This month the Atlanta Braves came from being an also-ran in the National League East Division to dramatically win the baseball World Series.
This had been a maddening season for Braves fans because the team came into the season being a strong candidate to get to the World Series. Then they ended up losing two of their star outfielders and a rookie third outfielder significantly underperformed and was sent to the minors for the rest of the season.
Add to that, a number of the team’s All-Stars were stuck in long-running slumps, various players were out with injuries, and the team was beset with a raft of pitching problems including injuries and a general lack of effective results.
This led to the Braves having a record of 44-45 at the mid-year All-Star Game break. In fact, they never got over .500 until the 111th game of the season (out of a 162-game season).
What caused the extraordinary change that enabled them to go from playing under .500 ball to winning the World Series?
And what lessons for your business can you derive from the Braves overcoming these tremendous challenges?
Using some of the concepts from my upcoming 4th book, Work Less, Make More and Have Fun in Your Business I would like to examine the Braves dramatic turnaround.
There are five things that can be gleaned from and applied to handling your company’s personnel (your Human Assets area) from the Braves’ World Series victory.
1. Effective Leadership
What enabled the Braves to pursue and win the World Series was their top-notch leadership.
One of the Braves’ most valuable players, third baseman Austin Riley said, “You play in this game to be in the World Series, to win a World Series championship. The competitive mind-set of a baseball player is that you don’t ever doubt that. You always think there’s a chance”.
The Braves exemplified both Employee and Company leadership.
Their General Manager, Alex Anthopoulos demonstrated this by never giving up on them and when many teams would have started to unload their expensive players the Braves started acquiring what turned out to be the key players that enabled them to turn things around.
Likewise, Braves players like Freddie Freeman, Charlie Morton, and Austin Riley were unwavering in the leadership that encouraged the team to endure the various hardships they were incurring and prevail in overcoming them.
Three lessons can be learned from the Braves Executives and the Player’s Leadership. The first lesson is, just like the Braves management did, a leader needs to lay out and communicate the Vision and goals for the business to their employees. For the Braves, that Vision was to win the World Series.
Second, a leader should inspire and motivate their employees, so they see, believe in, and work toward the enterprise’s Vision. Third, leaders need to guide and direct the execution of the plan to achieve their Vision. The Braves leadership exactly did these latter two things.
2. Encouraging, Steady and Stable Managers
A key component of the Braves going from mediocracy to being something special was the steady and stable influence of their 66-year-old manager, Brian Snitker. Night after night he continued to encourage the team and patiently support them, even in the face of frustrating results.
The message to garner from Brian Snitker is that highly effective managers bring out the best in their employees. They are impactful at motivating, leading, and managing their personnel so everyone can achieve the Vision for their business.
An effective manager can turn an employee’s talent into demonstrated performance. For a manager to achieve this, they must know each employee’s mindset and how to motivate and encourage each of them (Brian Snitker clearly knew how to inspire each of his players).
3. Creating a Team Environment
Braves third baseman Austin Riley also said, “Going through those struggles is what made us bond together as a team. We’re super close. What’s gotten us here is just that bond we have as a team. We believe in each other. I think that goes a long way.”
As a huge Braves fan watching them night after night, and in post-game interviews, even while they had a losing record it was obvious that both the players and coaches tried to find the positives in what was occurring.
They both celebrated victories and any encouraging things that took place during their many loses. This led to them to create a strong team atmosphere.
It is incumbent for a business to create a true team environment so that employees feel good about their efforts to achieve the Vision for the company.
4. Obtain the Correct Personnel Needed for Your Success
Due to a host of personnel difficulties, the Braves had underperformed most of the season. Late in the season this led their Management to go out and acquire not just one or two players, but four outfielders and several pitchers that proved to be instrumental in winning the World Series. Two of these players, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler, respectively ended up being the Most Valuable Player in the National League Championship Series and the World Series.
While the Braves were the underdog in each of the postseason series they played in, the additional personnel the Braves brought in proved to be the spark plug that ignited the rest of the team – resulting in them going 36-19 for the final 55 games of the season and winning the World Series.
With regards to your company, the thing to be harvested from the Braves experience is to stay focused on obtaining the correct quantity and quality of personnel for your enterprise in terms of their skill sets, level of experience, personal characteristics, and work ethic.
5. The Satisfaction and Morale Level of Your Employees
Lastly, Austin Riley stated, “We were searching. There’s no question about that. If you asked me, I was like, ‘A lot of things have to go right for (postseason success) to happen,’ and it has. We’ve made a lot of moves to make it happen”
As a result of the Braves displaying effective leadership, having encouraging, steady, and stable managers, creating a true team environment, and obtaining the correct personnel, they were able to maintain a high level of player satisfaction and morale.
They never lost hope in themselves and the task at hand – to win the World Series.
How does this apply to your business?
Both you and your employees need to keep believing in yourselves and your company goals. To do this you need to regularly communicate your Vision to your team, continue to focus on that Vision, and then celebrate any and all your achievements.
Just like the Braves, you want to keep in mind that to achieve the Vision for your enterprise your personnel must possess a high level of morale and employee satisfaction.
Where to Start
To win the “World Series” for your company, start by committing yourself to practice effective leadership, then make sure the managers you have in place are unwavering and they know how to motivate your personnel.
Next, ensure you are creating a true team environment so that your employees are functioning as part of a cohesive unit in the quest of the Vision for your business. Thereafter, take the actions to confirm that you have the correct personnel needed for your success.
Finally, take the steps necessary so both you and your employees keep believing in themselves and your company goals. By regularly sharing the Vision for your enterprise to your team, focusing on and pursuing that Vision, and making progress towards its achievement, your employees will have a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
If you could use assistance with motivating your personnel so your company can win the “World Series” for your company, please contact us using the information below so we can be a resource to you in this critical area.
Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. is an Innovation and Business Planning firm. During the past 21, years we have shown over 1,200 companies how to achieve their goals by using our unique, comprehensive, and systematic FastTrak Innovation Program™, Innovation Academy™, and Structure of Success™ methodologies. Using the components in these methodologies, each month we examine an aspect of how to transform your business or organization into a true 21st Century enterprise.
Office: (770) 642-4220
George.Horrigan@FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
Tags: Business Planning, entrepreneur, front end of innovation, innovation, invention, small business consulting, small business planning, start a business
