Leadership Lessons From Little League

About 15 years ago, the president of the Tempe Little League invited me to coach my son's Tee Ball team.  A few years later, I started GameTruck, Left Disney, and stepped up to becoming the manager of my son's "Minors" team.  It was a neighborhood team.  A team assembled from kids in our neighborhood.  

I realize now, that despite all my years as a manager and executive for companies like Motorola, THQ, and Disney, coaching that team was one of the greatest lessons in leadership, coaching, and managing I had ever had.  It is interesting that in baseball the head "coach" is not called a coach, he is called a Manager.

Last year was my goal was to share quotes from my library, and how I think about them and how I use that knowledge.  This year, I want to share a story, long form, about managing, helping people achieve their potential.  But it is not simply their potential in the abstract, it is how I helped people achieve their potential in the context of a team, a group of people come together to strive to achieve a common goal.

You can learn a lot by coaching your kids.  And as all Doctors know because it is designed into their education, the best way to learn something is: Watch One, Do One, Teach One.  Using all your skills to help the people you care about most succeed is a wonderful experience.  I recommend it highly.

Next: Learn The Game