Over the past 2 ½ years, I have spent many hours researching, learning about, and writing about the ways that Major League Baseball managers lead their teams, and how we (outside of baseball) can use these lessons to cultivate our own leadership. This past May, my work culminated with the publication of Lead Me Out to the Ballgame: Stories and Strategies to Develop Major League Leadership, a book which I wrote with Dr. Rebecca Herman.
Dr. Herman and I interviewed over 100 Major League Baseball managers, players, and executives to find out how MLB managers lead their teams, develop trust with their players, and create a culture in their clubhouses conducive to winning. We asked the managers questions such as, “what do you do to engage and motivate your team?”, “what are some of the things that make you most proud as a manager?”, and “what have you learned from others in the game?” We then asked the players for their perspective on what managers can do to inspire them to perform their hardest, as well as what they think are the most important qualities of a Major League manager.
Based on our interviews, we distinguished three dimensions of leadership that the managers utilize, and within those dimensions we identified the Ten Bases of Major League Leadership.
Before we can lead others, we need to first lead ourselves. We need to identify our passion, understand how to garner trust and respect, and lead in a way that others will want to follow. We need to lead by example.
Passion is one of the key leadership dimensions I often talk about with students and clients. The reason that it is so important for us to find our passion is so we can be personally satisfied with all we do. On top of that, the more passion we can show for something, the more those around us will become excited about it as well! Maybe we can’t dance around the boardroom the way Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington shuffles around the dugout when his team makes an exciting play, but we can demonstrate our enthusiasm to our people and get them excited, too.
The second base of leadership is leading by example. Whether we are coming off of a win or a loss, how we present ourselves has a great impact on those around us. If we want our people to stay positive and push their hardest, we’d better be doing the same. As Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon told me, “I walk in the door and am the same person everyday regardless; win or lose, good or bad.” Remember, our people will follow our lead so we always need to present ourselves the way we want to be followed!
The final base of leadership under the dimension of Leading Yourself is respect – we need to earn it and give it to be successful. Managers in all industries garner a certain amount of respect based on their position, but that’s not enough to get people to work their hardest. We need to find ways to prove our worth to our people by demonstrating that we can be trusted and should be respected. As longtime MLB manager Davey Johnson pointed out to me, “I don’t care how long you’ve been in this game or what kind of success you’ve had in this game; every day you have to gain their trust, and every day you have to gain their respect.” Davey Johnson has had great success throughout his career, but even with that success he knows that each day he has to make sure he is setting the right example for his team and earning the respect and trust of his people. If Davey (with his World Series rings and reputation of being a great manager) has to go in to work each day and earn respect, shouldn’t we all be doing this as well?
Part 2 of the series on Major League Leadership will appear in October’s Leadership Blog posting.
Keep Leading and Play Ball!
To learn about earning your Masters Degree in Leadership at Albertus Magnus College, please email or call Dr. Fero at hfero@albertus.edu or 203-773-4424.