Leadership Lessons from a Lifetime of Baseball
Last Friday I attended Leadercast Live in the Atlanta, GA area. This event was broadcast to over 20 countries and 100,000 people around the world. Over the next week I will share notes on the excellent talks that were delivered. Below are my notes from Trip Cosby’s interview of Joe Torre.Joe Torre was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on July 27, 2014 and the New York Yankees retired his Number 6 at a ceremony at Yankee Stadium the following month.
Joe is currently the Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball. He was serving as Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations since February 2011. In this capacity, he oversees areas that include Major League Operations, On-Field Operations, On-Field Discipline and Umpiring. He serves as the Office of the Commissioner’s primary liaison to the general managers and field managers of the 30 Major League Clubs regarding all baseball and on-field matters. Since December 2009, he has served on the Commissioner’s Special Committee for On-Field Matters.
In the Fall of 2010, Torre concluded his third and final season as Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who he led to the National League Championship Series in 2008 and 2009. Previously, he spent 12 seasons as Manager of the New York Yankees (1996-2007), guiding them to the Playoffs every year, including six World Series appearances and four World Championships (1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000).
Earliest Memories of a Great Leader
- Show Up
- Work Hard
- Develop Skills
Lessons Along The Journey
- When you get traded you learn someone doesn’t want you but some else does.
- Someone recognized something in me in St. Louis that I didn’t recognize in myself.
- Never stop to admire what you have accomplished. There is always more to do. This was the key to his 4-time World Series winning Yankee teams continued success.
- As soon as you start patting yourself on the back you have stopped doing. Always remember you still have more do, more to accomplish.
- I learned from Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver that when you reach a cross roads that you only talk about how you can accomplish something.
- I am going to go do something.
- I am going to do it the right way
- As a manager I never forgot what I learned as a player.
Characteristics of a Great Leader
- Good Listener-to be a good leader you have to be a good listener.
- Teamwork-in being loyal to every one of my players, I was loyal to the 25, always team first.
- I hate to do negative things but sometimes you have to get a point across. I’m responsible for all 25 players and their best interest.
- We only have 9 or 25 players on the field at any one time. I told my players that at some point during the season you’re going to have a chance to do something important.
- Selflessness-if you are going to accomplish anything in life you are going to need someone to help you.
- Selfishness on any team is going to get in the way of your team being successful.
What do you look for in your players?
- You want somebody who’s going to come to work every day.
- I am going to judge each player by his effort. Give your best effort
- Show up on time.
Success Traits:
- Winning Attitude: The only thing Derek Jeter wanted to do was win.
- Influence: My success comes from how I affect other people.
- Patience: Part of being a success is being patient. It’s not going to happen overnight. It took me 4,000 games to get my ring.
- People: remember at the end of the day it is all about people no matter what line of work you are in.
- Trust: It was very important for me to earn the trust of a player. You have to be honest. When I had bad news to deliver to a player, I did it, not one of my coaches.
When I earn trust, I get commitment.
- Communication: It’s important to explain why you do certain things.
- Fairness: You can’t treat everybody the same. You’ve go to treat everybody fairly though.
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