It’s easy to find the talent. The key is to find out what’s inside them.
Colorado Rockies senior director of scouting Marc Gustafson told me this before I spoke to the coaches and players during spring training earlier this year.
Gustafson and his fellow scouts crisscross the world to watch the most talented high school and college baseball players and determine whether they have what it takes to make it to the major leagues.
While talent is easy to spot, it’s a more investigative process to determine whether a player has the mindset, character, attitude, work ethic, grit and resilience to overcome adversity and failure in order to succeed at the highest level of the sport.
It’s not a perfect science but scouts do their best to predict what kind of person and player a young man will be in the future.
The interesting thing about trying to decide what’s inside someone is that I believe everyone has greatness inside them. I believe deep down every player has the potential qualities that every scout is looking for. I believe everyone is born with grit. If you were a child learning to walk and kept getting up after falling down, you had and have grit. If you kept your promises or admitted when you didn’t, then you have lived with integrity. If you loved the game―before it felt like a job to live up to the expectations you and others have placed on you―then you’ve had a love for the game.
So, I think the deeper question is, “Are they someone who has discovered the power inside them?”
Read Gordon’s full advice column from the latest edition of Business Report. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
Jon Gordon is a top speaker and bestselling author of multiple books including The Energy Bus, The Power of Positive Leadership and The Power of a Positive Team.
