Yearly, I carve out margin in my schedule to scout a few Major League games in order to ‘recalibrate’ my eyes and stay focused after watching so many high school, travel and college baseball games throughout the year. A good exercise for all pro baseball scouts. pic.twitter.com/2MdJ97uyCI
— Kevin Burrell (@KevinBurrellMLB) August 17, 2022
Chicago White Sox scout Kevin Burrell is someone all leaders should follow on Twitter. His most recent Tweet I posted above so you could see his level of insight. I was with him recently when he told the story of scouting a big league prospect at a Power 5 school. The player struck out a critical point in the game. As he returned to the dugout, Kevin watched him walk past all the players to the Gatorade cooler.
At this point, I was expecting to hear a cautionary tale about the player kicking over the bucket or even smashing it with a bat. But that is not what happened.
The player got two cups of Gatorade, one for himself and the other one he gave to the team’s pitcher. Upon seeing this, Kevin smiled and said, “He gets it.”
When this player experienced failure he did not sulk or have a bad attitude. He did not have an outburst of anger. Rather, he served a teammate.
This player’s attitude is something all leaders can learn from. When a leader experiences failure, first they should evaluate what happened and see what they can learn from it. Secondly, they should serve someone else.
Serving others takes the focus off of yourself and places it on someone else. It shows you see the big picture and realize it is not all about you.
Successful leaders ask two great questions, “So what? Now what?” This player struck out at a critical moment in the game. So what? It happens. Now ask, “Now what?” The answer was to serve someone else.
So the next time you experience failure, stop and see what you can learn from the experience. Then serve someone else. These are the type of leaders who “get it.”
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