong effort so that all our people know their roles and know what they need to do to be successful in them.
The above are some examples of Major League Leadership. To start the process of developing Major League Leadership and bringing a championship to your organization you need to set expectations, mentor, teach, and coach, and make sure that everyone knows their role. Remember, let them know that you will be there to help them achieve it!
Keep leading and play ball!
About the Author:
Dr. Howard Fero, The Leadership Doc, is a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and executive coach who helps professionals create actionable strategies to improve their organization’s performance. He is the co-author of Lead Me Out to the Ballgame: Stories and Strategies to Develop Major League Leadership, based on over 100 interviews with Major League Baseball players, managers, and executives. Dr. Fero holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Claremont Graduate University, and is the Director of Graduate Leadership Programs and a Professor of Management and Leadership at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT.
