What Baseball’s Top 10 Players Teach Us All About Leadership And Performance

The Sporting News released their list of baseball’s Top 50 players in the June 6th edition.  The following are leadership characteristics of the Top 10 highest rated along with supporting comments from their peers. 

1. The Consistency of Albert Pujols – “All these years later, for him to remain that consistent is impressive” – Ryan Howard
2. The Aggressiveness of Troy Tulowitzki – “He’s aggressive, doesn’t take a lot of strikes.” – Jonathan Sanchez
3. The Competitiveness of Felix Hernandez – “He’s just a competitor.” – Jarrod Saltalamacchia
4. The Potential of Joey Votto – “I played against him in Double-A and I knew then he was going to be a stud at this level.” – Ryan Braun
5. The Confidence of Tim Lincecum – “He’s got confidence in his changeup, and it can offset everything else that he throws.” – Rickie Weeks
6. The Continual Improvement of Roy Halladay – “Roy always has had the stuff, but what has put him on a different level is how he’s developed over time.” – Greg Dobbs
7. The Versatility of Evan Longoria – “You’re talking about a guy with all the tools.” – Torii Hunter
8. The Talent of Miguel Cabrera – “He’s the best righthanded hitter that I’ve seen.  There’s no pitch he can’t hit.” – Mark Ellis
9. The Stability of Joe Mauer – “Beside the hitting, he brings stability.  When (Justin) Morneau got hurt, we didn’t panic because he was there.  He’s so calm.  You feed off that.” – Orlando Cabrera
10. The Creativity of Josh Hamilton – “You can’t pitch him one way.  All the best hitters, you have to change the look every time.” – Dan Haren

Consistency, Aggressiveness, Competitiveness, Potential, Confidence, Continual Improvement, Versatility, Talent, Stability, and Creativity.  Leaders, do you or those on your teams possess these 10 qualities?  The very best players in baseball do.

As a special bonus, here are five additional leadership principles from some of my favorite players:

1. The Maturity of Robinson Cano – “He always has had the talent, but he has matured as a baseball player.” – Adriane Beltre
2. The Experience of Adrian Gonzalez – “Each year that he plays is another year of experience, another year of gaining more knowledge.  And when you put that natural talent with knowledge, it’s a great weapon.” – Bud Black
3. The Intensity and Desire of David Price – “His intensity and desire to win are unlike anything I’ve seen before.” – Sam Fuld
4. The Fearlessness of Dustin Pedroia – “The guy is a fearless type of player.  He’s bringing his A game every day…He’s a pretty confident guy, and he doesn’t think about making mistakes.  You can tell he’s a gamer.  Those are the kinds of guys you grow to like and respect whether he plays for you or somebody else’s.” – Howie Kendrick
5. The Preparation of Ichiro Suzuki – “His work habits and preparation are off the charts.” – Jack Zduriencik

What leadership skills do you admire in some of today’s athletes?

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