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It's Really Not Just About Winning, It Is About How You Play
Written by: Dave FergusonArticle Overview: What can baseball teach us about today's business climate? Watching how a hitter responds to different pitchers can help you to understand how to respond to challenging economic times.
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It's Really Not Just About Winning, It Is About How You Play
I've written before about the three traits of successful business people - passion, persistence, and patience. There's a word that sums up that approach - prevail. Especially in these economic times, those who adapt their thinking and approach will prevail.
Spring training has started for professional baseball. The teams and players are preparing for a long season, their goal is to win the World Series. They won't do that by winning every game they play, they can't. They need to win enough games to reach the playoffs. That's the first milestone. Then they need to win enough games in the playoffs to reach the World Series. Then they need to win enough games in the World Series to take the title. It's more like a marathon race than a sprint.
Business is similar. The economy is throwing us knuckleballs right now. We've come through a period when all we were seeing was fastballs, maybe an occasional curveball. Good hitters can hit fastballs because they have excellent hand-eye coordination and can anticipate where the ball will wind up almost as soon as it comes out of the pitcher's hand. The knuckleball is thrown at a much slower speed and good knuckleball hitters have the ability to hold back until the last possible moment to get as much information as possible about the path of the ball. They get hits because they are patient and save their swings for the balls they know they can hit. Just as they do, we need to resist the urge to swing at pitches too early.
Because of the current economic conditions, people have a tendency to chase every opportunity that catches their eye. It's the shiny ball syndrome - see it and chase it. The problem is, having done that you might wind up someplace you never intended to be and spent money that was intended for something else. Then it's even harder to get back to where you need to be.
As a coach, I've been helping my clients to remain focused on the ultimate goal and the overall plan to reach that goal. Then, as the shiny balls come into view it's a simple decision - either it fits the plan, it doesn't, or we need to revise the plan.
For us, every day is a new game. We won't win every one, but if we win often enough and win the right ones, we will prevail. Isn't that really the goal?
Article Tags: economic conditions, economic times, fastballs, first milestone, hand eye coordination, knuckleball, marathon race, patience, persistence, pitches, professional baseball, shiny balls, spring training, sprint business, successful business people, sums, swings, tendency, urge, world series
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About the Author: Dave Ferguson RSS for Dave's articles - Visit Dave's website Dave Ferguson works with people in business - owners, executives. managers, sales teams and commissioned professionals - to help them to improve their performance and results. With a background in corporate operations, working for companies large and small and coaching people for 20 years, he knows how to help his clients confront real-world business challenges. He helps people to work smarter, not harder; to be more effective, focused, and strategic in their approach - to turn their dreams into goals, goals into plans, and then take the actions necessary to implement those plans and reach their goals. Through his workshops, his website, www.LakeCountyBusinessCoaching.com, his published articles and his complimentary monthly newsletter he provides valuable tools and tips for improving your results. Look for his new book The Business Owner’s Bible – Operating On Faith. Click here to visit Dave's website Choosing Not To Participate In the Recession Its Really Not Just About Winning It Is About How You Play Ratlike Cunning Intelligent Persistence Singular Focus The Seven Deadly Business Sins Stop Making Resolutions Start Making Plans |
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