You’re Ready — You Just Need to Believe It
In late November of 2002, one of the wealthiest sports teams in the world made a monumental decision. After far too many decades of coming up short — punctuated by dramatic failures in huge moments — it was time to shake things up. Youth would be served in Boston and, the sports world would take notice; and change forever.
When Theo Epstein was hired as general manager of the Boston Red Sox at age 28, he became the youngest general manager in Major League Baseball history. There were skeptics aplenty. It seemed unfathomable that a team of the Red Sox worth and clout would hire someone so young — despite his intelligence and clear qualifications — to lead their baseball operations.
The Boston Red Sox opening day payroll for the 2003 season was nearly $100M. The following year, it became $125M. The team, if the owner then or now would ever be crazy enough to sell it, is worth over $2.3B dollars. Why in the world would a team entrust a product of that much value to someone under the age of 30? Because he was ready.
During his college summers, Epstein grinded as a public relations intern for the Baltimore Orioles. Following graduation, he went to work for the San Diego Padres. After years of hard work and a “fire hose” education in baseball operations, Epstein later became the Director of Baseball Operations for the Padres.
He steeled in his mind that he would work in baseball and make a nice living doing so. He believed in himself and was willing to work long hours, learn the craft, understand what made players great and find ways to put his beliefs into practice.
Before the opportunity came with Boston, he learned negotiating tactics, advanced sports analytics and practiced his persuasive influencing on then-general manager of the Padres, Kevin Towers.
Even after all of that hard work and long hours, it was remarkable that Epstein was offered the opportunity to call the shots for the Red Sox at such a young age. He probably had to have some level of human doubt as to whether he was ready. This is supposed to be an older man or woman’s job, right? Many suspected he’d have to wait longer for his time to come.
When you’re ready, you’re ready. And Epstein was. Less than two years after becoming GM, the Red Sox were champions of the world for the first time in 86 years. And just last season, Epstein called the operational shots for the Cubs and led them to the promised land for the first time in over 100 years.
Family Matters
I spoke with my wife dozens of times over several years about our perception of readiness and, the perceptions of those who judge us or deem us worthy for a particular job. For years she was a highly-successful Development Director in the nonprofit world.
She told me that decision-makers in that industry perhaps wouldn’t think she would be ready to lead an organization as Executive Director. While she had worked for some small-mid size nonprofits, she said the conventional wisdom said an organization wouldn’t entrust her with that power. It would likely be someone with more experience.
To which I said, “You’re kidding, right?”
My wife is highly accomplished, emotionally intelligent, well-educated and savvy enough to negotiate and make “the ask” to very wealthy donors who provide funding — the lifeblood — for nonprofits. She’s skilled at decision-making and adept at understanding process.
She was ready. And I knew it.
Earlier this year, a great organization in the Charleston, SC area recognized this and offered her an Executive Director opportunity. Her time and her moment to call the shots. It was a special accomplishment and one earned through hard work, sacrifice and apprenticeship. She deserved it. She was ready and I knew it. She got to experience the joy. Finally.
Opportunities are born from experience, hard work, positive attitude and demonstrated results. Opportunities are earned through grit, intelligence, pluck and desire. Opportunities lead to moments.
Your moment could be three hours long, one day or one weekend. It may be 15 minutes or one minute of your life. There, you will be in position to tell a person or group of influencers — with clear eyes and certain conviction in your heart — that you can do the job. You’re ready.
A Dream
By 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was already well on his way to establishing a name for himself as a nonviolent, peaceful warrior in the quest to end segregation and achieve civil rights for African-Americans. The books he wrote, speeches he delivered, alliances he formed and peaceful demonstrations he organized all led up to one of the greatest moments in history.
He delivered his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech at the age of 34 before thousands of Americans during the March on Washington. He called for an end to racism and equality for all. He was ready. The thing is, no one could have imagined the the magnitude of that moment with the exception, of course, of one individual: Martin Luther King Jr.
He seized the moment because he was ready. He was born for that moment.
To paraphrase the gospel writer, Luke, when someone is entrusted with much, even more will be expected and required in the form of service.
Opportunity
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” — Seneca
I wrote recently about luck and probability and discussed how we create our own luck. A positive mind attracts opportunity. This is not easy to grasp and it’s harder to follow. Yet, it’s true. I wonder each day when a great opportunity will come my way. Yet I take for granted the great opportunities I already have right now in my life.
I write for this awesome publication, The Mission. I have a very supportive wife who above everything else wants to see me happy and fulfilled. My wife and I were given a beautiful child who brings so much love and joy to our lives each day. I was blessed with the most loving family by birth. I was fortunate to attend two great schools for my Bachelor’s and Masters’s degrees.
(God also made me a New York Yankees fan. A wonderful thing!)
I think now of my wife and the fact that people recognize that she is worthy of great power and responsibility. I look to friends and contemporaries of mine in writing and business. I know they’re ready for great challenges. I hear it in their words and see it on their faces.
A baseball team worth over a billion dollars, with a payroll of over $100M, was put in the hands of a 28 year-old named, Theo Epstein. The Red Sox owners were rewarded with a World Series title in 2004 and several thereafter. The Chicago Cubs in 2016, after a World Series championship drought of over 100 years, also reaped the benefits of Mr. Epstein’s magic.
The civil rights movement was not the lone work of Martin Luther King Jr. but he was elevated by his peers to become the face of it at a relatively young age. He was ready. Others knew it. He proved that the faith placed in him, by the most influential African Americans of the time, was justified through his inspiring message and nonviolent actions.
When you wonder whether you — a confident young man or woman with intelligence, wit, work ethic and a positive attitude — can launch your path to achievement, remind yourself of these stories. Think about it.
Experience helps, surely. Opportunity is golden. But opportunity will come. You just have to remain positive and open. Readiness is in the mind of the individual. The great Coach John Wooden once said, “Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.”
You’re ready to do your thing. You just gotta believe.
Value Yourself!
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