Step up to the plate

Babe Ruth hits a home runAs entrepreneurs, business owners, change agents and innovators we all have a natural tendency to swing for the fences. We keep looking for that one idea or opportunity to: make a difference, solve the big problems, change the world, hit the home run!

What if a base hit was the answer? What if that base hit could:

  • improve customer experience
  • drive revenue
  • make your business wildly successful

Would you do it?

To be successful you need to step up to the plate. Swing for the fences! Hit the grand slam! Tear the cover off the ball! Take your idea and crush it! We will all be better off – if you do. Just don’t lose sight of your purpose. The reason you are here is to: serve your customers, grow your business, and position it strategically for success. Sometimes, you need that home run. Most of the time you just need to get on base.

When a batter steps to the plate he has a clear purpose. There is no doubt in his mind or the mind of anyone in the stadium why he is there.

His job

  1. Advance any base runners (preferably across home plate)
  2. Get on base himself (not at the expense of job #1)
  3. Score a run for his team

What happens next is a split-second strategic engagement that will ultimately decide his team’s success. Interestingly, it doesn’t matter if he: walks, bunts, hits a sacrifice fly, gets a single, hits a home run or gets hit by the ball. His job is to: advance the runner, get on base, and score – in that order

While business isn’t baseball, and I hate sports metaphors (blame the summer sun), you need to be prepared for any opportunity to advance your business. Do you have a clear purpose? Are you serving your customers first? Or are you just swinging for the fences and consequences be damned?

Maybe the sacrifice fly is your best option.

There are no comments yet. Be the first and leave a response!

Leave a Reply

Wanting to leave an <em>phasis on your comment?

Trackback URL http://seanbell.com/blog/2010/09/03/step-up-to-the-plate/trackback/