The Yankee Way

Even though he was in the shipping business, George Steinbrenner always dreamed of owning a baseball team.

He tried to buy his hometown team, the Cleveland Indians, and eventually in 1973, led a group of investors who would purchase the New York Yankees from CBS for $8.8 million. 

Steinbrenner dove head-first into running the organization, often making impulsive decisions, including firing a manager one day and rehiring him the next. He was passionate, volatile and impatient. 

Steinbrenner’s impulses were finally slowed when former player Gene Michael developed a systematic approach to procuring talent, soon to be referred to as the “Yankee Way.”

Michaels understood the need for the team to have a profile requirement for each position and a comprehensive plan for how to develop the talent once on board. There was nothing left to chance, as each level of the organization had a Yankee manual on the requirements needed to best develop the talent. Without a plan for talent development, there isn’t a “Way.” 

In his book “The Yankee Way,” author Andy Martino details the Yankees’ secret sauce of procuring and developing talent, borrowing on how Red Auerbach built the Boston Celtics with the same teams each year with different players.

There was a slender rebounding center, a sixth man who was the best in the NBA, and a tough inside rebounder, who could intimidate opponents. Auerbach defined the positions, then went searching for players who possessed those characteristics. He took players whom he knew how to use and developed their skills within that role. Auerbach was scouting inside out, which then became the Yankees’ method. 

As leaders, coaches and team builders, we cannot have a successful program without a “Way.” If we don’t define the specific requirements needed for every position we lead, how will we ever build the best team? If we don’t know what we want, how can we then develop and lead? 

The simple answer is we can’t. 

The “Way” is our identity. Without one, we are lost. As Max Depree once said, “Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’”

Once the Yankees figured out who they intended to be, they were able to win the World Series seven times. Many might claim Steinbrenner’s willingness to spend lavishly was the main reason; yet, if you understand what makes teams and organizations successful, you realize money without a way is wasted. 

Do you have a Way? 

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