Was in my car the other day jamming to a little Conway Twitty bringing the kids back from music lessons…
When we got home, I decided to quickly clean out the rig and get my daily dose of MLB Network radio to try to keep up with all the latest happenings in the baseball world…
Tyler Kepner and my old teammate Ryan Spillborgs (Spilly) were hosting the show and interviewing new Angels manager Joe Maddon…
For those who are unfamiliar with Maddon, he is the former manager of the Tampa Bay Rays and World Champion Chicago Cubs who is well known for his progressive thinking and eccentric style of coaching and living his life.
Spilly, who has always seemed to be somebody who has a thirst for knowledge and growth, proceeded to ask Joe how he evolved into the man and manager that he has become…
Joe paused for a second and then said that when he was 30 years old he was running the Angels instructional league when Gene Mauch (the Angels manager at the time) came up to him, took a long drag off his throat rocket and said, “You have created a great atmosphere here.”
Maddon was moved by the compliment so he went home that night and thought about what Mauch said and then thought about what he had actually done to create the “great atmosphere” that Mauch was referring to…
Joe then proceeded and said that ever since he got into coaching he has always put an emphasis on building relationships.
At this point, anticipating this was about to get good, I got my phone out and went to my notes section where I write all my Daily Hustles… I then started hammering the keyboard with one nugget after another that Maddon offered up.
He talked about the importance of being ENGAGED in any relationship and used words such as TRUST and TRANSPARENCY.
Early in his career, Maddon made it a point to EMBRACE INDIVIDUALITY which was far from the norm back in the mid 1980’s…
Joe also talked about the invaluable importance of building an IDENTITY and creating a CULTURE that has the ultimate RESPECT for the history, tradition, and people who have come before.
Lastly, Maddon said NEVER BE AFRAID TO BE CRITICIZED… So long as he coached and lived by these basic principles it simply didn’t matter what any outsider had to say…
Joe concluded by saying “Sorry, I guess that was kinda a long answer…”
The total time answering the question was probably 3 minutes and I can say it was 3 of the best and most insightful minutes of radio I have ever listened to…
Thanks for the question Spilly & thanks for the answer Joe,
-EB
P.S If you ever wonder how these Daily Hustles come together, these are the notes I took in the 3 minutes of hard hitting radio savagery that led to today’s Daily Hustle: 👊
Joe Maddon
Identity
Culture
Respect
Understanding the past
Gene Mauch – smoking heater
“You have created a great atmosphere here.”
Relationships
Engaged
Trust
Transparency
Embraced individuality
Never afraid to be criticized
Fucking 💥