Observe Leadership in Action

“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.” –Heywood Brown, American journalist

I’ve been watching a lot of high school baseball recently. I have a nephew whose team is in the state high school tournaments—and, at least as of this blog post, they are continuing to win and make their way to the state finals.

As I’ve been enjoying the “national past time,” I’ve been paying a lot of attention to leadership. Leadership in baseball (as in organizations) happens at all levels. You can learn a lot by observing leaders in action—both in and outside of organizational life. And, in baseball, as in organizations, you can observe leadership in action on a regular basis (and you also notice the implications of a lack of leadership). Here’s what I’ve noticed:

• Coaches who have the ability to rally the team to come from behind (much like managers who can inspire employees during difficult times);
• Student athletes who step up to the plate (no pun intended) and get behind one another after an error or a strikeout (much like teams of employees who provide back-up and support for one another); and,
• Parents who holler inappropriately at “Blue” (the umpires) when they feel a call is incorrect (similar to some managers who feel intimidation is the way to correct mistakes).

Leadership is all around us. It shows up in a variety of places every day teaching us lessons if we just take notice. Where have you noticed leadership (or the lack thereof) lately? What lessons have you learned?

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