What’s the key to the Cleveland Guardians success according to owner Paul Dolan?

It’s a culture built on trust, where it’s OK to take risks, make mistakes and try new things.

What a great lesson for all business leaders. He shared a number of others during a pre-game presentation he gave to nearly 100 mergers and acquisitions professionals at an ACG Cleveland event today.

Some other takeaways:

• Invest in people. This enables them to develop their skills helps small-market teams (and small businesses) compete against bigger competitors with deeper pockets.
• Adopt new technologies. In addition to analytics, teams are now harnessing artificial intelligence to gain an edge over competitors.
• Embrace change. While there’s value in tradition, recent changes to the game, such as larger bases and a pitch clock, have been needed changes to evolve the game for today’s fans and players.

Perhaps the best part of the presentation was a photo op with mascot Slider!

Thanks to the Cleveland Guardians for hosting our group, Paul Dolan for sharing his insights, Vice President of Communications & Community Impact Curtis Danburg for moderating and Jeff Schwab of Oswald Companies for sponsoring the event.