For years, I sat in a folding chair watching my son play baseball and being his loudest cheerleader. Week after week…on hot Tennessee summer days and in 40-degree weather at night during fall travel ball. I was a proud and loud 🙂 baseball mom and loved watching him.
Over the years, I began to really learn the game, and what I found was many parallels between a baseball team and a team in a professional, business setting.
Working for years in corporate and then for years as an Executive Leadership Coach, here is one of the many things I observed…
In baseball, there are 9 players on the field at a given time. Each player has a specific position to play, and they need a specific set of skills for that role.
For example, my son was a first baseman, but he wasn’t the fastest runner. So, the coach wouldn’t have put him in center field, because center fielders have to cover a lot of real estate quickly. But he was skilled and reliable at first base.
And, when the game is active, each player on the team has to be able to play their unique role well while also working well TOGETHER with everyone else.
In an organization, it’s important to position team members in the right place. If you put a team member in a role they’re not equipped for or in a role that requires a different set of skills than what they currently have, they will feel frustrated and the “game” of business won’t go as well as it could—it may even cost the game!
But when leaders are able to identify what motivates their people and what skills they have to offer so they can put them in the right positions, the team “plays the game” TOGETHER so much better…and creates a win!
In the first phase of The Coach Approach to Leadership™ program, we assess the “leadership DNA” of each person to get an understanding of how they’re wired, what their skill sets are, and more—so they can play to their strength, manage their risk areas and lead in the most effective way possible.