“Baseball (*Leadership) is like church. Many attend, but few understand.” ~ Leo Ernest Durocher
When I was a kid, we spent hour after hour in our narrow driveway playing baseball. First base was the fence post, third base was the spigot, you get the picture…
We didn’t use a regular baseball, we used using a plastic whiffle ball and bat. A whiffle ball was a small plastic ball that had oval shaped holes on one side of it so depending on the spin, you could move the ball in any direction you chose. It gave you the false sense that you could throw a wicked curve ball or a sinker as if you were a Cy Young Award-winning major-league pitcher.
I learned to control the ball fairly well and took great pleasure when the batter whiffed or struck out. It had nothing to do with them because it was all about ME, my ego, and my ability to whiff as many batters as I could. It wasn’t my skill as a pitcher, it was me, using an artificial means to accomplish something I could never accomplish with a real baseball! It didn’t matter because I WAS SO COOL…
NOT!
Leadership & W.I.F.T
As Leaders, especially when things are not going well for us, we sometimes forget that leading is all about others, and being other-centered, instead of focusing on our selves. We focus on getting our needs met instead of helping others get their needs met. We focus on W.I.F.U (What’s In It For Us) instead of W.I.F.T (What’s In It For Them)
We do this because when we get stressed, when things go sideways, when deadlines are missed or objectives are not met, we feel the need to get our needs met and we become so focused on getting our own needs met instead of helping others.
We forget to be curious and ask questions to understand what others are going through, because we are so worried we are not going to succeed. So instead, we tell them about our experiences, share our opinions, or tell them what we would do instead of asking questions and coaching them so they can figure it out and find a solution to their challenges.
Leadership, You, & 3 Questions
Leadership has and always will be about the others. And it doesn’t matter how many times we read that, hear that, or say that, there are times when we simply forget, and our leadership becomes all about us and we “strike out!” Sometimes we simply need to remember where our focus needs to be as leaders.
In a world where people have become so selfish and so self-centered that we seem to care more about our pets then our fellow human beings, maybe we need to realign our focus? Not just as leaders but as human being!
- What if for the rest of the month, you intentionally made every conversation about others by seeking to understand before attempting to be understood?
- What if you approached every conversation with the idea of making sure the other party knew that your focus was on W.I.F.T?
- What if you did this at work AND at home with your family, friends, etc.?
How would that change your ability to more effectively lead and influence others? How would that change your relationships?
My hunch…you’ll hit a lot more homeruns a lot more frequently and strike-out much less!
Till nest time…enjoy the game!
*(leadership insert mine)
