From Worst to First; What the 2019 World Series Champion, Washington Nationals Can Teach Us About Achievement

The 2019 Washington Nationals are World Series Champions! Let me say that again so it sinks in...The 2019 Washington Nationals are World Series Champions! They beat a talented Houston Astros team in a hard-fought, back-and-forth, nail-biter of a World Series that went to Game 7. But on May 24th, with a 19 and 31 record, no one outside of the Nationals clubhouse would have believed that this gritty bunch of fun-loving, baby shark singing, dug-out dancing competitors were destined to stand atop baseball’s highest podium…as champions.

Credit certainly goes to Mike Rizzo, the Nats' GM for assembling a team with the right skills and chemistry to win…and also to their Manager, Davey Martinez for his adroit coaching of a team with diverse culture, age and temperament. One thing of note for this 2019 Nationals team, there were All-Stars, but no superstars. Every player accepted their role and played it with enthusiasm. These 2019 Washington Nationals are a team in the truest sense of the word where every player contributed.

As a student of organizational leadership and a trainer of sales leaders, it was fun for me to observe the dynamics of this team and to document the tools they used to overcome adversity (injuries, slumps, an underperforming bullpen) and win one of the most exciting underdog World Series championships in the history of baseball.

So, here is what I captured of the Nats' culture and how I aligned it to what you and your team can do every day to remain positive, even when quarterly numbers are not achieved and promised contracts do not get signed.

1.      Focus on one day at a time. Stay positive. Have fun.

2.      Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves. Control what you can control.

3.      Trust your process. Work your plan.

4.      Believe in yourselves. Teamwork.

5.      Practice what you play. Be prepared.

So, congrats again to the Washington Nationals and let them be an inspiration to all teams, whether in sports or in business, that if you believe in yourselves, you can accomplish any goal you set out to achieve.

Bob Greene is a business advisor and corporate sales trainer who lives in the Washington, DC area and has been a Nationals fan since their arrival in 2005.