Interesting Article From FastCompany.com - Management Lessons From Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball kicked off in April, and millions of fans will flock to ballparks across the country in support of their local team this season. But for business owners, baseball offers more than just an opportunity for entertainment. As I’ve told many of my clients, professional baseball can teach us a number of valuable lessons regarding human resources and employee management. Below are three of the most important:

1) Job fit matters as much as ability. In baseball and in your workplace, talent is not more important than fit. An athlete who can bench press a huge amount of weight or run an incredibly fast 40-yard dash won’t necessarily make a great outfielder. Mental strength and the ability to mesh with the culture of the team is equally important to raw physical ability. The same is true at your business--don’t just look for the flashiest or most talented applicant, look for the best fit for your team.

2) A common sense of purpose is more valuable than a massive payroll. Last season, the New York Yankees spent over $200 million on player salaries--and weren’t able to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers spent just over $90 million and came within one game of winning the World Series. The lesson? You can’t simply outspend your competition to bring in “top talent” and expect success. Without a common sense of purpose and a strong company culture, your talent will go to waste.  

3) Effective leadership requires striking a balance between micro-managing and passivity. Every season, there are managers who grip the proverbial reins too tightly and end up alienating their players. Conversely, there are managers who are criticized each season for exercising too little control. Last year, for instance, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona was let go in large part because he had “lost control” of his clubhouse. As a leader in your workplace, one of your most important tasks is creating a structured environment where your team can thrive, but without becoming a micro-manager.

This baseball season, as you root for your favorite team, pay attention to the dynamic that exists between the coaches and the players—and between the players themselves. I’m often surprised how many management lessons we can learn from the great sport of baseball. And I’m willing to offer this bold prediction: this year’s champion won’t be the team with the best physical athletes or the team that spends the most money--it will be the team with the best chemistry, and with talented people in the right places.

7 Ways to Sharpen Your Leadership Skills

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/04/17/7-ways-to-sharpen-your-leadership-skills-

By Ritika Trikha

April 17, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Ritika Trikha

Very few people describe themselves as natural born leaders. It takes buckets of self-confidence and a dash of moxie to get others to follow your lead. But you don't exactly need to grab the microphone to exude leadership. Leadership is a skill; one that can be learned and developed. Strong leadership skills will help you score more responsibility at work, which means higher chances of a promotion, increased salary, and growth opportunity overall.

So, if you want to give your boss more reasons to promote you, consider doing at least one of the following each work day:


1. Foster a reputation for being helpful and resourceful. You don't have to know how to do everything to be seen as a leader, but you do need to be a problem solver. Keep your eyes and ears perked to be aware of what's going on, even in other departments—who's the best person for graphics? Or who's the most accessible person in the IT department? When a newbie co-worker or manager asks for help, you'll know exactly who to direct them to, which will solidify your status as someone who knows the ropes.

"Top performers are widely known and respected by others not because of their frequent contact, charm or likability, but because they help others solve their problems," says David Maxfield, co-author of New York Times' national bestseller Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success. "By doing so, they become invaluable resources." Aim to be helpful; knowing about your surrounding resources is a great start.

2. Be a self-starter. At the very least, you should become the go-to, indispensable person in your little corner of the company. Do whatever it takes—whether it's classes at night, attending conferences, or starting a blog about your field—to become a super authority on your job.

The key here is to kick into self-starter mode—a major prerequisite to gaining leader status. It's not just about doing the job you're assigned, it's about starting your own side projects to keep practicing and mastering your skill.

3. Mentor someone newer. If you see a co-worker who is clearly struggling, point them in the right direction if you can. After all, what better way to practice leadership than to let someone follow your lead? The trick here is to be an effective communicator. Their success is a testament to yours, and at least one person will now see you as a leader. You have to start somewhere.

4. Get on the radar by networking. Networking is important because it'll not only place you on the map but it'll also help you achieve tip No. 1. Joanne Cleaver, author of the upcoming book The Career Lattice and president of the strategic communication consulting firm Wilson-Taylor Associates, says you need alliances with co-workers who can pull in the resources and expertise you'll need to get a project done. "People often assume that they must network up in the organization, but in this era of professional social networking, lateral networks are just as crucial," she says.

5. Lead collaboratively, not cutthroat. Leadership is centered on teamwork rather than going it alone. If you're only out for yourself, why would anyone follow your lead? A good leader recognizes others' strengths and harnesses them to orchestrate a collaborative project.

6. Gain your colleagues' trust. How do you gain trust in the workplace? Simple: Don't give others a reason to be mistrustful of you. This one is really a matter of being ethical. Don't lie, cheat, steal, or throw anyone under the bus to get ahead. Following the Golden Rule will go a long way in earning trust with your work mates.

7. Encourage others through positivity. Leadership requires strong, positive energy—people gravitate toward positivity. Tony Shwartz is the president and chief executive officer of The Energy Project, a company that teaches people how to have a more engaged workforce. In a guest blog post for the Harvard Business Review, Shwartz writes about how leaders should "Serve as Chief Energy Officers—to free and fuel us to bring the best of ourselves to work every day."
Leaders exude positivity, and it's this energy that helps fuel everyone to do their best. This goes back to being solution-oriented and resourceful. A can-do, pleasant attitude is much more respected than a negative one.

Ritika Trikha is a writer for CareerBliss, an online career community dedicated to helping people find happiness in the workplace. Check out CareerBliss for millions of job listings, company reviews, salary information, and a free career happiness assessment.

Great Article About Lessons in Leadership From Bo Schembechler

5 Leadership Lessons: Bo's Lasting Lessons

Bo Schembechler's book, Bo’s Lasting Lessons, written with John Bacon is an engaging, hands-on, first-person account of the winningest head coach in Michigan football history and fifth on the all-time list, only behind coaching legends Paul 'Bear' Bryant, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Glen 'Pop' Warner, and Woody Hayes. The lessons found here are easily applied anywhere.

  If you have to make a decision they’re not going to like, it’s better to tell them why you’re doing what you’re doing. They still won’t like it but they’ll always appreciate being told instead of being left in the dark. And if you don’t tell them why, they’ll feel abandoned, and start coming up with all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories.

  You start cutting corners for this guy or that situation, and before you know it, you’re spending all your time playing judge and jury, deliberating over every little incident, when you should be leading your team. It’s painful sometimes, but you create a lot fewer headaches for everyone, including the players, when you simply stick to your guns.

  If you don’t have leadership inside the ranks, you’re not going to be successful, because you will spend too much time policing that small things yourself, and create an “us against them” environment.

  If you’re a leader, your ultimate responsibility is the training of your people, because every job requires training. If it’s a job worth paying someone, it’s a job worth training. And it’s your job to make sure they’re trained well. Make your training as close to the real thing as possible. Sounds easy, but from what I’ve seen, not many companies do. You get what you emphasize. Plain and simple.

  If you do not like people, you will not take the time to get to know them, and if you don’t get to know them, you will have no idea what scares them, what inspires them, what motivates them. If you don’t listen to what your people have to say, you will not know when they have a problem with you—and you will not know when you have a problem with them, either. You cannot lead if you cannot listen. Even if you’re doing everything else right, if one of your people comes to you with a good idea—or a personal problem—and it just goes in one ear and out the other, YOU WILL FAIL. You can have a tremendous impact as a leader just by taking a little time. Your people have to know that their value to you and your organization is not determined just by what they do, but by who they are. I can’t make it any clearer than that.

Infinite Lands Comcast As A New Client

We are excited to have landed Comcast as a new client.   Comcast has outsourced Infinite to help increase their market share.   We are excited for the new partnership and look forward to a long working relationship.