Last week there was a big shake up in Boston.
The sports landscape was altered as the General Manager Theo Epstein, who helped lead the Red Sox to win their first world series title in 90+ years only to repeat 3 years later years, left for the Chicago Cubs organization.
This as the echos of dismay from a historic collapse in the last month of the season still resound far and wide from the Red Sox faithful.
It got me thinking about leadership.
A Crisis of Leadership
The team that had positioned themselves in the off season to trump the division rival and long-standing foe New York Yankees didn’t even make the playoffs. Early September had the Red Sox had 84 wins and 54 losses a half game behind the division leading Yankees, but a 9 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the wildcard playoff spot. Having 24 games remaining in September and one of the highest payrolls in baseball, they were a near mathematical lock for the playoffs.
They lost 20 games.
It is now considered the worst collapse in the history of the sport. The Atlanta Braves weren’t far behind in their collapse having had an 8.5 game lead for the wildcard in early September as well.
What happened?
After the dust settles it appears to be a crisis of clubhouse leadership. Only the players and managers involved know the real issues, but the report is of personal and health issues on the part of the manager, and of players drinking beer, eating chicken, and playing video games during games.
Certainly there is more to unfold with this story, and the team and fans will suffer for it the more it plays out in the media.
Why it Caused Me to Think About Leadership
Here’s the conversation that was going on in my head.
- The importance of having a point man on your team. ”When the boss is away, children must play.” Having someone to lead your team is important. In the case of the Red Sox, from what I read they didn’t really have one guy who was a strong personality and an imposing figure to challenge teammates to stay focused and unified in their task.
- Ownership has to know what is going on. Leaders need to know of work ethic and personality issues that are going on in an organization so they can take appropriate measures. It seems clear that for the Red Sox there was a disconnect with ownership/front office and the managers and players. Leading to inaction, and their collapse.
- Resist the temptation of relaxing after you’ve had some success. Management invested heavily in the team in the off season, spending big to get top talent. The talent they had got them to a 9 game lead for the wildcard in early September. However, they relaxed, couple that with communication disconnect and you have a recipe for destruction.
- Things that play out in the media, it usually has adverse affects in the market. An organization like the Boston Red Sox can recover, but smaller organizations, and those build on personality marketing may not. Lead in taking care of customers, and they will take care of your PR for you.
Marketing Take-Away
I find myself challenged with these ideas. The bottom-line? Take care of customers and they will take care of you.
The Red Sox had a Crisis of Leadership, both on in the clubhouse and in the front office. They rested on the success of their recent past, taking their eyes off the ultimate goal before them. The result was historic.
Leaders need to know what is going on, and make sure the team has a vision and leader to spur them on to excellence. Focusing on delivering on your promises (marketing), and then some, will create an environment where customers will be able to to confidently recommend you or your company to others. For Red Sox fans, there’s always next year, let’s hope the leaders in the organization have learned something.
How do you react to this as a customer? As a business professional or business owner?
Image credit: Paul Stevenson
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Hi, my name is Travis Campbell, I operate this site. One way I can extend what I've learned marketing online over the years is by writing about it here... and helping you along the way.
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