I shared a two-and-a-half hour plane ride yesterday with tarnished baseball legend Pete Rose. We talked at length about friends we share, baseball, horses and horse racing, life in Las Vegas, and Cabo San Lucas. Pete’s baseball knowledge and recall is encyclopedic. Mine I thought was good. After listening to Pete share thoughts on the modern game, his playing days, and what baseball should do to increase its appeal to a generation of lost fans, I realize now that what I know is peanut shells compared to Pete. Pete thinks baseball should create playoff incentives using a split season. Win your division in the first half, you’re in. Win it in the second, you’re also in. If the same team wins both halves, the bracket is filled out with the teams having the best season-long record.
“Fans need hope,” he said. “When your team is out, people quit going. Want to create more hope to keep the fans engaged? Use a split season.”
I thought it was a terrific idea and told him so.
Another thing I was curious about dealt with one of Pete’s former managers, Sparky Anderson. Sparky won the World Series in the American League with the Detroit Tigers and then in the National League with Pete’s Reds, Cincinnati’s fabled Big Red Machine.
I wanted to know what made Sparky such a great manager. Sparky won the World Series with the National League Reds in 1975 and 1976, and again with the American League’s Detroit team in 1984. He was the first manager in the history of the game to win baseball’s biggest prize in both leagues.
“Name one great manager who didn’t have great players,” Pete replied. He let me chew on that one for awhile but I came up empty. After I drew a blank he said, “You can’t. You gotta have great players.”
I pressed on. I teach management, leadership, and behavioral influence and wanted to hear Pete describe Sparky’s approach. I am relentlessly curious about how leaders lead and Pete, as he tends to do, netted things out rather bluntly.
“There are only three ways to manage people,” he said. “Kick ’em in the ass, pat ’em on the ass, or leave ’em alone.”
I thought about that, framed against what I know (and teach) in business environments. “Situational leadership,” I thought. “Sticks, carrots, and independent workers. Very similar.”
I pushed Pete a bit further. “How did he decide the best way to handle you guys?”
Pete rattled off examples of all three approaches Sparky used on several of his teammates. He and Hall of Famer Tony Perez, he said, Sparky left alone. The others he did not.
I was curious why Sparky was so good at this.
“He had street smarts,” Pete said. “Smartest manager dealing with people I ever saw. He could read people and knew exactly how to get the best out of every guy.”
Street smarts. Not book smarts and grad school sheepskins, street smarts. Innate, adept people skills.
In today’s world, effective leadership remains the same. The art of influence is knowing how to motivate your people to do their best, day in and day out.
Too many business leaders know their businesses better than their people. The greats inspire their troops to perform their best day after day and trust that the combined efforts of all lead to great performance.
Pete saw it, recognized it, lived it, and shared it. A message from a legend still relevant to all.
Enjoy the playoffs.
Ocean Palmer