6 Things You Can Do To Change Your Bleak Present Into A Bright Future

The Kansas City Royals win the 2015 World Series!!!  That’s right, the Royals are going to be very good - not this year or probably even next.  But very soon, they are going to be very good.

If your team has under-performed or not met expectations in recent memory, Joe Posnanski wrote an interesting article in the March 21st edition of Sports Illustrated on the Royals, a poorly performing organization.  The Kansas City Royals have not-so-quietly developed the finest minor league system in baseball and their future is very bright.

If you want your team’s future to look as equally promising, here is what you can learn from this organization:

1. Hire A Leader Who Is A Tour Guide, Not A Travel Agent – A travel agent tells you how to get somewhere.  A tour guide has been there many times.  They know where everything is.  They know what to do, where to go, and when to go there.  In 2006, Dayton Moore was hired as the team’s general manager.  Moore came up through the very successful Atlanta Braves system – from scout all the way to player development.  He has experienced how to build a successful organization from the ground up. Leaders, are you hiring people with a proven track record of success?
2. Create A Winning Culture – Moore had to create a culture of winning.  “The problem wasn’t that we weren’t winning.  The problem was that nobody could imagine  us winning.”  Leaders, are you creating a culture where people believe anything is possible?
3. Hire The Right Leadership Team Around You – Moore hired Rene Francisco (Atlanta’s director of international scouting), J.J. Picollo (Atlanta’s director of minor league operations), Philadelphia Phillies assistant G.M. Mike Arbuckle, and five additional scouts.  “I didn’t just want good baseball people.  I wanted people who understood that we’re going to win a championship here.” Leaders, are you hiring people who can help you win a championship?
4. Invest Resources – Moore immediately rebuilt the Royals Academy in the Dominican Republic.  As previously mentioned, he also added quality staff.  Leaders, are you paying the price in dollars needed for success?
5. Build Depth – “We know that prospects don’t all make it.  That’s the hard truth.  Depth is the only way to combat it.  Ten great pitching prospects is not enough.  Twenty great pitching prospects is not enough” says Picollo.  Leaders, does your team have great depth?
6. Patience and Process – The Royals are currently not winning on the major league level but they have built the best minor league system in memory.  Baseball America ranks 5 players in the Royals farm system in their top 21 prospects, 10 in the top 101.  Leaders, are you securing talented young people who will one day give your organization an opportunity for great success?

Hire The Right Leader, Create A Winning Culture, Recruit A Great Inner-Circle, Spend Money, Build Depth, and embrace Patience and Process.  If you do these 6 things, you will turn your fortunes around.

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