Blue Elevator Blog

Baseball and Business

If I hit the rewind button, I am back in Little League (actually, Pony League).  And no, not my Little League years, but my son’s.  My son loved baseball.  Everything about it.  And in baseball, you get to bat.  And when you bat, you get to hit home runs – if you’re lucky.

Or is it? Luck, that is.

Hitting home runs isn’t so much about strength as it is about technique.  That is, proper hitting mechanics will trump brute strength each and every time.  And so, my son and I set out to learn proper hitting mechanics.  We took some hitting lessons, to be sure.  And this was good.

But I recall taking note of someone my son knew.  He was slightly older.  And, as providence would have it, my son would later play on the same high school varsity baseball team that he was on.  My son’s friend could hit – and I mean hit.  Home runs.  And, being the genius that I am (poking fun at myself), I thought this: “I wonder if my son’s friend’s dad would be willing to work with my son?”  And, so I would attempt the “cold call” and ask if the Mr. would help my Jr. – and, thank God, the answer was “yes.”

Take Away #1.  And this is the first take out:  If you want to hit home runs in business, find someone who knows a thing or two about hitting home runs.  Ask the expert.  Ask the person whose players – or clients – are experiencing the results you want.  And take notes.

There’s More Than Meets the Eye

And as I would eventually learn, when it comes to hitting home runs, there’s more than meets the eye.  And we did learn from my friend’s dad – and other hitting instructors.  Each had their own “trick” to teach, so to speak.  And, I remember the day when I would learn a God-given, very counter-intuitive, “secret” principle when it comes to hitting home runs.  To wit, you swing down on the ball!  That’s right: you swing down into the ball.  Most people want to swing up on the ball and “scoop” the ball up and out.  But, a great swing moves from high to low.

And, so, in summary, here is larger treatise on proper hitting fundamentals:

• You have to keep your weight behind the ball.
• You have to keep your hands inside the ball.
• You want to have a short and as quick of a swing as possible.
• You want to swing down on the ball.
• You want to make sure you follow-through on your swing.
• AND, you need to focus – not on hitting home runs, but focus on the pitched ball.  To do this, it’s important to keep your head still, which means you aren’t taking this huge stride into the ball.

The better you can do the above, the better chance you have of hitting home runs.  In fact, if you do the above very well, you are almost guaranteed to hit every pitch clean and hard.  And it’s “where” you hit the ball that determines the outcome.

• A pitch that’s hit slightly above center will have “top spin” and will be a hard hit grounder.
• A pitch that’s hit square in the middle will seemingly have “no spin” and be a line drive.
• A pitch that’s hit slightly below center will develop “back spin” and this “back spin” is what gives the ball a little extra life and lift to go out of the park.

Ok, So That’s Baseball – What About Business?

Take Away #2.  When in business, you have to do the exact same thing.  You have to identify the fundamentals of your particular business.  And you have to learn, do, and continually refine those fundamentals.

As swinging down is to hitting a home run, so is “engagement” to the business that wants to grow.  In essence, you have to distill engagement down to the fewest number of steps and employ these mechanics.

Back to Baseball

My son would continue to love and learn the game of baseball.  And, thank God, he would become very good at it.  But on occasion, his performance at the plate would tail off a little bit.

I would watch him closely.  The mechanics would seemingly all be there, but sometimes it just wasn’t coming together.  And then I would see it.  I would see – what he couldn’t see – and that was just a slight loss of focus – a kind of “going through the motions,” so to speak.

You see, squaring up a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports.  You take a small round ball.  You take a small round bat.  A good pitcher can make that 90+ mph pitch “dance” by imparting a little bit of movement.  And, if the hitter is just a little off balance, moving his or her head even slightly, or not laser-focused on reading the ball, it becomes almost impossible to hit – even with the right fundamentals.

Take Away #3.  You can learn and do all of the right fundamentals, but if you’re not laser-focused, you’ll miss the mark.  The home run becomes a KS or KC [that’s scorekeeper lingo for a strike-out from swinging (e.g., KS) or a strike called (e.g., KC)].

Baseball and Business

So, here’s a summary of the three concepts we’ve discussed:

1. My son and I learned the art of hitting together.  Through trial, error, and effort, we would employ the various “tricks” we would learn and incorporate them into my son’s unique way of approaching the game – things he did well and things he struggled with.  I would learn that it isn’t enough to stop doing something wrong (e.g., a particular mechanic, like dropping your back elbow – which produces a loop in your swing).  I would learn that you have to replace what’s wrong with what’s right (e.g., taking your hands directly to the ball).  The fundamentals would have to be made to work for him.  At Blue Elevator™, we help our clients discover the fundamentals of hitting home runs in each of their respective businesses.  Whereas successful God-given business principles never change, the application of these principles is unique to every business and business owner.
2. There are tough times.  I recall certain periods of time where things wouldn’t go well – like strike-outs.  Ugh.  If seeing the long ball is great, there is also nothing like watching someone “swing over” or “swing under” a pitch.  If a home run is a success and a hard hit ball is a consolation prize, then a KS or a KC is failure.  But it was during these tough times where we would learn that a particular fundamental had been lost.  It wasn’t lost overnight – it was gradually lost a little bit at a time.  In retrospect, there would be a pattern: home runs and hard hit balls would give way to weak grounders.  And weak grounders would give way to strike-outs.  A pattern of success would give way to a decline, which, if not corrected, would give way to the dreaded slump.  In business, you have to continually mind the trends.  And, if a decline is noted, some re-attention is needed on the fundamentals.  At Blue Elevator™, we help our clients refine fundamentals by providing objective feedback.  It’s easier to fix a slight wrinkle in a swing than to dig out of a slump.
3. In candor, one of the most exciting things was watching my son hit the “long ball,” or home run.  There’s nothing like seeing a pitch bounce off the bat and go up and out of the park.  Everyone loves to see a home run.  When my son came to the plate, much to the dismay of others, I would yell “hit a home run.”  That’s what we practiced and that’s what we drilled for.  In business, you want to hit home runs.  At Blue Elevator™, God-willing, we help our clients stay laser-focused and hit home runs.  It’s not enough to know the proper fundamentals – but it is making sure they all come together at game time.

Summary

At Blue Elevator™, there’s nothing better for us than to watch one of our clients hit the proverbial “walk-off” home run.  So, be encouraged to seek out a skilled and trusted business advisor.  Learn the secret fundamentals of hitting home runs in your business.  And, lastly, focus like crazy.  “Don’t take your eyes off the ball!”

And, if you aren’t working with someone already, God-willing, we’d love to be able to show you a thing or two to help make your next plate appearance a game-winner.  Contact us.