The St. Louis Cardinals are a team that can teach us a lot about perseverance. In 2013, they came within only two games of winning their 12th World Championship. Even better, in 2011, they did win the World Series, despite many odds against them. They had to get rid of their once All-Star closer after he performed below expectations, and their best pitcher was injured and not able to play for the entire season. If you’re a fan, you’ve likely already noticed the way the Cardinals can teach us lessons to be followed in our everyday life for success. These skills can also be applied to running a company, and we’ve discovered 3 business lessons that can be learned from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Teamwork is Important for Success
The Cardinals excelled in the 2013 season, despite many odds against them. The majority of the year was played without 40% of the planned starting rotation, their top shortstop and one of the best closers in baseball. Injuries afflicted their first baseman who was an MVP candidate, as well as an all-world catcher. At this point, it would have been easy to write off the team. Instead, the Cardinals finished the season with the top record in baseball. How? The rookies and regularly overlooked players continuously stepped up to the plate, picking up the slack. They learned to lean on one another and and draw from their strengths to make up for their losses.
Businesses can learn from this by using their entire team to ensure success for their brand. Companies should rigorously foster talent from interns and candidates for promotion so they will be ready when unforeseeable circumstances arise. Employees can take maternity leave, fall extremely ill, or flip to the competitor, so it’s prudent to have someone who is already primed and ready to step in and take over.
Don’t Ever Give Up
In sports and business, “quit” is a four letter word. The past few seasons saw the Cardinals in spots where they were down in the 9th inning with 2 strikes, 2 outs, and losing by only a couple of runs. Most viewers saw this as the end to their season, but that didn’t happen, and they fought hard to make it to the post-season. With enough confidence, they pushed through, and this is what a successful business needs to remember. There will come a time when a company struggles with closing an important deal, a recession, or other circumstance that will look like a shut down is on the horizon. Keeping confident that they will weather the storm and persevere will mean the difference between success or failure.
Good Leadership is Critical
Part of the reason the Cardinals are so successful is due to the leadership of their team President. He is known for having tremendous faith in his GM, team manager and all the staff in between. This confidence trickles down, and enables the whole organization to perform without being afraid of failure, and allowing for them to flourish. Business leaders must do the same by putting trust in their team to handle the responsibilities they’ve been given.
