The Leadership of Theo Epstein: Character Over Skill
In memory of Marc S.
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A Second-Looking at One of America’s Most Inspiring Leaders
As the competition in the business arena heats up, leaders attempt to recruit top talent based on skill level and intellectual capacity. No doubt about it, a highly-skilled workforce gives an organization the cutting edge advantage over its competitors. And yet, my second look at the leadership philosophy and style of Theo Epstein infused fresh insight on how to select and build a winning team: focus on character.
Epstein was just twenty-eight years old when he became the general manager of the Boston Red Sox in 2002. Two years after taking this leadership role, he steered his team to a World Series championship. Being the youngest GM in Major League Baseball history, winning a title after nearly nine decades of drought for the Red Sox, and winning another World Series championship in 2007 solidified Epstein’s reputation as a transformative leader in baseball.
By the time he resigned from the Red Sox and transferred to the Chicago Cubs to be its president for baseball operations, Epstein’s public identity had grown to celebrity status, a budding icon in American sports history.
Among his notable recognitions were the Carl Maddox Sport Management Award given by United States Sports Academy (2007); Baseball American Major League Executive of the Year awarded by Baseball America (2008); and the Sporting News Executive of the Decade (2009). Sports Illustrated selected Epstein as Major League Baseball’s Best Manager of the Decade.
After the first three years of losing under Epstein’s takeover, his team rebuilding strategy started to infuse new life into the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs climbed the standing ladder and won a place in the 2015 playoffs. It was their first playoffs appearance since 2008. Although the Cubs were swept by the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, the team had finally broken from the grasp of a losing record, sparking hope, possibility, and wonder for the year to come. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won its first World Series championship since 1910 after defeating the Cleveland Indians in the tenth inning of Game 7.
Epstein cemented himself as one of America’s most admired leader by leading two teams into world championships amidst apparent impossibilities. In The Cubs Way, Tom Verducci wrote about the leadership style of Theo Epstein and the incredible story of the Chicago Cubs. According to Verducci, Epstein focused on character as central team rebuilding. Although skills-based selection has its own merit, character takes precedence in Epstein’s playbook.
The way I see it, Epstein saw a bigger game. He saw beyond skill and focused his attention on building character. How his players respond to hardships, pressure and personality differences carried more weight than their ability to play the game.
Of this, Tom Verducci writes:
“Epstein devoted the first three days of the session to on-field strategy: hitting philosophy, pitching philosophy, defense, and baserunning. But the entire last day was devoted to character. The Cubs, Epstein insisted, would acquire only players with outstanding makeup. Even Epstein realized himself how far he had evolved since he put so much faith in numbers when he began as general manager of the Red Sox. Now character did not just matter. It was essential to Epstein’s blueprint to win the World Series.”
In Verducci’s article published in Fortune.com, he reiterated that Epstein gave his scouts specific marching orders to ‘look for character’. How potential recruits responded to adversity of the field? What kind of family they came from? Who are their friends? How do they treat people when no one is looking? What are their motivations? What do their enemies say about him?
Verducci continues:
“Cubs scouting reports would never look the same again. Epstein wanted reports that went on for pages, like the Russian novels his father had him read as a boy. The scouts who didn’t take to the long-form scouting reports didn’t last. Epstein ran them off. It wasn’t hard, measurable data. But it was information nonetheless, and if Epstein was going to build a team around high-character, high-impact position players, he wanted as much of it as possible.”
Theo Epstein’s leadership approach in selecting team members and developing people is a goldmine of lessons. Here are some of key lessons that stand out for me:
The resume is not absolute. Leaders commit a mistake by using the resume as the end all of their selection criteria. Look for the intangibles of the applicant. Pry deeper into their character. Specifically, look for periods of their life of challenge and adversity. How do they respond? Spot character flaws as well as their strengths.
Align character, values and skills. Which would I prefer, someone who has only character or someone who has only skill. Neither. Find someone who has both. Definitely, character alone will not replace competence, but there’s great danger of hiring a highly skilled person without character.
Find ways to measure and build character. Skills can be measured and monitored by metrics and data. But how do you do that with character? Observe how your people react to everyday office problems, issues and conflicts. Keep your eyes and ears open on what they say and do, what they don’t say and don’t do, and how they treat other people. How are your people responding to adversity? Listen to their disappointments as well as to their triumphs, and then provide just in time mentoring and coaching.
Here’s Epstein word of advice:
“If we can’t find the next technological breakthrough, well, maybe we can be better than anyone else with how we treat our players and how we connect with players and the relationships we develop and how we put them in positions to succeed. Maybe our environment will be the best in the game, maybe our vibe will be the best in the game, maybe our players will be the loosest, and maybe they’ll have the most fun, and maybe they’ll care the most. It’s impossible to quantify.”
References
Fortune. World’s Greatest Leaders. Theo Epstein. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/worlds-greatest-leaders/theo-epstein-1/
Verducci, T. ( 2017). The Cub’s Way. Crown Archetype.
Verducci, T. ( 2017 March 23). Why Theo Epstein and the Cubs Are Fortune’s MVPs This Year. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2017/03/23/theo-epstein-chicago-cubs-worlds-greatest-leaders/
Wikipedia. Theo Epstein. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Epstein
Chief Financial Officer at M&D Distributors
6 年People forget that Theo sold part of his soul to help deliver that World Series to Chicago. Without trading for Aroldis Chapman, there is no trophy on the north side. Apparently his mantra of character over skill has exceptions, like when the skill happens to make you one of the best in baseball. Yes, there was no arrest because conveniently there was lack of evidence of his “choking and pushing his girlfriend” - and don’t forget the 8 gunshots he fired in the garage during his fit of rage. Wonder if Theo makes that trade if that happened directly to one of his family. #exceptions
Life is short, make an impact, help others, always be grateful.
6 年Character leads the way when you're in the dark and sets up home runs to be hit.