The Babe Ruth Effect
As a kid, I could never hit a baseball as well as I wanted to. I think it was because of a bad experience early on in one of the first games I ever played in little league. I can remember walking up to the plate when they called, “Batter up!” I stepped into the white box and stared down at the pitcher, hoping to make contact with the ball. As the pitcher was winding up for his throw, I replayed my coach’s instructions in my head: “Keep your eye on the ball!” But as I kept my eye on the ball, I noticed it was not coming anywhere near my bat but was coming straight for me! The pitch was so fast that I did not have time to jump out of the way. It was too late to do anything about it, and as I tried to move out of the way, WHACK, the ball stung me right in the back. Ever since that horrible experience, I developed a fear of getting hit in the batter’s box. Every time I went up to bat, I would shy away from even trying to make contact with the ball. Sadly, my strategy was not to get a hit—it was to not get hit.
I never became known as a clutch batter—that is for sure. I was, however, good at fielding and actually won some awards for playing shortstop. I was better at making plays than I was at batting, most likely due to my fear. Even though my batting was a major weakness, I was still able to add value to the team by playing shortstop. My team knew me as the “go-to” guy in the infield.
We will be remembered more for what we did well than for what we did not do well. I could not hit well, but no one remembered that. People remembered me for my fielding. I call this The Babe Ruth Effect.
George Herman Ruth, known as Babe Ruth, played major league baseball from 1914-1935. He started his career as a pitcher for the Red Sox but later became known as the famous “Bambino Slugger” for the New York Yankees. During the season of 1923, he broke the record for most home runs. He slammed 60 of them right over the fence. He also broke the record for the highest batting average during that same year. But what most people do not know is that during this same season, he also struck out more than any other player in Major League Baseball. Yet, he is not remembered for his strikeouts; he is remembered for being the record-breaking home run hitter. He was so good when he hit the ball that no one focused on his strikeouts.
Are you focusing on your strengths and your team member’s strengths? Too many times we spend all our energy thinking about our weaknesses rather than operating in our strengths. Yes, we need to make sure our weaknesses improve, but not at the expense of neglecting our strengths.
Figure out what you do well and what your team members do well, and spend as much time as possible in that zone! Success comes from operating in our strength zone, not spending all of our time trying to improve our weak zone.
