Page 1 2
3
If Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz was just
now writing his book Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership
Strategies from Baseball’s Winningest GM, he might add a full
chapter on dealing with adversity. The 2006 season was one
of the most trying for him and his 14-time division champions.
As an example, from May through the first game in June, the
club lost 22 of 28 games and plummeted from three games
out of first place to as low as 16 behind the National Leagueleading
New York Mets.
But even though 2006 was an unusual year for the Braves,
Schuerholz has long recognized that dealing with adversity is
one of the many challenges leaders must face to be successful.
In his book published last April by Warner Books, he writes
about adversity and keeping a winning attitude. He also discusses
hiring the right people, the art of good listening, crisis
management, and a myriad of other issues related to good
leadership. He backs up each with real-life anecdotes from
40 years in baseball, including stints as general manager of the
Kansas City Royals from 1982 through 1990 and then with
the Braves from October 1990 to the present.
Winning Attitude
So how do you keep a winning attitude? "That," according
to the Braves GM, "is principally the responsibility of top
management in a leadership environment, and in our case
– professional baseball – it’s the general manager-manager
partnership...how they communicate, how they understand
the shared vision of the team and the organization, how
there’s unspoken knowledge that each has of the other’s
philosophies and procedures." For Schuerholz that vision is
shared with Bobby Cox, who moved from the GM’s chair
to his on-field position when Schuerholz joined the Braves
organization in 1990. Together Schuerholz and Cox have
won those 14 consecutive division titles, five National League
pennants, and the 1995 World Series.
Continued on next page
Top | Next
Page 
|
