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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Become a doer. Motivation and strategies from a top figure in sports leadership There are many books available on the topic of leadership, but none quite like this one. Walk Off Winning: A Game Plan for Leading Your Team and Organization to Success is the work of Steve Trimper--a college baseball coach who shares what he has learned about business through his extensive leadership experience in high-level sports. In addition to reflecting on his own failures and successes, Trimper interviews leadership experts to distill a wealth of wisdom into this valuable book. Inside, you'll read about the key principles of team building, culture, and organization building. If you are looking for a way to enhance your leadership, whether you lead a team of one or an entire organization, Walk Off Winning is for you. This book will give you the motivation and strategies to "become a doer." Anyone involved in leadership, sports management, or the general business world will benefit from the inspirational anecdotes and honest advice in this much sought-after guide for leaders of all kinds. * Discover the key principles of team building that apply in every organization and setting * Gain the motivation you need to stop waiting around for success and "become a doer" * Learn from the real-world successes and failures of a top leader in high-level sports * Get inspired to take an honest look at your opportunities for leadership growth From the sports field to the business office, good leadership in any arena shares a single, universal foundation. If you want to achieve your dreams, you'll have to learn to Walk Off Winning.
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Seitenzahl: 351
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
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Table of Contents
Cover
Foreword
Introduction
Less Inside Baseball, More Inside Leadership
Learning from Coaches, Mentors, and Other Great Leaders
1 You Need Values, But Keep Them Simple
The Flowchart of True Success
Be Selective When Establishing Values
Improve What You Already Have
2 Never Underestimate the Power of Giving
Create a Foundation for Success
A Gift of Giving Might Be Right Under Your Nose
Giving Leads to Loyalty
3 Attitude and the Power of the Handshake
Attitude Is Highly Contagious
Sharing Attitude by Means of a Handshake
Change Your Thought Process to One of Positivity
You
Choose
Your Attitude
Be a Grinder, and Deal with Setbacks
Fight through the “Muck”
4 The Communicator Wins
The First and Best Form of Communication
Become Comfortable Communicating in Person
We All Love a Good Storyteller
Communication Pays Off
The Power of a Personality
Charisma
Don't Dominate the Conversation
5 I Always Got Hits Because My Shoelaces Were Tucked In
Follow Planned Routines
Wasting Time on What You Can't Influence
Control the Controllables
It's Fun to Be a “Little Stitious”
6 Leaders Lead the Way
John and His New Boss
Dictator Leadership
Servant Leadership
Empowerment Leadership
Relying on Both Forms of Leadership
7 Are You a Brick with Mortar?
True Toughness
Learn to Compete
Bricks and Mortar
Learn to “Pivot” with Your Mortar
8 The Value of Real Energy
Real versus Fake Energy
Don't Give Up and Don't Be a Lake
Optimistic or Embellishment?
9 Good Impressions
“Surround Yourself with Good People”
Be on the Lookout for Values
Learn from Communicating
30 Seconds
“Recruit Ready”
You Need a Personality
10 White-Tailed Deer and Career Progression
Ready to Change the World
Take Your Time—You Don't Know It All Just Yet
The Beauty and Life of a White-Tailed Deer
You Pick, and Mentor, Your Team
11 Fall Forward When You Fail—and You're Gonna Fail!
In and Out of Your Control
People Want You to Fail
Fail and Move Forward
Be Responsible and Positive in Times of Failure
12 Keep Chopping Wood: Pressure versus Preparation
Relationships Lead to Wins
The Alfond Way
“Keep Chopping Wood”
“Sharpen Your Axe”
With the Right Mindset, You Are Capable of Anything
Tackle Crisis Management Head On
13 Ego: You Better Have One
Crank Up Your Ego—Sometimes
Think Big
Circle the Wagons
Invest in Values
Build the Team's Confidence
Tone People Down, Not Up
Stubbornness Can Be a Good Trait
14 The Art of Decompression
Recharge Your Batteries
You've Earned a Break
Hone Your Focus Skill
Lock In
Burn Those Lines in the Grass
Find Something You're Good at and Use It as Your Outlet
15 Winners versus Losers
Team versus Program
True Toughness
Winners and Losers
Compete, Compete, Compete
16 The 5 Percent Rule
Be Better Every Day
The Power of a Group
Focus on Small Efforts for Long-Term Success
Be Great at Little Things
17 Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: Get Rid of It
Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda and the “Negative Nellie”
Move People in the Same Direction
Neutralizing the Negative Nellie
“There Is No ‘I’ in T-E-A-M”
18 Be a Doer, Not a Talker
We “Do” Our Wedding Vows, Not Just “Say” Them
Don't Just Talk the Talk
How I Learned to “Do”
Invest in Relationships
Nike: “Just Do It”
19 True Success
1. Surround Yourself with Good People, and Good Things Happen
2. Relationships: Work at It
3. Trust
4. Loyalty, the Final Path to Success
True Success Isn't About Money, Possessions, or Fame
The Puzzle Changes
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1.1 The steps of leadership.
Chapter 13
FIGURE 13.1 Must-have components to achieve the win.
Chapter 17
FIGURE 17.1 A typical team or organization when first dealing with a “should...
FIGURE 17.2 What happens to the team when you focus on the “shoulda, woulda,...
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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“With today's business environment becoming increasingly complex, having a coach has become crucial to an organization's success. I can think of no better resource than Steve Trimper. Steve has helped me understand that what drives and inspires us can completely change the trajectory of our lives. His approach has helped me, as a business leader, realize that you must be willing to serve others and that leadership is about taking care of your people first, as there is nothing any more valuable. Steve's book, Walk Off Winning, will provide the roadmap to what leadership is truly all about.”
Keven A. Ireland
Eastern US business manager
Nutrien Solutions
“Excellent read and incredibly useful book for leaders at every level. Coach Trimper shares his lessons on leadership through real world experiences and powerful examples based on his many years of success, on and off the baseball diamond. A “must have” resource for any leader's toolkit!”
US ARMY Brigadier General Rob Carmichael MEARNG, retired
“Throughout my military career, the best commanders are inspirational leaders focused on the objective. Great coaches are remarkably similar. Steve's book, Walk Off Winning, provides lessons from his high energy leadership style which will help you create your own common sense leadership game plan.”
Major General Douglas A. Farnham
Maine National Guard
“Through his experience in college athletics, combined with his relationships with leaders in the business world, Steve identifies and describes the values that one must possess to build a strong culture. I also love his optimistic approach reinforcing the benefits of positive leadership. This book will benefit anyone who has a passion to become a better leader at work and in life!”
— Jon Gordon, best-selling author of The Energy Bus and The Carpenter
“A one-of-a-kind leadership book. Walk Off Winning is a home run for leaders in all disciplines who are serious about creating and sustaining a championship team culture.”
Chief Jason D. Umberger, DeLand Police Department, FL
“Coach Trimper is a walking, talking example of leadership – and now he's put his personality on paper with awesome real-life examples. You will feel his passion, energy, character, and motivation in Walk off Winning, A Game Plan for Leading Your Team and Organization to Success – all must-have traits for leadership and building strong cultures – on and off the field.”
John Reed president and CEO
Maine Savings FCU
“We have had the privilege of working with Steve Trimper and have witnessed his ability to translate his superior coaching skills to leadership training in a business organization. Many similar correlations exist between successful team performance on the baseball field and your teams' successful performance in the business setting. In Walk Off Winning, Steve takes 19 core values essential in the development of a strong culture and leadership ability, then uses them in easy-to-apply lessons for you and your organization. The book is packed with valuable insights for improving how you, as an individual, influence and impact your team as a coach and a leader.”
Carrie Darling Meo vice president of Fixed Operations Darling's Auto Group
Jay Darling president Darling's Auto Group
“We were fortunate enough to have Steve Trimper present a leadership session at University Credit Union during our company wide training in the spring of 2015. While we knew that Steve would do a remarkable job with his presentation, we were not disappointed on that front nor with the impressive results we immediately noticed with our employees after the session. Steve inspired many in our workforce and he left a lasting impression of leadership with them which is still exhibited and referred to from time to time, almost two years after. He set the bar high for future trainers when he came to spend time with us and we feel fortunate to have gone through one of his coaching sessions.”
Matthew J. Walsh CPA president / CEO University Credit Union Orono, Maine
“I had a very good employee of 17 year ask to meet with me this past week before she left her employment with CCI. In this meeting, she shared that a very traumatic event in her personal life several years ago, had, in her words, nearly paralyzed her from making major life decisions-that is until she heard you speak at our staff day when she was inspired to make a major career decision.
My staff appreciated your presentation and your talk was a key cog in a very successful staff gathering. Thanks again for your willingness to join us in Bethel.”
C. Shawn Yardley
chief executive officer
Community Concepts
Lewiston, Maine
STEVE TRIMPER
WALK OFF WINNING
A GAME PLAN FOR LEADING YOUR TEAM AND ORGANIZATION TO SUCCESS
Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Names: Trimper, Steve, 1970- author.
Title: Walk off winning : a game plan for leading your team and organization to success / Steve Trimper.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2020] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019045135 (print) | LCCN 2019045136 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119652205 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119652984 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119653011 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Teams in the workplace—Management. | Success in business.
Classification: LCC HD57.7 .T747 2020 (print) | LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045135
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045136
Cover image: © wuttichok /Getty Images
Cover design: Wiley
To Lisa, my wife, and daughters Ally and Morgan. Love you guys.
Foreword
Ben Franklin recognized hard work, integrity, and persistence as essential to success, and these values resonated with my father and his children. They became the bedrock of our family business, which has always borne Franklin's name as tribute.
“Industry, perseverance, and frugality make fortune yield,” said Franklin; and indeed, without a firm commitment to these three virtues, my father's fledgling mutual fund management company would not have grown into Franklin Templeton Investments, a global firm with more than $650 billion of assets under management. During my years at the firm's helm, we weathered dizzying ups and devastating downs in the market and unavoidable problems both natural and man-made, but as Franklin noted. “Those things that hurt, instruct…. Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
Resilience is at the heart of any inventor, so it's no wonder Franklin was a model of perseverance. One cannot hope to harness electricity without suffering a few shocks! In any bold endeavor, the difference between success and failure is the extent to which one learns, adjusts, and keeps trying.
Franklin's core values are abundantly applicable in athletics, which may explain my affinity for sports. Growing up in Montclair, New Jersey, I played football, and as a young parent, I enjoyed watching my sons play hockey and my daughter play soccer. I even coached her team for a time!
For as long as I can remember, I've been a baseball fan. In 1954, I was lucky enough to attend the World Series game where Willie Mays made an astonishing, on-the-run, over-the-shoulder catch to block Vic Wertz's deep center drive, contributing to a series sweep for the New York Giants. Enthusiastic journalists have tried to connect the dots between my early fandom and eventual purchase of an ownership stake in the San Francisco Giants, but honestly, I hadn't been pining for the team when the opportunity presented itself! Nonetheless, I appreciate the personal connection to a game that illustrates the value of working hard, playing by the rules, and never quitting.
In recent years, having moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Palm Beach, Florida, I have had the pleasure of watching the development of the Division I baseball program at nearby Stetson University, where my grandson Charlie Bartlett majored in sports business and often joined me for ballgames or baseball talk. In 2018, as Charlie's graduation approached, our excitement revolved more around the diamond than his anticipated diploma, as the Hatters made an unprecedented run for the College World Series. Though ultimately thwarted, they earned a place among the top ten teams in the country and delivered the best performance in Stetson's history of intercollegiate baseball, dating back to 1901!
The team's success is certainly a credit to the players’ exceptional talent, but talent alone is rarely sufficient. A winning record – in sports, business, and personal pursuits – reflects strong leadership, so I was curious about the Hatters’ head coach, Steve Trimper, whom Stetson hired during Charlie's junior year, just weeks before the start of the season. A former player who began his Division I coaching career at Manhattan College, Steve had led the University of Maine's program since 2006, earning three conference titles and two trips to the NCAA Tournament, before arriving in DeLand. His bio confirmed the baseline credentials, but in getting to know Steve, I came to appreciate what he might call his “secret sauce,” and the recipe was familiar.
Whether knowingly or not, Steve has honed his leadership as my family and I have, by adhering to the basic principles Ben Franklin espoused in his Autobiography. Surely, Steve knows the fundamentals of his particular business – the raw skills needed at the Division I level, the most effective ways to develop players’ physical prowess, and the tactics most likely to yield the desired results over nine innings – but more importantly, he knows:
Values matter
. Identifying and uniting around a few simple core values is essential for any organization to flourish. Circumstances will change but values are like the North Star. They'll keep you properly oriented and focused on your ultimate destination.
Baseball is a team sport and so is most everything else
. Willie Mays made that extraordinary catch in the first game of the 1954 World Series, and the whole Giants team won, not just Mays. Even the most gifted individual can't go it alone. To succeed, surround yourself with good people and devote the time and energy necessary to build trust and develop loyalty.
There is no substitute for hard work
. In Ron Shelton's 1988 film
Bull Durham
, Minor League Baseball veteran Crash Davis shares some wisdom with rookie phenom Nuke LaLoosh: “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes, it rains.” At the University of Maine's flagship campus, sometimes it snows, and when faced with a blanketed field, Steve gathered his players and together they shoveled. A less diligent, less frugal response might have involved expensive equipment, excuses, or other bodies, but often we hold in our own hands the power to effect change and it's simply a matter of exercising that power – of doing it. Indeed, energy and persistence conquer all things.
Steve is a doer who has slowed down just long enough to capture in these pages the valuable lessons he's learned over the course of his unusual career. With characteristic, infectious exuberance, he offers a simple guide for developing leaders – and that's all of us, for as Franklin warned, “When you are finished changing, you're finished.”
While Stetson baseball's recent success has generated lots of enthusiasm for the game locally, I'm occasionally troubled by indicators that America's pastime is falling out of favor with younger generations, too busy or too impatient for nine unpredictable innings of play. The beauty of the game is unfortunately lost on some, but I continue to delight in the intricate maneuvering and deliberate pacing, in the knowledge that it ain't over till it's over.
Baseball, like life, is a long game by design. Cultivate a strong team, prepare as best you can, give it your all, and work to improve a little bit every day. Keep swinging. And walk off winning.
Charles Johnson
principle owner of the San Francisco Giants MLB team
retired chairman and CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments
Introduction
Leadership and success are two words that seem to be exploited on a daily basis in places like the boardroom and the locker room. Supervisors and coaches alike engage in a multitude of practices to have members of their team transform into what they believe are better leaders in order to help steer their organization to greatness. They say powerful words like culture, values, traits, and cohesiveness, yet are they able to accomplish these things?
In today's competitive workplace environment, where production goals and targets need to be met, supervisors are looking for that secret sauce to give their organization an edge over others. The same thing exists on the playing fields. More and more, coaches are taking away valuable practice time on the field and spending it in the classroom preaching values, culture, and leadership.
With so many ideas, books, speakers, and theories on the topic of leadership floating around the corporate and sports worlds, how do you decipher what's best for your unit? You wonder, “How am I gonna get our team to gel? Work harder? Beat our competition?” “Who or what is available to help me accomplish this?” These days, just grab a snack from any airport newsstand and you'll see a tree of leadership books staring you in the face!
So, what problem drives you to seek out all this information? It could be that you aspire to build a better corporate or athletic team. Maybe you need to improve morale or create a better culture in your office. You may even recognize the problem that needs to be addressed, but don't have a clue how to do this.
You've already taken the first step toward improvement; that is, you are certainly motivated to search for information to improve your teams' culture. Heck, it's probably why you chose this leadership book to add to the growing shelf of literature behind your desk.
You're no different than I am – on a daily basis I absorb any success story or leadership trait I deem worthy. I strive to increase my ability to lead. You and I want to be lifelong learners, motivated to bring the best out in those around us.
Less Inside Baseball, More Inside Leadership
As we navigate this book, we are going to discuss ideas that will help you on your way to leadership success. Each chapter is designed to give you a set of values that I have not only observed from other great leaders, but that have helped me when implementing quality leadership into businesses, teams, or organizations. Ultimately, these values will lead to a strong culture within your organization, able to withstand the ebbs and flows that come with any organization over time.
Think of each chapter as an important value or trait that is essential to practice. Your goal is to implement these into your leadership portfolio in order to build and sustain a strong culture within your work or team environment. Whether you strive to make your team more cohesive, establish core values, or improve culture, this book will help you to accomplish this.
All too often people just talk about doing these things. Someone I call the “Sayer” is one who talks a big game, announcing how they will change the culture or implement a leadership plan, never to follow through. But you will walk away from this book with a plan to do them! You will ultimately become a “Doer,” someone who addresses issues head on, knowing there will be both success and failure. You won't be intimidated or fearful of change and will become addicted to the challenges and celebrations that true leadership can provide you on a daily basis.
Through a multitude of stories and experiences I have been fortunate to have lived or heard, I will share important and proven values that have led some of the greatest people that touched my own career to long-term success. Each story represents a value that these individuals learned to invest in to be great leaders when building a strong organizational culture. Though many failures and setbacks, they all rose to the top by following a positive path.
You might be surprised that most of the lessons I have learned have little or no relation to baseball or even to sports in general. They are derived from small and large business owners and leaders who failed time and time again, only to grind away for long hours to build their empire. They might be administrators who didn't have a ton of financial support or resources, yet still made the most of their situation.
Of course, my job is to tell these stories and messages in a way that piques your interest and helps you gain ideas to implement the strategies in your career, with your team, and in everyday life with your friends and family. When you finish, you will improve as a leader and be a motivating influence in both your professional and your personal life. You will improve at the sometimes difficult task of finding the right people to join your organization, and will have a positive impact on those around you. You'll experience that feeling of success or big advancement at your job—that same feeling you get with a walk-off win!
For those of you who aren't diehard baseball fans, I'll explain the concept of a walk-off win. Imagine that it's the bottom of the ninth, the score is tied, and your team is up to bat. It's crunch time! There are two out with a runner on second base. As you, the batter, dig into the batter's box to face the imposing, hard-throwing closer (pitcher) on the mound, you recognize the count is three balls and two strikes. The next pitch thrown to you will make you the hero or the goat. As that 90-mile-an-hour fastball heads your way, things go into slow motion. You are so focused and locked in, you actually see the tiny red laces on the ball.
As you make the split-second decision to launch the bat from your shoulder, you feel the bat connect with the ball and hear the sweet crack when it happens. The ball finds the outfield for a hit and the runner is chugging around third base, trying to score that winning run.
As the player in the field picks up the ball and throws it to the catcher in an attempt to tag that runner out, the runner slides into home plate. You run to first base after your hit, but your focus is on the play at the plate the whole time. As the dust settles and the umpire signals “Safe,” your teammates rush from the dugout and tackle you in celebration of your hit, and the walk-off win!
So keep reading, and you too will get a walk-off win. Your leadership skills will grow, resulting in success in the boardroom, the class room, on the playing field, and in your everyday life.
Learning from Coaches, Mentors, and Other Great Leaders
Being in the field of college athletics for over 27 years has certainly taught me a lot about sports. The parents out there might be able to appreciate the fact that my day revolves around 35 young adults, ages 18–22. Although my hair is still atop my head, it changed to a shade of salt and pepper many years ago.
But what has been my blessing has been the multitude of people who taught me not about baseball but about leadership. It took me some time to figure this out, but when I did, I was able to become a better mentor to the individuals who surrounded me.
More than 11 years ago, a local financial institution asked me to give a presentation on my thoughts of what makes a quality leader and builds a strong team. Since that day, my ideas on quality leadership have grown and evolved, along with a set of successful core values to instill in those who entrusted me to help them.
Time and time again, when I finished a presentation to a group, people would ask me where they could find my book to further research my discussion. Book? You're crazy. Maybe someday, I would say. Give me a flash drive and I can download my PowerPoint presentation for you. That's all I had.
Well, it's finally time for me to stop saying I was gonna write that book “someday.” I am shifting from being a “Sayer” to a “Doer.” I'm ready to work outside my comfort zone of baseball and become an author. As you read about the power of giving, along with the importance of serving others, you'll learn my thoughts about implementing successful leadership strategies and strong culture into your own organization or team.
So, I hope you can sit back and enjoy many of the stories that led me to believe in the importance of investing in core values and building a strong culture within your organization. Leading the people around you through both the good times as well as all the muck that can come with failure will ultimately enable you to reach true success.
1You Need Values, But Keep Them Simple
When it comes to the hot topics in today's world of leadership, there is much confusion about the path you must navigate as you embark on improving as a leader. The market is saturated with leadership books, and certainly many have great value. Yet many of the theories and ideas tend to mimic one another.
However, I find myself a bit confused when I research the components it takes to be a great leader. The jumble of words and subtopics can be intimating and overwhelming. Here is where I believe many go down the wrong path, either trying to be someone they are not, or attempting to implement too many ideas. I always preach to be great at one thing instead of being good at many. It allows you to stand out among your peers.
The Flowchart of True Success
I want to take a moment to talk about a sort of flowchart that can better describe a path to being a successful leader. I like using flowcharts because they summarize the decisions and movement of information, giving us a clear and concise path from beginning to end to solve an issue or problem. And although leadership should not be considered an issue or problem, it certainly has steps to follow as you work to lead your group and organization to true success. You can always revert back to each step as you set new goals, but the steps tend to happen in the order shown in Figure 1.1.
Leadership, in my mind, begins with traits. Traits can be a characteristic quality that distinguishes certain features of that person. They are practices you engage in and help you build a foundation of personal tendencies and have a hand in defining your personality. Some common examples are honesty, integrity, work ethic, and character.
The next phase of leadership concerns values. Values are thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes that you and your group have invested in emotionally. Although they too can aid in defining your personality, don't confuse values with traits. Traits help us establish our set of values. Values also have importance in building an organization's culture; they are shared among the group and are practiced over time in order to reach successful goals.
FIGURE 1.1 The steps of leadership.
Once our values are present, it gives us goals to work toward daily. Goals are measurable benchmarks that are established for you and your group to reach a level of success. It could be an increased number of accounts a business might add over a six-month period of time, leading to better results for that particular business. Or it could be a certain time you set for yourself in a 5K road race. Goals provide a sort of finish line so you can feel a sense of accomplishment when they're reached.
And when goals are met, this rewards us with a sense of true success. Success is the reward for your group when they achieve positive results over sustained periods of time. The difference between goals and success is that goals are one-time tests we set for ourselves to achieve. Success is when we reach multiple goals time and time again to build prosperity for an organization over the long term.
So, let's think about our flowchart, starting with traits. Traits drive us to succeed through the strong values we cherish. If we are dedicated and determined to work at being great at these values, they will help us reach any goals we set for our organization. Reaching these goals will have rewards, leading to the long-term success of our organization.
Be Selective When Establishing Values
As you navigate your quest to improve as a leader, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. There are so many quality values, it is very difficult to tackle a broad range of them. Let me give you an example.
In my current role as a Division I college baseball coach, I obviously need to have good student athletes who are willing to work hard each day to improve individually, both in the classroom and on the playing field. However, as in any business or organization, the culture we establish is vital to our success. In most businesses, when you introduce a set of values, everyone is excited to dive in and work to achieve the culture you, as a leader, strive to create.
But as time moves forward, many veer off this path. This is due to a few reasons. First, the leader who is preaching the values and culture may be inexperienced, and may have a difficult time consistently bringing the entire group back on track. They might talk a good game about leadership but not follow through on their ideals and demands. This usually leads to trust issues and second-guessing by the team, making it nearly impossible to establish a strong and lasting culture within the organization. In the following chapters, I will share a few stories, both fictitious and genuine, that demonstrate how difficult it is to be consistent as a leader.
Another reason may be that the group is confused or overwhelmed by the plethora of information given to everyone. Supervisors bring in guest speakers to energize the organization. They purchase books like the one you are currently entranced by, only to fail to follow up in working constantly on culture every waking moment. Webinars are purchased and viewed. All this information can flood the group with information overload.
All this information can flood the group with too much substance.
Returning from a recent speaking engagement on leadership, I found myself at one of those airport convenience stores at the Atlanta airport. Right there next to the checkout counter, among the bottles of water and packs of gum, was a tree of books, above which was a sign reading, “The Leadership Business Center.” There must have been 30 books about leadership. Certainly, many of them are quite good, and in fact I make it a habit to pick some up to see if I can learn a bit. But it illustrates my point about the amount of information available to us: it's both a great thing and an overwhelming occurrence.
Improve What You Already Have
When I first arrived at Stetson as the baseball coach, our athletic director, Jeff Altier, wanted to do whatever he could to help the program jump forward and compete on the national stage. Being a small, private university of around 3,000 students can be challenging when competing against larger schools such as the University of Florida, Florida State, Mississippi State, or the University of North Carolina.
Those universities have huge financial support for many of their programs, in both athletics and academics. So, Jeff embarked on a mission, not to compete with these teams in terms of finances, but to improve our situation at Stetson, in any way he was capable of. His message to me? Focus on improving what you have, not what you can't get.
That doesn't mean Jeff won't shoot for the stars, and give a great effort. But we were not capable of building an $85 million stadium like a certain Division I program near our university. We just simply did not have the resources. So he and our director of development worked to raise the funds to renovate our locker room and players' lounge area. We both agreed this would lend us a recruiting edge, because players like to have nice things.
You haven’t achieved success just because you drive a shiny car.
However, you haven't achieved success just because you drive a shiny car. That locker room, or stadium, or fancy corner office with the nice leather chair, is a fishing lure. It is meant to attract talent. Catch one's eye. Once you have them attracted, well, then the hard work starts for the supervisor. This is where you build your culture.
Jeff and Mike McKercher, our director of athletic development, went on to raise over $500K, which lead to a huge improvement in our situation. Not only did we receive a brand-new shiny locker room, with a Stetson-logoed Ping-Pong table to boot, but we established a players' lounge from a large wasted closet area. This room was designed to fit about 30 people comfortably, and allowed our players to have a spot to relax, with a few TVs, two desks for studying, and a full kitchen, where snacks and hydration stations were installed.
As the project was nearing completion, I saw a great opportunity to visually establish our culture. Like many locker rooms, office areas, and places of business, people add quotes, phrases, words of importance, and other sayings in highly visible areas to remind everyone of their idea of a great culture. Our players' lounge had a long wall painted green to show off the school colors. But I envisioned this great space as our “values wall.”
As Jeff, my boss, would attest, I have a knack for adding to these projects well after they begin. I am really good at spending money after a clear and concise budget, along with the scope of work, has been established. So one day I spoke to Jeff's assistant, Stacy, and bribed her with a bit of kindness to get on his schedule—unannounced, of course.
“Jeff, I got this great idea—ya gotta let me try this. It will be awesome! I want to add a wall wrap of pictures and words to establish our team culture! It will be great! And it's only gonna cost…”
In classic Jeff style, he didn't say no. He saw my enthusiasm and agreed to find a way. So, I set out with my team to get the values wall going.
Don't Make the Wall Too Big
I wanted to be clear to the players that they were embarking on an important project to establish our values that embody the culture of the Stetson Baseball Program. This was a long-term deal, with an impact far into the future.
Without telling the players what I was planning, I asked everyone to text me one word, saying, meaning, or phrase they thought would best define what we wanted our program to represent for many years to come. With 35 ball players on the roster, I knew I would get all kinds of replies: toughness, blue collar, win, culture, grit, work ethic, and many more.
I put every one of their responses on the wall wrap. Their words and phrases were blasted in huge bold letters on this wall, spanning over 40 feet, for everyone to see.
After it was installed, we had an unveiling party. They all funneled into the players' lounge, where I explained to the group, “This is where the work really starts. This wall of words and phrases was established by you, and will be part of this program for years to come.”
Now, we all agreed that the 30-plus items on that wall were important, but I explained they were incapable of “doing” all these things. I saw the puzzled looks on their faces, as they thought I was questioning their ability to work. I went on to explain that was not the case. But the true test of their culture was going to be whittling down all of these items to a select few that we would work to be great at. The information overload presented by all these values would surely lead us to being just mediocre at them, rather than of being great at a small portion.
I left them in that room to figure out what was most important, and I made it abundantly clear that when they established the list, we were not going to talk about being great at these. We would do whatever it took to be great. So I cautioned them not to come back to me with an unrealistic number of values.
