Cheer For or Cheer Against, You Decide

"Drop it", the third base coach shouted to the pitcher as she fielded a ball hit back to the mound and tossed it to first for the out. In that moment, the visiting team coach decided to root for the opposition to make a mistake rather than cheering on his team to reach first base.

We can choose to root against someone hoping to get the desired outcome or we can choose to cheer for our team letting our experience, expertise, and preparedness achieve success.

"Winning" by hoping for an error from someone else is short term.

Winning by honing our skills, building a competitive edge, and preparing is long term.

When a girl from the visiting team struck out, the coach made her do pushups in front of the dugout. I'm certain this was humiliating, having her face in the grass in front of her teammates, parents, and opposing team. When our girls struck out, we pat her on the helmet as she heads back into the dugout to high-fives and encouragement from her teammates. The coach may provide a tip for the next at bat while calling out a few good things about her stance, swing, or how she tracked the pitch.

Creating a safe place to analyze mistakes builds a learning environment.

Berating someone for an error creates a culture of fear.

Leadership by fear is temporary and always produces poorer results.

Leadership by example generates trust and produces the highest quality results.

Our girls went on to win. At the end, when the teams were shaking hands and saying "good game", I said to the coach "Your girls played well, I was cheering for them".