4 Key Steps to Master Baseball and Leadership

As a former Professional Baseball player, I’ve seen firsthand how the world of baseball intersects with the principles of effective leadership. Helping boys play the game of baseball better is only a small piece of what I hope to accomplish as a coach and leader. The lessons learned on the diamond are incredibly relevant to the growth of the young players that I mentor. 

Knowing when to rely on your teammates, how to reduce deficiencies on the field, and how to develop and execute a solid game plan all translate into future personal and professional success. It takes time to learn to play the game of baseball well, and it’s the same when it comes to building life skills. Know your process, articulate the process, and be willing to put in the hard work. 

Here are 4 steps we apply to teaching baseball that can also develop essential skills to shape and inspire great leaders:

1. Understand your limitations

On first glance, you might think this sounds negative. But none of us know what we don’t know. And many of us have areas where we are great, and areas where we just aren’t. On the baseball field everyone has different areas where they excel. You aren’t going to put your best pitcher in the outfield. It’s the same in life. 

Start by assessing your current skills and recognizing your strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness is a key attribute to leadership that is sometimes lost in a leader’s quest to control everything. It takes self-awareness to admit limitations. 

Once you understand your limitations, turn them into an action plan. Focus on recruiting people who can complement your skills. Read books, take online courses, listen to podcasts, or find mentors to make yourself more well-rounded.

2. Develop and refine a process

Sports, businesses, and lives run on systems – or at least, they often should. On the field, we have proven strategies and drills that we run with our players to first teach them the game of baseball, and then to train them to develop those skills. 

To lead better, begin by being curious. Ask questions like: 

• What’s working well? 
• What frustrations can be resolved by breaking down the steps and implementing them consistently? 
• How are you structuring the time you’re spending practicing or working?
• What’s the most efficient way of getting the desired outcome?
• Do other people understand the processes? What training or guidance can help them run more smoothly?

Once you’ve established processes, trust them. Give them time. 

Work hard to make them happen and make adjustments as needed. The processes that are the most successful become methodologies – systems so good and so well-tested that they are now established frameworks that can be replicated for dependable results.

Next, just like an athlete, seek out new training opportunities and sources of inspiration to improve your methodologies. 

At the nonprofit I lead with my wife Kelli in Atlanta – L.E.A.D. Center for Youth – we rely heavily on methodologies based on our decades of experience in sports-based youth development. Our mission is to empower an at-risk generation to lead and transform Atlanta by using the sport of baseball to teach Black boys how to overcome crime, poverty, and racism. We cultivate leadership skills through hands-on, research-based experiences.

3. Learn to give credit and recognition 

This may seem small, but praise and gratitude pay dividends. Give people credit for what they teach you. It’s the right thing to do, personally and ethically. 

Have you ever pitched a shutout? Or hit a home run? If you have, you’ll know it felt incredible. Do you know what felt even better? Getting that smile or high five from a teammate, or that pat on the back from your coach. 

Lifting people up and making sure they get the recognition that’s due to them is extremely important. It reinforces for them that they have value and will encourage them to continue bringing it to the table. This approach will help you get more traction in whatever you’re doing – promoting your organization or business, deepening your relationships, and serving your community.

4. Reframe healthy competition

Terrence Albritton once said “I’m not your competition. I’m proof that you can do it.” 

You can do it. I love that approach because he’s inspiring others, rather than showcasing his dominance. People view competition as a zero-sum game –  There’s a winner and a loser, and that’s it. Instead, I challenge you to think about competition as a way to make people better. 

At L.E.A.D., our signature program is called The Ambassadors. Black boys from Bankhead who are talented at baseball teach white boys in Buckhead how to play. Not only are they building community by sharing their expertise, but they are also giving young boys the confidence that they can do it too!

Competing against LeBron James made other players better, and thinking of competition in this way should make us all better, regardless of the activity. Be an inspiration even when someone is going to win and someone is going to lose.

If we can reframe competition so it’s not a zero sum game, we can achieve a higher order way of thinking. When competition is framed properly, we can all be a winner in our own way. 

C.J. Stewart understands the power of opportunities. Growing up in one of Atlanta's most dangerous housing projects, he used baseball as his path forward.

Today, the former Chicago Cubs outfielder and Amazon No. 1 Best Selling Author is co-founder (along with his wife, Kelli) and Chief Visionary Officer for the non-profit organization L.E.A.D. (Launch. Expose. Advise. Direct).

By using baseball as his guide, C.J. is providing life-changing opportunities for Atlanta's at-risk youth.

Through his efforts, young men are winning at the game of life by improving their social emotional learning (SEL) capacities. Ninety-two percent of youth in a single program cycle show growth in multiple SEL capacities, 75% reported gaining more supportive adults in their lives from LEAD programming (social capital) and 100% reported satisfaction and a willingness to invite a friend.

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