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Lesson #1: Don’t Compromise
At the very first audition of “American Idol”, fellow judge Paula Abdul got her first taste of what it was like to work with Cowell. Following a terrible performance by a young contestant, Cowell responded with one of his trademark criticisms. “My jaw literally – like a cartoon – must have hit the table,” recalls Abdul. She proceeded to tell Cowell that he could not talk to people that way. Cowell responded that indeed he could. Abdul countered, saying he could not talk to Americans that way. Cowell said that he could and he would and the conversation abruptly came to an end.

Don\'t Keep Score
Hey, with the national political process well underway, wouldn't it be cool if you had grown up with the President-to-be and he owed you a big favor? WRONG! (Sorry, trick question.) As tempting as that may sound, this kind of thinking will actually lead you to real failure in life on so many dimensions.

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Winning is not an accident
As many of you already know I’m a bit of a sports enthusiast. Baseball & football are the sports I know the most about and I use many analogies, even with my clients who don’t care a lick about sports. After watching my local Baltimore Ravens team get their backsides handed to them by the New England Patriots, I couldn’t help but give credit where credit is due. Therefore, below is an excellent article by management consultant John Baldoni from the WHARTON CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT about the winning formula developed by Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. Unlike baseball, there is a salary cap in the NFL so you can’t buy championships. In the NFL you need solid leadership to win back to back championships as the Patriot’s have done and a third may be on the way.
RIPKEN BELONGS IN BRANDING HALL OF FAME
This summer Cal Ripken will be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame -- not so much for his baseball numbers as for the fantastic brand he created. Cal’s career batting average is not even close to .300, and he did not average more than 25 home runs or 100 RBIs a season. Yet he is one of the most popular, memorable, and marketable players of recent history. Why?
Shared Services Simplified or How Barry Bonds’ Bat Weight Explained GoC Thinking
I was recently asked to provide a contextual point of reference that would assist the uninitiated public in understanding the reasons why the GoC’s Shared Services program has become such a contentious issue. The Answer was Baseball! Rather than getting into a complicated dissertation of the differences between an agent-based model versus an equation-based model where the prescribed processes reflect and therefore adapt to stakeholder characteristics and objectives, I tried to think of what I would say to one of my sports fanatic friends. And it hit me, the answer is baseball!

Baseball and Leadership
Baseball is a game that rewards the clever. As with adaptability, baseball games often hinge on the smallest and most ingenious plays. A pick-off at first base. A hit and run with two outs. A squeeze bunt. Leaders too will be rewarded for cleverness. Rather than simply replicating the results of predecessors or maintaining the status quo, the modern leader is required to seek different and creative methods and solutions.

Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion
Hiring salespeople is scalable until you get to a dilution point - very similar to the expansion that took place in baseball...
Lesson #3: The Boss Can Come Back
If there is one thing Steinbrenner is famous for besides his ability to manage a great baseball team, it is his ability to get himself into trouble. From being banned from baseball for life to feuding with and changing managers 20 times, Steinbrenner is no stranger to controversy. But what is even more remarkable, is his ability to bounce back and reclaim the team he worked so hard to promote.

Why Prospecting is Like Baseball
The reason I want to talk about why prospecting is like baseball is because I recently saw a quote by Mickey Mantle that struck home: "During my 18 years in baseball, I came to bat almost 9,000 times. I struck out over 1,700 times and walked over 1,800 times. That means I played seven years in the major leagues without even hitting a baseball."

Two Important Qualities
There are a lot of similarities between business and baseball, and in ways they are interchangeable. I played baseball in high school and became captain of the team. I learned a lot about how teams can excel with the right leadership and with regard to the specific talents of each player. It was a great education.
Baseball's General Managers versus Business' Sales Managers
You have one huge advantage over baseball General Managers though. Forward looking indicators. Except for observation, all of the statistics they use in baseball are lagging indicators.

Working Backwards From Your Goal To Get Ahead
It is always interesting when you sit with a group of sales people and the subject turns to sports. No matter what the sport, there is the inevitable talk of the leaders and their potential accomplishments over the course of the season. The athlete’s numbers are dissected and analyzed from all angles, usually in connection with a pool or a wager. Like athletes, sales professionals need to track their stats if they want to consistently outperform. How many at bats? Or better yet how many appointments did you have this year, and how is that versus last year? Is that number of appointments adequate to get you to your goal?
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