Doing What It Takes for a Team Win
Doing What It Takes for a Team Win
A young pitching phenom, Henry Rowengartner is signed for the team. The reality of playing ball hasn’t set in yet with Henry. He is thrilled to be meeting the players he has only read about and seen on TV. As a pitcher he worships “Rocket” Steadman.
Chet Steadman: Do me a favor: Don't call me "Rocket".
Henry Rowengartner: Why not?
Chet Steadman: 'Cause I'm not the "Rocket" anymore.
Henry Rowengartner: Yeah, I don't get it, you're throwing so slow.
Chet Steadman: Well, Thank you very much.
Steadman knows his days are numbered. When Henry is introduced into the line-up, Steadman is asked by a reporter, “How does it feel to be out pitched by a twelve-year old?” He replies, “I don’t care who out pitches me,” indeed all he cares about is the team. The same feeling should permeate both sports and business.
In the movie Steadman becomes a teacher, friend, and mentor to the youngster. Henry is only playing because a broken arm has left him with an incredible fast ball. Steadman gives the rookie a piece of advice, “Henry, don't take this serious. But it’s nothing to joke about. But one day, your gift will be gone.”
The team supports the effort to win the division championship. At the end of the movie we know that the team has won the World Series, but we don’t see them win it. What we see is that in the championship game, both Steadman and Henry lose their gift.
Steadman has gone through physical therapy and with one pitch late in the game he knows that his career as a pitcher is over. Henry is sent in as a relief pitcher for the final inning. Walking onto the field he slips and lands on his pitching arm. We know that his gift in gone and one pathetic practice pitch proves it.
Instead of taking himself out of the game or simply throwing a few pitches to the opposing team and losing the game, Henry signals for his teammates on the field to join him on the pitching mound. He explains what the problem is and asks for their assistance. He has a plan. With a little trickery and good ball handling, they win the division.
The team plays through the World Series and is victorious without the physical gifts of Steadman and Rowengartner. That is the trademark of a great team. It’s easy to win games with good players. It’s easy to have successful projects with great workers, but in the end a team or a business that can win without the superstars has reached a level of success seen by few. A great team has players or workers that care more about the team than they do for individual attention. A pitcher or a salesman shouldn’t ultimately care if someone younger or newer on their team out pitches them as long as the team wins.
Doing What It Takes for a Team Win - To learn more about this author, visit Don Doman's Website.
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In the feature film Rookie of the Year, Gary Busey plays the part of a one time great major league pitcher, Chet “Rocket” Steadman who has his playing time reduced.
A young pitching phenom, Henry Rowengartner is signed for the team. The reality of playing ball hasn’t set in yet with Henry. He is thrilled to be meeting the players he has only read about and seen on TV. As a pitcher he worships “Rocket” Steadman.
Chet Steadman: Do me a favor: Don't call me "Rocket".
Henry Rowengartner: Why not?
Chet Steadman: 'Cause I'm not the "Rocket" anymore.
Henry Rowengartner: Yeah, I don't get it, you're throwing so slow.
Chet Steadman: Well, Thank you very much.
Steadman knows his days are numbered. When Henry is introduced into the line-up, Steadman is asked by a reporter, “How does it feel to be out pitched by a twelve-year old?” He replies, “I don’t care who out pitches me,” indeed all he cares about is the team. The same feeling should permeate both sports and business.
In the movie Steadman becomes a teacher, friend, and mentor to the youngster. Henry is only playing because a broken arm has left him with an incredible fast ball. Steadman gives the rookie a piece of advice, “Henry, don't take this serious. But it’s nothing to joke about. But one day, your gift will be gone.”
The team supports the effort to win the division championship. At the end of the movie we know that the team has won the World Series, but we don’t see them win it. What we see is that in the championship game, both Steadman and Henry lose their gift.
Steadman has gone through physical therapy and with one pitch late in the game he knows that his career as a pitcher is over. Henry is sent in as a relief pitcher for the final inning. Walking onto the field he slips and lands on his pitching arm. We know that his gift in gone and one pathetic practice pitch proves it.
Instead of taking himself out of the game or simply throwing a few pitches to the opposing team and losing the game, Henry signals for his teammates on the field to join him on the pitching mound. He explains what the problem is and asks for their assistance. He has a plan. With a little trickery and good ball handling, they win the division.
The team plays through the World Series and is victorious without the physical gifts of Steadman and Rowengartner. That is the trademark of a great team. It’s easy to win games with good players. It’s easy to have successful projects with great workers, but in the end a team or a business that can win without the superstars has reached a level of success seen by few. A great team has players or workers that care more about the team than they do for individual attention. A pitcher or a salesman shouldn’t ultimately care if someone younger or newer on their team out pitches them as long as the team wins.
Doing What It Takes for a Team Win - To learn more about this author, visit Don Doman's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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