Part Three: Leading the Game
As the final installment of this series on Major League Leadership, this month’s blog will focus on the last three Bases of Leadership which are necessary for becoming a Major League Leader, Knowing your Game, Fostering Teamwork, and Creating a Winning Culture. In order to be an effective leader, in addition to Leading Ourselves and Leading Others, we need to know our game, know our industry…whatever that industry may be, and then determine what we can do to create a winning culture, and lead our team to success.
One of the interviews that sticks out to me when I think about Knowing Your Game was with former manager and longtime coach, Don Baylor. Don is an ‘old school’ type of leader, his passion is not as visible as some of his counterparts which I spoke with, and his leadership style not quite as people centered as them. With all that, Baylor was, and is, a great leader on the teams he has been a part of because of his strong knowledge of the game, his respect for the game, and his ability to develop those around him based on the knowledge he has accrued in his years, Don Baylor knows his game.
All of the managers we spoke with for Lead Me Out to the Ballgame know their game, as quite simply, they wouldn’t be in the positions they are in without an advanced knowledge of the X’s and O’s (as they are often called). This base of leadership is one which is personal to each person, and it’s important to think for yourself, what is your game, what is it that you need to master to reach the top of your industry? Once we know this we can set an action plan with the steps we need to take to help us achieve greatness in our field.
The next base of Major League Leadership is that of Fostering Teamwork, to be a successful leader we need to have a successful team, and to do that we need to create a team of people who want to succeed not just for themselves, but for their teammates as well. One of the managers who has proven his success in this regard is the now former manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, and current manager of the Chicago Cubs, Joe Maddon. Maddon creates a culture on all the teams he is on of fun, creativity, individuality, and camaraderie. He has done many things to encourage his team to bond, and one such thing are his themed road trips. Occasionally when his team travels across the country he has them dress up in costume, whether it is as cowboys, 1960’s letterman, in pajamas, or, as pictured below, as nerds. Maddon told me that these trips help to build unity, and since he is a part of the team, he always dresses up as well.
The final base of Major League Leadership is to Create a Winning Culture. This final base of leadership is the culmination of all the previous bases, as when the previous bases are followed, a winning culture will emerge. Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow, with his degree from Yale and being known as the smartest man in baseball (The Wall Street Journal), summed up his feelings about baseball quite simply, and what he told us holds true for all of us in whatever field we are in. “To me”, he said, “the ultimate motivation should be winning.” As leaders in our organizations we need to have clear goals that drive our actions, and as Breslow said, the goals should relate to winning. When we as leaders can Find (and demonstrate) our Passion, Lead by Example, Earn Respect, Know our People, Cultivate Relationships, Support our People, Communicate Effectively, Know our Game, and Foster Teamwork, the next step is to focus on our clubhouse, on the organization we are a part of, and make sure our people focus on winning and do their part to make sure that we are creating a winning culture.
As always, remember to Keep Leading and Play Ball!
Howard C. Fero, Ph.D, The Leadership Doc, is the Director of Graduate Leadership Programs and an Associate Professor of Management and Leadership at Albertus Magnus College. He is a leadership author, speaker, professor, consultant, and executive coach and works with individuals and groups helping them to cultivate their leadership, identify and focus their motivation, and create high performing teams. He holds a Master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Baruch College, the City University of New York, and a Ph.D in Organizational Behavior from Claremont Graduate University.
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.