Where Baseball Meets Business
With the baseball playoffs in full swing it’s probably also that time of the year for me to go on one of my many annual rants about how I think that we make business success all too hard. In most cases the basics are ignored in favor for the latest new and usually complex strategy, theory or latest best seller unveiling the secret success silver bullets.
Sometimes, most of the time in fact, if we just slow down a bit we might need to face the fact that the truth may be in the simplicity of the solution. Simple is not always easy. Simple is not always cool or flashy. But SIMPLE works!
NIKE has built a worldwide brand on the simplest yet the most elegant and powerful positioning statement maybe ever devised with their “JUST DO IT” statement. That simple three word statement speaks volumes. Plan all you want; Strategize until you’re giddy but to get anything done you will need to JUST DO IT!
Brilliant!
So you might be asking yourself by now how does this relate to baseball?
I live and base my business coaching practice in Phoenix Arizona. And I love the Arizona Diamondbacks. Coach Bob Brenly, the former coach of the Arizona Diamondback baseball club had an inspiring philosophy when it came to success. His tenure began in 2001, following a coach that was very clinical and ran the club with reams of rules and expectations. When Brenly arrived, players asked him about his rules. He is reported to have said that he only had three rules: (1.) Be on-time, (2.) Play Hard, (3.) Get the job done! That’s all the coach asked.
By the way, the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001.
Those same three rules are just as powerful when applied to building a success strategy for your business. Really for businesses of any size, large or small, these are the basic, foundation rules of thriving in a tough economy. These are some of the highest priority yet simple rules I focus on for my business coaching clients.
Let’s take a quick look at them again but this time with our “business and entrepreneurial eyes”!
- BE ON TIME: You must show up for work. You, must be ready, be positive, focused and concentrate! You must work when you’re at work. You must manage what time you have doing only the most important tasks to get you where you want to go!
- PLAY HARD: In today’s marketplace you can have great strategies, plans and intentions, but if you aren’t willing to work really, really hard then you are doomed. You’ll make mistakes and it won’t be easy but simply by working hard you’re already ahead of 95% of your competitors.
- GET THE JOB DONE: Be determined; be disciplined to do whatever it takes to accomplish the job. Whatever…it…takes! My favorite definition for discipline is, “Doing what you have to do; When you have to do it; whether you want to or not!” Have clear goals and objectives then launch. Get off your back side and apply the other two rules and be on time and work hard!
Continuous learning and personal growth is the key. But sometimes we need to take all of our acquired knowledge and collectively boil it down to the simplest of applications. There’s no real secret and there is no amazing “silver bullet”. The true discipline really comes in the harshness of valid simplicity. Every successful business person, at one time or another has had to face this fact. Sometimes, as the coach once said, success can amount to three basic rules; BE ON TIME; PLAY HARD; GET THE JOB DONE!
Are you ready to take your business to the big leagues? I can help you get there. That’s what I do! I’m open for business and ready to assist your team. Call or write me today and as always,
BE GREAT!
Coach Dan