Casey Stengel on Leadership

06/19/2008

Watch what you tell yourself, you’re likely to believe it.
Russ Kyle

One of the most successful New York Yankees managers of all time was Casey Stengel. He was also one of the most quotable. For example, he once said:

"Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits."

I once worked in a federal agency where there were two bosses, two team leaders, located on the same floor that presented a dramatic contrast in leadership style. Paul was the hardest working person I have ever met. He was always the first in the office and the last to leave. During the day he worked furiously, not taking breaks (shocking for a federal employee) and eating his lunch at his desk while he continued to work. Paul had four employees reporting to him, but he didn't trust them enough to give them full responsibility for projects. Instead, he parceled out pieces of each project for his staff members to work on while he retained overall control.

Phil was at the opposite end of the spectrum. He assigned full responsibility for projects to the four people who worked for him. He was available at all times as a consultant when staff members confronted challenges with their projects and he got the entire team involved in brainstorming about big projects. He also demanded that projects be completed on time and in good order.

If you were to walk onto our floor at any point in time and observe the two leaders, it would be easy to conclude that Paul was the more dedicated leader, because he was always in motion, while for most of the day it appeared that Phil simply hung around chatting with his staff members. But from my perspective, I was proud to be a member of Phil's team, because we had great team spirit and in the end we got our work done faster and better than Paul's team. Phil got paid for the home runs we gladly hit for him.

One more Stengelism to close with:

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided."

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