Little League Lessons for Entrepreneurs

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Since I’m a “woman of a certain age,” I didn’t have the opportunity to play a lot of team sports growing up.  My most vivid memories of sports for women were Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs during “The Battle of the Sexes” and G.L.O.W – the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Oh, Spanish Red! And that evil Matilda the Hun!  While Billie Jean taught me a lot about not seeing gender as a limitation, I didn’t learn too much from all the growling and hair pulling of G.L.O.W.

But now as the mother of a Little Leaguer, I have many (many!) hours at the local ballpark to think about what an entrepreneur can learn from the kids on the diamond.  Don’t worry; I’m not going to say “keep your eye on the ball” or “have a great coach.”  Those are just way too obvious.

Here are five things I’ve noticed in Little League that could lead to some interesting scores of your own.

Swing the Bat
It’s amazing how much doesn‘t happen in a Little League game and lots of it doesn’t happen because some batters just seem paralyzed.  They’re either convinced that the pitcher can’t throw a strike, or they just don’t have the confidence that they can hit the ball.  Either way, the batter won’t get on base very often if he just stands there.  Lots of solo entrepreneurs seem to just stand there, too.  We nose around blogs (hello!) or we tweek our WordPress theme when we could be creating new programs – AND making them available (don’t stop after creating!).  We  subscribe to more blogs instead of populating our own.  What is your favorite “hoping to get on base with a walk” activity?  Try swinging the bat instead.  Sure, you’ll strike out sometimes but you’re also much more likely to get on base and you’re surely more likely to eventually score a run.

Put Your Glove Up
In almost every game, I see a kid (or three) running to catch a ball without putting his glove up in the air.  He might be waving both arms but he just doesn’t seem to understand how to position the glove to give himself the largest possible area for catching the ball.  It’s not easy to catch a ball barehanded and, if you do, it’s probably going to sting.  A lot.  Why not give yourself the benefit of the tools that you have on hand?  Are you using Twitter to find people who are interested in what you have to offer? Have you added an automatic signature to your email to makes it easy for people to connect with you and especially your website? Have you put your website in your Facebook profile? This last one often shocks me.  If I’m nosing around your FB profile, I want to know more about you.  Put your glove/website up and make it easier for both of us.

Play Your Position
Countless opportunities for making outs (an excellent way of moving the game along!) are missed because someone isn’t playing their position.  The whole right side of the field goes chasing after a hit and then no one is on base when the fielder is ready to throw a runner out.  You might think this advice only applies to larger businesses but I disagree.  My friend over at KaratCopy says “Aces in Their Places.”  Know what you are really good at and get help with the things that drive you crazy.  If you’re a great pitcher, get help in the outfield.  You really CAN’T do it all in a solo business – at least not for very long.   Learn your strengths and weaknesses and then barter for help with a clever friend, contract it out (maybe there’s a local student who could be an affordable resource) or hire a virtual assistant.  Playing YOUR position will add to your bottom-line much more quickly than trying to play all over the field.

Swing Low
Most of the swinging strikes I’ve seen are due to the kid swinging way too high.  Watch a Major League batter:  the big hitters swing at the pitches that are low in the strike zone.  How can you swing low for your venture? Does it surprise you to hear that I’m suggesting you swing low?  I’m not saying have low goals or aspirations.  I am saying keep your actions low.  I have yet to see a kid get a big hit when he was swinging over his head.   Is there some tiny, baby step you can take today, or even better, in the NEXT FIFTEEN MINUTES that will give you a chance to make contact with the ball?  If it takes longer than fifteen minutes, then it might be too big a step.  I promise, you will be shocked at how much power is in that low swing when you keep using it every time you’re up to bat.

Toss the Screaming Critical Parent
We’ve all seen them and, personally, they tear me up.  The acid-tongued mom that screams and foams at the mouth when her child is up to bat or when the child fumbles a play.   Or the pitbull dad who disagrees with the coach or the umpire and won’t let it go.  Holy-TA-moly.  And, lately, it seems the moms are worse than the dads.  Her kid ends up feeling mortified, humiliated and embarrassed and all that drama does NOT help the team.  You’re in business for yourself because you want to achieve some deep intention for yourself, yes?  Your Inner Screaming Critical Parent needs to be tossed off your field.  Go ahead.  Summon your Inner Umpire and throw her OUT.  I’ve seen it happen at the ballpark; go for it!  Dem’s da rules.  There’s no place for a part of yourself that’s not in it for the love of the game. Instead, you need your Inner Supportive Healthy Snack Mom who loves that Daring Child and knows that you deserve to pursue your dreams without the humiliation that catalyzes into fear and inertia.

I’d love to see your idea and examples for how to “play ball” in the comments.  Cracker Jack, anyone?

Image credit: kthypryn.

Related posts:

1. Catchers Are Heroes, Too
2. 50 Reasons Women Over 50 Make Great Entrepreneurs
3. Just One Moment

By Laurie Foley

I'm Laurie Foley and I help solo professionals like you discover your natural brand so that you can get clear, get noticed and get clients. Please request your free copy of The Inner Brandifesto, my popular guidebook full of brand-building exercises.