Being a baseball booster can be fraught with disappointment. Just ask Cubs fans: 101 years and counting. My team, the Washington Nationals, is on its way to getting the first overall pick in the draft for the second year in a row. This isn’t a good thing.
Last month, the Washington Nationals fired their manager after the team won only 23 games through June (losing 64 or so). While by all accounts Manny Acta is a good guy, he isn’t a leader. As the team floundered, he:
- Rarely held a team meeting. His successor holds a short meeting every day, win or lose.
- Didn’t talk much. While some players were fine with that, others reportedly needed a more high-touch approach.
- He rarely, if ever, talked about accountability.
Acta’s worst offense: he kept doing the same thing over and over again even when it wasn’t working. That’s bad management. It’s terrible leadership.
What are you doing to inspire your team today?
P.S. The team’s still got issues, but they’re definitely playing better and with more spark under interim manager Jim Riggleman.
Photo by cliff1066 (Flickr).
