Clay in the Hands

Earlier this week I went to watch our hometown baseball team fight for a chance to go to the playoffs.  It was a beautiful evening and there was a great crowd.  The guys played well and ultimately won the game.

At a pivotal point during the game, we had a runner on third and a runner on second.  The batter hit a grounder toward third base.  The third baseman did just as he should, he advanced on the ball, fielded it and then . . . froze.  He had a runner headed for home, a runner headed for first and behind him, a runner making his way from second to third.  He raised his arm to make the throw home but then looked toward first.  Then he swung around to try and see if he could tag the runner passing by behind him but he was way out of reach.  By the time he turned back around, it was too late to make a throw anywhere.

Because of his indecisiveness, a run scored, a runner advanced to scoring position and now he had another runner on first.  Not a good day in the life of that third baseman.  I looked at the man sitting next to me and said, “there is a sermon illustration in there somewhere.”

I have thought a lot about that play since Monday and what we witnessed has a lot of application to leadership.

1. A leader has to be prepared.  Life is going to come at us like a blazing grounder.  We need to be able to think on our feet.  A good way to enhance our chances of being able to make decisions quickly is to have our heads in the game.  We need to remember where the runners are and where they are headed.  Sometimes it may feel we have too many plates spinning and there is too much to keep up with.  If that is truly the case, we might have some hard decisions to make as to what needs to be delegated or even discontinued.
2. A leader needs to weigh the options.  Even though the ball may be screaming his way, the third baseman has to be able to see the field.  We must determine what the viable options are in each situation.  Having the ability to weigh the options takes practice and experience.
3. A leader needs to commit.  Once the options have been surveyed, the leader has to commit.  Failure to commit costs everyone.  Often we balk at commitment because of the fear of failure.  Fear of failure can cause us to freeze.  Just as the baseball player watched a run score and two runners advance, all while he was standing there holding the ball, the leader who fails to commit most likely fails.  Weigh the options, make a decision and stick with it.  There is always an element of risk but that comes with the territory.

No one ever said leadership was easy.  Sometimes we have to make tough decisions.  But the key is making the decision.  Indecisiveness is costly – take the risk and make the throw.  Otherwise, you are just standing there holding the ball while the play goes on without you.