The Art of Pitching

I wasn’t much of an athlete in my adolescence, and truthfully I’m not that stellar of an athlete now, but like many boys growing up in the US midwest I felt pressure to be in the “ball sports.”  It’s not that I lacked functioning limbs, had bad eyesight, or enough heart for the game.  I just wasn’t very coordinated and could be easily distracted by the simplest of things. Yet, every year I’d try my luck in baseball, football, and even basketball.  Most of my coaches successfully limited my harm by keeping me on the bench or occasionally I’d be relegated to the position that seemed to cause the least harm, which I quickly proved didn’t exist.  However, on one occasion I convinced my baseball coach to put me in as the pitcher.  I had no previous experience in this position, unless you count what I saw from the bench or while watching the pros on TV…but how hard could it be?

If you ever watch pro pitchers successfully finish an inning, you’ll notice that they rarely celebrate, or launch their glove into the air as I would often do while coming off the field.  Instead they more often move deliberately and quietly to the end of the bench in order to keep their focus.

In many ways I’m beginning to see how this characteristic of pitchers is similar to what leaders often need to exude in their positions.  Although, it’s not always assumed that a pitcher is leading the team, both pitchers and leaders benefit their teammates by remaining calm in tense moments.  Schools, like any organization are filled with people, some who seem to yearn for drama.  Whether from a teacher, secretary, parent, or student, school leaders are often bombarded by dramatic situations.  Of course some of this drama is well deserved and requires a passionate response, yet, as school leaders we serve our community better when like effective pitchers we channel our skills, resources, energy, and passion, while not allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by the drama.

As was to be expected, my pitching career wasn’t very successful.  Despite trying my best to get the ball into the strike zone I allowed the other team’s lineup to cycle through twice before the mercy rule was reached (when one team scores more than 15 points difference from the other team).  Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, we were in the lead when I started, and sadly because of this I never had a chance to walk stoically off the field in preparation for the next inning.

Hopefully, my leadership career will be more successful than my pitching career.

What about in your leadership position, do you feel an unneeded amount of drama stream through your office?  How do you handle it?  Can you teach others to tame their dramatic side?  Or is that unwise?