After writing about what I learned from business from coaching baseball, I realize that everything we learn in life — no matter what the source — prepares us for everything else we do. I could write a similar series on business lessons I learned from flying, or rock climbing, or back-country skiing, or search [...]
Nobody gets a hit every time they step up to the plate. Sometimes you just plain strike out. What I’ve learned from watching people who strike out is this: If striking out teaches you something, then there is value in striking out — it’s the cost of the education. If you strike out, then immediately [...]
Hit and run is a big part of baseball. You can make giant strides against your opponent if you execute it properly. Of course the risk is, if not done well, you lose your advantage. It’s also important that there be an element of surprise. It’s not that your opponent doesn’t know you may be [...]
Have you ever noticed how inexperienced outfielders always take 2 - 3 steps in before running backwards and watching the fly ball soar over their heads? It’s hard-wired in us to move toward the target. But what we really should be doing is watching (and analyzing) where the target is going to be, not where [...]
When you’re standing on second base and a fly ball is hit, you don’t watch the ball. You watch the third base coach. He will tell you how far to go, how fast to go and whether to stop at third or keep going. This seems to be one of the most difficult lessons to [...]
Hitters hit in streaks. Sometimes the ball looks as big as a watermelon that’s moving at a snail’s pace and you’d have to be some kind of no-talent bum not to get hit. No. It’s a foregone conclusion. Not only are you going to hit it, you’re going to crush it. Other times the ball [...]
Things I Learned About Business From Coaching Baseball (part one)
13 May
Posted by awebb as Management
I coached American Legion baseball for many years and found it to be one of the best experiences of my life. Today I realize that much of what I know about business I really learned in baseball.
Here’s an example: The other day I talked to a man who was thinking about leaving a secure profession [...]
A large part of being successful in business grows out of your success in marketing and sales. And really, what are marketing and sales but an opportunity to tell your story? It’s interesting to listen to people tell their story (or any story, for that matter.) Some people will have a crowd wrapped around their [...]
I just read an interesting article in AOPA Pilot magazine by Rod Machado (a flight instructor with 8,000 hours instructing others how to fly) in which he talks about the old aviation saying, “When disaster strikes, the first thing you should do is wind your watch.”
Of course, we don’t wear watches anymore that need winding. [...]
I remember talking to a manager in a company I was dealing with years ago whose first question to me was, “Who else is on the team?” After some discussion, it came out that his big concern was whether he would be the weak link in the chain. “I don’t have to be the strongest [...]
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