Leading with Character: Don’t Give Up
Last Sunday I was out in the Quad Cities for our quarterly Modern Woodmen of America board meeting. A colleague and I arrived early to attend a minor league baseball game played at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, IA, right across the Mississippi from the Modern Woodmen of America home office in Rock Island, IL. The game featured the Quad Cities River Bandits versus the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Nothing screams “Americana” more than baseball and hotdogs in a small, local stadium. It was a lovely summer day and I was excited to attend the game.
Being Average
Our seats were in the first row directly behind the catcher and umpire, providing a prime view of the pitcher and batter. As we watched the game, I noted the athleticism of the players and observed that despite their strength, the batters didn’t often connect with solid hits. None of the players stood out as great; in fact, they all seemed very average. I was expecting “great” from players who had made it all the way to the minor leagues. Then, my contemplations caught up with the fact that yes, among their peers it’s not surprising that the players appeared average. Here’s why.
Going back to high school, each player was likely the star in his school, district and beyond. He probably hit more home runs, struck out more players, made more impossible catches and tagged out more runners. But the minor leagues collect all those exceptional players and bring them together onto a team where they all become, by comparison, average.
Perseverance
It’s got to be hard for people like those baseball players to go from being superstars in their hometowns to being average in the minor leagues. I know from personal experience. Upon entering the U.S. Coast Guard Academy many years ago as a cadet fresh out of high school, I went from being a scholar-athlete at the top of my class to an environment with 300 other students who had also been top scholars, athletes, musicians and more in high school. It was beyond humbling…it was unnerving!
We were placed into platoons for our demanding “boot camp” summer where we had to perform at our best and needed to depend upon each to succeed. I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep up and worried about failing and letting down my classmates. It was a lot of pressure. But I soon learned that everyone was in the same situation. Individually and as a team, we eventually achieved small successes that helped us build more confidence in ourselves and each other. We learned to believe in ourselves, trust each other, prepare for whatever might come next, and to persevere through the uncertainty.
Preparation = Performance
Let’s get back to the baseball game. In the first inning, the player at bat was on the verge of striking out and had hit a couple of foul balls. It wasn’t looking good for him. Then, the unexpected happened: on the next pitch, which might well have been the one to strike out that batter, the catcher missed the ball. The batter didn’t hesitate; he exploded out of the batter’s box and down the line to first base, where he arrived safely while the discombobulated catcher retrieved the errant ball.
Then, in a remarkable turn of events and to the excitement of the spectators, team mates connected with solid hits enabling that batter turned runner to continue around the bases and bring home the first run of the game. Although he looked like a loser when on the verge of striking out, he was prepared to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity and showed the crowd what it takes to win.
The moral of this story is to not give up when it looks like you’re losing, because success could be right around the corner and could come from a surprising place. Anything is possible when one prepares, then perseveres.
Look in the mirror: What can you do as a leader to motivate individuals on a high-performing team to believe in themselves, trust each other, and persevere to achieve success?
Please join me again next time for more on Leading with Character.
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