Last night at Major League Baseball’s All-Star game, Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon led the National League’s elites to a narrow loss, 2 to 1, in an extra-inning pitchers battle. (You think your job is challenging? Imagine trying to coalesce big egos and big bats into one harmonious team in less than 24 hours.)
According to author/sports writer Tom Verducci, Maddon is “the Johnny Appleseed of aphorisms.” On the first day of the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 spring training camp, Maddon delivered his first of three “annual meetings” speeches to the players—and his pithy observations were boiled down to six points (#1: “Embrace the target.”), two key words—Expectations and Pressure—and then six more one-liners, including “Do simple better” and “The process simplifies the task.”
Time-out! Wait-a-minute! Is this a baseball book—or a management book? Yes…and it’s already on my Top-10 list for 2017, and just might be my Book-of-the-Year pick. It’s amazing—and I’ve already shipped copies to two friends.
"The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse," by Tom Verducci, senior baseball writer for Sports Illustrated, is 375 pages of leadership/management savvy, page-turning drama, and behind-the-scenes sports innovations.
Are you trying to change the culture in your organization? Imagine arriving as president of Cubs baseball operations in 2012 (and enduring a 101-loss season), keeping fans engaged during the building process, then hiring a new manager in 2015—and WHACK!—in 2016, the Cubs win their first World Series since 1908!
Did I mention that the instant-classic-of-a-series with Cleveland culminated in a sudden death Game 7 in Cleveland on November 2, 2016? Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win! (Did I mention it was also my birthday?)
OK…slight conflict of interest. I’m a Cubs fan. I endured 21 winters in the Chicago area, but enjoyed numerous summer afternoon baseball games at Wrigley Field, nicknamed "The Friendly Confines", a phrase popularized by "Mr. Cub", Hall of Fame shortstop and first baseman Ernie Banks (“Let’s play two!”). Read my review of A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred.
But trust me—whether you’re a baseball fan or not, whether you’re a Cubs fan or not, you’ll love this book—if you have any inclination to enrich your leadership and management style.
So…back to Maddon’s speech in 2016. His iPad notes also included three favorite leadership quotes:
• “Change before you have to.” (Jack Welch)
• “Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk.” (Doug Larson)
• “Communication creates collaboration. Big ears are better than big egos. When you’re not listening, ask good questions.” (Bill Walsh)
Those insights are from page 261, just one of 54 pages I noted on the blank pages in the front of my book. (I learn with a pen.) Actually, I tried to read the book just for fun. Couldn’t! Fifty pages in I started making notes.
Let me tempt you with nine more management morsels. Chew slowly:
#9. Recalibrate. In Game 7 of the World Series, the heavens opened and a 17-minute rain delay sent the players to their locker rooms after the ninth inning, with the score tied. In a players-only meeting, the Cubs used that “divine intervention” of 17 minutes to recalibrate. Memo to managers: consider a 17-minute recalibration exercise when your team is stuck. (See Chapter 19.)
#8. Activate. Theo Epstein was hired as the youngest general manager in MLB history when the Boston Red Sox hired him in 2002 at age 28. In 2004, the Red Sox won their first World Series championship in 86 years and won another championship in 2007. So when Epstein joined the Cubs in 2012, he systematized almost everything with a 259-page manual. (Imagine!) He then asked the staff to be responsible “for turning those words into a workplace environment that promoted growth.” (See Chapter 6 to understand “The Cubs Way.”) Have you activated a “words into action” plan?
#7. Read. To develop the communication skills of a future team leader, Manager Joe Maddon gave infielder Addison Russell (“too quiet for a middle infielder”) a reading assignment: Stephen King’s historical novel, 11/22/63: A Novel. “Maddon asked Russell to report back every 50 to 100 pages to discuss it.” By the way, Russell hit a grand slam in Game 6—just the 19th player to do so in a World Series.
#6. Exploit. In addition to the hyper-focus on analytics and technology in baseball today (stunning!), Epstein made a bet on an “old-school resource: people.” The author quotes their early aspirations:
--“…maybe we can be better than anyone else with how we treat our players and how we connect with players and the relationships we develop…
--Maybe our environment will be the best in the game…
--Maybe our vibe will be the best in the game…
--Maybe our players will be the loosest and maybe they’ll have the most fun…
--And maybe they’ll care the most.”
#5. Communicate. One of Epstein’s big a-ha! moments: just for fun, he pulled out a scouting report on a player-turned-coach—and his coach was stunned to read that the scout noted areas needing improvement, but no one had told him during his playing days! Who needs to improve but has never received feedback from you?
#4. Relocate. “After the 2012 season, as he does every year, Epstein took a Change of Scenery survey. He asked his 40 or so scouts and baseball operations people to submit a list of names of major and minor league players they believed would flourish with a change of scenery and why.
#3. Balance. Even baseball players crave a balanced life, so when the Cubs were recruiting Pitcher Jon Lester in 2015, they noted that “the Cubs fly the fewest miles in baseball over the course of a regular season, and how a home schedule heavily tilted toward day games would allow the Lesters to have breakfast with their kids and tuck them in at night on 63 game days.”
#2. Prioritize. CEOs and managers will pick up immediate interviewing techniques from "The Cubs Way." Example: Epstein interviewed Maddon with “a long list of a manager’s responsibilities, including empowering the coaching staff, working with the media, handling the bullpen, creating lineups, dealing with a petulant superstar, and running spring training.” The assignment: place them in order of importance and explain why.
#1. Teach. In his early years, Maddon led baseball clinics across Europe and “the preparation and teaching emboldened him.” He observed, “You will remember 75 percent of what you write down…and you will remember 90 percent of what you teach. So I wrote it down and then I taught it.” What’s the learning style of your team members?
Go Cubs!
The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse
4.7 | 1,090 ratings
Price: 17.72
Last update: 10-31-2024
About this item
Top reviews from the United States
John W. Pearson
RECALIBRATE IN 17 MINUTES
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2017
Kenneth C. Mahieu
A Great Gift for Father's Day - and for Mother's Day! or Graduation, or Birthday, or ....
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017