In the spring of 1998, I was “drafted” into the job of coaching a little league team of 9 and 10-year olds. This would be my son’s second year with his team, and if I didn’t agree to be the coach, he would end up on another team. OK…I’m in!
I began my job right away. I met all the kids and parents. I said, “Some of you want to win, while others would be satisfied to see their son have a fun, worthwhile experience. We are going to do both – win and have fun!”
My first step was to evaluate strengths. I wanted to see the capabilities in the areas of fielding, running, throwing, base-running, and hitting. I also paid attention to those who had the most winning attitude. They were who I built the team around. Then I developed my strategy. It was simple…no walks! Throwing and fielding were the most prominent strengths I observed. That meant we would make outs quickly, and no runs would be scored as a result of walks. My defensive strategy worked. We ended the season in 2nd place with a 15-3 winning record. The three teams that beat us did so only by a run. They were good hitters, and their coach encouraged them to swing the bat and never draw a walk. They were winning on their strengths.
Here was what I learned from this experience. The quickest way to grow is to know your strengths, leverage them, and build on them. When we succeed, we will work on the areas we need to get better. Remember, if the only way we grow is learning from our mistakes, then the best driver on the road would be the one with the most mishaps. I don’t think we would want to drive with that person!
