5 Leadership Lessons from Paul Hartzell - former MLB Pitcher

Paul Hartzell played basketball and baseball at Lehigh University, graduating with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1975. He was drafted by the California Angels that year, playing one season in the minors before making the Angels roster in 1976 and earning the Angel’s Rookie of the Year award. He pitched in 170 games for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1976-84, racking up a 27-39 record with 237 strikeouts and a 3.90 Earned Run Average (ERA). After baseball, Hartzell had a 25+ year career as a successful sales executive around the world. Hartzell created The Perfect Pitch LLC which teaches Software as a Service (SaaS) companies to use highly effective sales techniques. 

Question 1 - A MLB baseball season has 162 games over 6 months with constant travel and few days off. How did that prepare you for a successful career as a global sales executive? 

With the Angels based near Los Angeles, we flew more than 100,000 miles per year over the season from April to October. At least I knew how to pack a bag for a twelve day road trip by the time I finished playing and before I started my sales career! 

I think my biggest advantage over my competition was my ability to be consistent. I went to Portland, OR to cover accounts every five weeks for twelve years. I would try to bring something for each old customer which might help him/her with their job and I would always add a few new prospects as well. I got a new regional manager one year who wanted to know how I was so successful. I told him to come with me for four days in Portland. We had 37 appointments, met more than 60 people and ate breakfast and lunch with customers/prospects every day. I made sure that I did research on every company before we met with them and had questions to ask each person about their business, their families and their hobbies or interests. I also knew more about my products and how our service team performed than any competitor. When Friday came around and I put that manager on the plane, he was very tired. He said “Now I know why you win such a high percentage of your business. You never give up and you are well prepared for EVERY meeting. That’s what professional baseball taught me. 

Question 2 - As a starting pitcher, you were scheduled to pitch a game every four or five days. How did you mentally prepare yourself for your starts? How has that helped you prepare for big meetings or events in your business career?

I’m fond of saying that since I have lost games and had to walk off the field with 50,000 people yelling for their team, presenting a sales pitch with software is pretty easy. No one is going to throw things at me and if I’m prepared and know my product, they might not buy from me but they will know I will do my best to have my company perform for them. 

I started 50 major league games and relieved in another 120. “Being a Professional” on the days you might be a bit ill or tired or stressed because of personal issues never affected me. I completed 18 of those games and once pitched and won a 10 inning game. You had to pitch in those games because you earned the right to play against the best players in the world through hard work, perseverance and just plain guts. If you have a solid approach and you execute it each day, most sales will fall your way. The time between starts or presentations is a time to work on your craft with the goal to make the next presentation better. I never stopped trying to be betting by learning and preparing and I don’t do it in sales work either. 

Question 3 - Every pitcher gives up a home run now and again but has to stay in to face the next batter. How did you learn to shake off a bad outcome like that and get your confidence back? How did that help you as a sales professional?

I was almost never bothered by giving up a home run as long as no one was on base. They are the best hitters in the world and have great physical and mental toughness to survive a 162 game season. Some men hit really good pitches and you have to tip your hat to them when they do. If you make a bad pitch and its hit for a base hit of any kind, you have to learn to not make that mistake to that hitter again. If you don’t learn when you are in the Big Leagues, you don’t stick around very long. Everyone knows the opponents strengths and weaknesses (the MLB scouts are amazing with their advance reports) and then it’s a matter of execution. When I lost in sales competition, I would ask the decision maker (and be sure he/she WAS the decision maker) why they chose someone else. Most of the time you don’t learn much from that because they will say “price” or “features” just to get you off the phone. But, I developed a great question to ask instead – “I would like to sell to you again someday, what can I do to make myself better?” I had some great answers and I also tied a few people into knots with that one!

Question 4 - You played for two Hall of Fame managers during your MLB career. As a sales executive, you have led teams of dozens of people. What did you learn about leadership from your managers that helped you in your business career? 

Earl Weaver and Dick Williams are in the Hall of Fame and Gene Mauch probably should be as he managed over 3900 games and in most years he didn’t have great teams but won almost 50% of those games. 

Dick was a very fine player and a very stern disciplinarian. No one managed a game better than Dick. He just never made tactical errors so the players had a great deal of respect for his in game decisions. In my opinion, Dick’s only flaw was with the front office and after a few years, he would be best served by moving to a new organization and helping to turn them around on the field. He was solid in managing the pitching staff and had excellent defensive plays based on his considerable experience. He liked to have some speed on the field up the middle and at least in two outfield positions. Dick had a “dog house” and once a player got in it, it was very hard to get out. 

Earl was much the same at Dick but he only ever managed for the Baltimore Orioles. He was loyal and he attracted loyal men as his coaches. He built his teams around great defense, a three run homerun and great pitching. He had two of the best pitching coaches in baseball in George Bamberger and Ray Miller. Both of those men had played a lot of minor league baseball and were really good at quickly spotting mechanical problems and correcting them quickly. Earl had simple philosophy which served him really well – he had a “dog house” which expired every night at midnight. He could get really mad at players and wasn’t afraid to say it in the clubhouse. But, if that same person was the right player to help win a game the next day, Earl would never hesitate to use him. 

My experience with Gene showed me he was the most intense manager I have ever seen. He never let up for a second on watching everything on the field and pushing every player as hard as possible to see the game the same way. Gene, in my opinion, had a crucial flaw – he didn’t like pitchers from the perspective of how hard it is to pitch and how physically draining it can be over a 162 game season. His record during the 1964 season and his playoff pitching changes for the Angels speak to his desire to win but not a strong desire to use the staff he assembled. I have talked to a number of men who played for him who were mentally and physically exhausted at the end of a season with Gene as their manager. No one ran a game better and I have never seen such intensity day after day. 

What I learned from these three men are the following:

No team has 25 stars. But, using them in a measured way to take advantage of each person’s strengths and weaknesses is important to the team as a whole. Some sales people are great teachers. Others are great closers and still others are great prospectors. Only a few can do all of those things and it’s important to use each person in a way which involves each one in team success. Some managers don’t like “rookies” but I like new people who want to learn and work hard and have success for themselves and their families. 

The kind of people who contribute to great sales teams will be honest, hardworking and want to get better at their craft. Coming early to the ballpark is a trait of all of the best players. Getting extra work on things they need to improve upon is part of any game and any job. All three of my managers encouraged this and were available to talk about the game. A good sales manager has to keep up the contact with everyone – not just the superstars – and give all sales people the tools and the time to improve. 

Question 5 - Like many pitchers, your career was interrupted by chronic arm injuries toward the end of your career. You worked to get back to the MLB, including pitching for a season in Venezuela. What did you learn from that experience that helped you in your business career afterwards? 

One of the reasons I have liked sales for close to thirty years is it’s NOT like the end of almost everyone’s professional sports experiences. It doesn’t have to end by you not being able to perform at the highest level in the world. Everyone’s body fails them. Some recover and continue to play. Some with great talent don’t take care of themselves and their career never gets started or never becomes what it should. Practically every one of us has to be told it’s over because someone younger, faster or stronger is going to take our place. It’s no fun to be in that meeting.

What I do my best to do with my own work as well as coaching others is that working hard every day to improve will yield positive results. Losses will happen. Learn and move on. Don’t expect anyone to give you anything. Earn it!

You can find Paul Hartzell at LinkedIn.

#MLB #MajorLeagueBaseball

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About the Author: Victor Prince is a corporate trainer, executive coach, and best-selling author who helps organizations build leadership, strategy, communications, and critical thinking skills. Earlier in his career, Victor was a consultant at Bain & Company, a marketing executive at Capital One, and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has an MBA in Finance from Wharton. Follow Victor on LinkedIN to access his 100+ articles on leadership, strategy, learning & development, and more.