As leaders, we sometimes think that the statistics “prove” a certain thing is going to happen or not happen, so we forget there is always a human factor and often a God factor involved when it comes to the actual playing out of a particular situation. For example, on Sunday evening my brother, Kenn, his wife, Colleen, and Nancy and I went to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. On paper, they didn’t even need to play the game. Clayton Kershaw was pitching for the Dodgers. He has been arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball over the past several seasons, and his statistics going into Sunday evening’s game were spectacular. He was leading the majors in several important pitching categories and his 11-1 won/loss record along with his ERA of 1.59 made him seem untouchable. Add to that the Pirates were sending Chad Kuhl, a rookie making his major league debut, to the mound and it seemed highly improbable, if not impossible, that the Pirates would win the game.
Kenn and I talked about the statistics, and the odds of the Pirates winning a third straight game over the Dodgers, who had come into PNC park riding a six-game winning streak, while the Pirates had forgotten how to win during the month of June. It didn’t look hopeful, but I turned to Kenn and said, “That’s why they play the games.” In other words: statistics don’t lie, but sometimes individuals and teams overcome the statistics to win. That’s exactly what the Pirates did on Sunday night. Kershaw gave up four runs in one inning, something he had not done in a long time. Chad Kuhl was good enough to make it through five innings with a 4-3 lead over the Dodgers, even though it took him making a play at home plate for the third out of the inning after he had thrown a wild pitch with a runner on third!
In another unlikely scenario the Pirates’ relief pitchers blanked the Dodgers for the final four innings to preserve the victory for Kuhl. (Imagine someday, when Kuhl tells his grandchildren that he face Clayton Kershaw in his prime, in his major league debut, and WON!) I love baseball, and even though the Pirates have struggled mightily over the past several weeks, I love how often baseball offers us leadership lessons. I don’t quote Woody Allen often, but one of my favorite quotes attributed to Allen is, “90% of life is just showing up.” How true! The Pirates showed up on Sunday night. They didn’t care that Kershaw was on the mound, or that most people thought they didn’t have a chance of beating him. The game was on the schedule, so they showed up and played. They overcame the statistics and won. That IS why they play the games.
What “game” do you need to “play” tomorrow that doesn’t offer a likely prospect of “winning”? Remember that if you just show up, your odds of winning increase dramatically! Know that if you persevere day after day after day as a leader, you will often win over time, because perseverance is not a common quality, but it is a necessary one for leaders. I encourage you to take the statistics seriously, because they’re often quite helpful in preparing for life’s endeavors. Just don’t let the statistics convince you that there’s no point in playing the game, because on any given day the team that wins may NOT be the team with the better statistics!
Here’s to leading better by showing up–today!