The umpire called, “Strike 3, you’re out!” and ten discouraged 12-year-old boys were ready to pack their gear and go home. It was Friday night, after all, and the new 1979 revelation, Daisy Duke, would be casting her smile on our 25-inch television sets in a few minutes.

We expected to lose. My Little League baseball team won two games all season (against the one team worse than us), so losing the first game in the double-elimination end-of-season tournament was hardly a surprise. We just wanted to return the next morning, lose the next game, and get on with our summer.

The events didn’t unfold as planned.

We Were Thrown a Curveball

We won on Saturday morning. We also won on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. We entered the following Friday night’s contest against the undefeated Weddington team. We beat them to force a doubleheader for the championship. Unfortunately, our pitching dried up, and Weddington hammered us in the late game.

But how did a ragtag, two-win team become an overnight sensation and win five games in a row?

A Change of Leadership

Forty-plus years later, I still don’t know what transpired behind the scenes. But our coach quit between post-game Friday night and Saturday morning. Another dad, Mr. Meeks, stepped up to coach us. Mr. Meeks possessed a skill that transcended baseball — leadership. With more than forty years of thought on this momentous event, I’ve distilled five key leadership traits that Coach Meeks used to coach a team of misfits to the championship game.

5 Leadership Traits to Build a Winning Team

1 — Contagious Enthusiasm

Coach Meeks was the most excited and enthusiastic person on the field. He exuded positivity and hope, yet he didn’t know anything about us except our crap record. He traveled for work and never made any of the games or practices. However, his unbridled energy was racing fuel to a team who’d lost hope. Leaders should be the biggest cheerleaders.

If they aren’t excited about their mission and vision, how can they expect their team to be?

2 — Active Involvement

Coach Meeks actively coached every facet of the game. He used hand signals to tell me where to pitch the ball — high, low, inside, or outside. He’d cue us when to lay off the next pitch. Coach Meeks told the infield and outfield when to shift left or right, move up or back. I’m not advocating micromanagement, which is poison to any team or organization, but the leader doesn’t sit in the corner office and check out.

They keep the vision moving forward.

3 — Relentless Encouragement

Coach Meeks unearthed every conceivable way to encourage us, which wasn’t an easy task. And every critique was buried amongst a pile of praise. “Hey Dennis, that was a tough at bat. I loved your good eye, staying away from the high balls, and that was a vicious swing. Just be sure to keep your head still next time.” 

Criticism is never buried so deep that a person misses it. Most praise evaporates with one word of complaint. Harvard Business Review found that a person needs five positive comments for every one negative comment. 

A great leader leads with encouraging words to help their team believe in themselves.

4 — Keenly Observant

Coach Meeks paid attention to details. His words of praise weren’t smoke blown up our jerseys. The compliments were legitimate points gleaned from constant observation. He also knew where I should pitch each batter because he’d paid attention to their previous at-bats, whether against another team or us. A great leader pays attention to the details, not just the spreadsheet’s trend lines.

People are the highest asset of any group or organization, and great leaders pay attention to them.

5 — Supreme Talent Extractors

Don’t miss this point. This point is critical for leaders and team members. My Little League team showed up Saturday morning as the same 2–10 guys who lost miserably on Friday night. We weren’t caterpillars that morphed into butterflies overnight. An old saying goes, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”

We had the requisite talent to be a great team. Our season-long coaches did a solid job teaching and developing our baseball skills. But Coach Meeks knew how to extract our talents to play at the highest level as individuals and as a team. So, this point leads to two more:

1. Great leaders provide high-quality training to sharpen the skills of team members.
2. Great leaders use points 1–4 to draw out the best in each team member.

And the message to every discouraged person — you can be better than the results you see. What’s down in your well? Garbage in, garbage out.

Wrapping It Up

Some people are born with natural leadership abilities, but that shouldn’t discourage those who aren’t. Every person can learn and practice the keys to outstanding leadership. We’re all leading someone, even if only ourselves, and a leader’s responsibility is to move the team forward. The best way a leader can build a great company or organization is by creating great teammates.

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