“It's Your Call: Commit Yourself Completely” Leaders Journal

“It’s Your Call: Commit Yourself Completely”

Leaders Journal | Episode 100 | Transcript

So here I am again — Phillip Van Hooser.

This session marks the fifth in a series of five Leaders Journal episodes dedicated specifically to effective decision making for leaders.

We’ve called this the “It’s Your Call!” series since we’ve paralleled critical decision making for leaders with a decision making model I learned years ago as — of all things — a professionally trained baseball umpire.

In previous episodes I introduced the decision making elements of:

HAVING THE TOOLS

KNOWING THE RULES

POSITIONING ONESELF INTENTIONALLY and

MASTERING ONE’S TIMING.

Today we conclude this series with the fifth element which is to COMMIT YOURSELF COMPLETELY.

A perfect game in baseball is arguably the game’s single greatest achievement.

A perfect game means no opposing player reaches base — PERIOD — end of story.

No hits, no walks, no hit batsmen, no runners due to fielding errors. It’s 27 batters up and 27 batters down!

And that was exactly what was about to happen June 2, 2010, at Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan.

That night a young Tigers pitcher named Armando Galarraga was one out away from pitching his first perfect game, and the first perfect game in the 109-year history of the Detroit Tigers.

The 17,788 hometown fans in attendance were ecstatic. They rose as one as the opposition’s final batter hit a routine ground ball, which was fielded cleanly, then thrown to first base for what was certain to be the final out of the game.

But then — it wasn’t!

It wasn’t the final out — and it wasn’t a perfect game.

You see, the first base umpire — Major League umpiring veteran, Jim Joyce, inexplicably called the runner “SAFE”, and in so doing, negated Galarraga’s bid for a perfect game.

Though the crowd was first stunned, then incensed — the next batter made the final out.

Dejected players — along with one despised umpire — quickly left the field.

It was mercifully over — or was it?

Just minutes after Jim Joyce sprinted from the field to the security of the umpire’s dressing room, he voluntarily reemerged in search of Armando Galarraga.

A handful of witnesses observed the private exchange between the two.

It was reported that Joyce tearfully offered a heartfelt apology for his poor decision, which Galarraga graciously accepted, after which the two professionals shared a handshake and warm private embrace.

A little later, a dejected Joyce addressed the media. ”I just cost that kid a perfect game.

“I thought he (the runner) beat the throw.

”I was convinced he beat the throw.

“...until I saw the replay.”

The next afternoon, less than 24-hours after the most public humiliation of Jim Joyce’s stellar umpiring career, in a gesture many considered the classiest ever witnessed in professional sports, Armando Galarraga walked from the Tigers’ dugout to home plate where he delivered the Tigers’ lineup card for that day's game to none other than home plate umpire, Jim Joyce.

Now with more than 28,000 fans looking on and countless others watching electronically, the two men embraced again — this time for the world to see. Two pros, putting a poorly made decision to rest.

The world watched as one apologized and the other graciously accepted that apology, thus allowing both men to get back to work.

So what does all this mean for us?

As leaders, despite our best intentions and efforts, sometimes our decisions are sure to be flawed.

But even then, all is not necessarily lost.

At such a time, it’s helpful to keep the word COMMITMENT clearly in mind.

Professionals commit to doing the right thing — always — even under the most difficult situations imaginable.

Professionals commit to doing so even though it may ultimately prove personally difficult, even embarrassing.

So my professional advise to you as a professional decision maker?

Have the Tools. Know the Rules. Position Yourself Intentionally. Master Your Timing. And Commit Yourself Completely.

But remember — it’s you who gets to decide.

After all — It’s Your Call!