Baseball's Sixth Tool

Leadership Development for Player Development

If you follow baseball closely you are likely aware of the term “Five Tool Player.” That being a position player (non-pitcher) who excels in the five tools-- hitting, hitting with power, throwing, fielding, and speed. Scouts rack and stack amateur and minor league prospects according to these tools. However, there is a critical tool often overlooked in player evaluations—the intangibles—the sixth tool.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager Fred Claire told me a couple years ago that make-up and character are the most underrated aspects of a scouting report. Make-up and character are two key elements of player intangibles, but there are others. Those elements are work ethic, passion, competitive nature, resiliency, and most importantly, leadership. These seven elements of player intangibles not only determine how far a player can take their talent, but they determine how much of a player’s projectability comes to fruition. Developing these intangible qualities has largely been left to chance. Assessing these qualities is hard. As illustrated by Mr. Claire, these qualities are overlooked at times by baseball evaluators.

In working with minor leaguers, both as a player agent, and subsequently as a professional coach, I have found MLB player development programs do a great job of supporting players through baseball skills development, athletic training, optimizing nutrition, medical services, and mental skills support primarily in the form of therapy. However, many MLB player development programs lack a focus on developing many of the intangible elements mentioned above. A small handful of MLB organizations have recognized the importance of leadership development, and have even formed their own leadership director positions. Those organizations are at the forefront of a new movement to differentiate their player development programs from others. Cultivating leadership in player development will facilitate the development of the other intangible qualities, and increase the likelihood of a player living up to scouts’ projections.

Why do some top-round picks who score high on the 20-80 scouting scale never pan out, while many mid to low-round picks and undrafted players find success in the major leagues? The players that succeed have off-the-chart intangible qualities. Some of these overachievers have even played their way to the Hall of Fame like 62nd-round draft pick Mike Piazza and the undrafted Bruce Sutter! Peel the layers back and you will understand how these players’ intangible qualities set them up for success. Yes, you need talent, but your intangible qualities will carry you to a lasting MLB career.

Players like Piazza and Sutter were grinders and figured it out. However, this development should not be left to chance. MLB organizations must deliberately focus on intangibles development to get the most out of their investments in their minor leaguers. It begins with leadership development.

As a professional coach who specializes in leadership and resiliency development, I have worked with business executives, government leaders, and professional ballplayers. My experience with these high-performing professionals revealed leadership development provides the confidence to tackle any challenge and be most resilient. Leadership coaching involves building trust with the client, actively listening, asking powerful questions, creating awareness, co-designing actions with the client, and helping with goal setting and managing progress. Leadership coaching helps ballplayers identify their strengths, and values, which will shape their leadership style. Certified coaches can also provide resiliency training that will prepare ballplayers for the long grind of the baseball season, and provide a solid foundation for leadership training.

Coaching can take the form of one on one sessions, or group coaching sessions, which are growing in popularity in the business world and government service. These sessions bring together 10-15 team members at a time who are coached around leadership, resiliency, other intangibles, or a special topic deemed important by the sponsoring organization. These sessions allow organizational clients to “scale-up” coaching for many participants and provide invaluable team-building as participants benefit from sharing their thoughts and experiences.

My previous newsletter discussed leadership as an action instead of solely a position. Helping minor league prospects develop leadership skills through coaching will prepare these prospects to become situational leaders at the very least and take charge of their development. Leadership coaching prepares clients to lead whenever and wherever, on and off the field. The intangible sixth tool is composed of several elements that require deliberate development just as baseball skills do. However, the development of this sixth tool begins and ends with leadership.

In future articles I will explore the other elements of the sixth tool. Thank you for reading!