Hitting like never before, a here before relatively unknown San Francisco Giants outfielder, Cody Ross, has become the “October Surprise” of the baseball play offs.
Perhaps you have not been paying attention, but Cody Ross has hit four home runs in the play off games, more than anyone else. He's driven in six runs and has collected seven hits, including a game-winning single in the divisional round that knocked out the Atlanta Braves.
No one saw this performance burst coming. In a 12 year professional career—7 of which he spent in the minor leagues—Ross has been passed around to 5 organizations. The only reason he ended up in San Francisco this season is because the Florida Marlins put him on waivers.
"I have no explanation,” says Ross. "I'm not doing anything different. I just try to hit the ball as hard as I can every time." Timing is everything in both life and baseball, and Ross has chosen the right time to excel.
Average people are put into situations all the time in which they have the opportunity to rise up to a higher level of performance. The keys are being able to recognize that time—the opportunity—and to actually be able to turn hit the ball—the performance.
Many involved in the Chilean mine incident fit this description.
§ The President of Chile was new and untested—until he got a chance to step up to provide the leadership and the decision making that led to a successful rescue.
§ The below ground mine supervisor, Luis Urzua, was just an average guy—just 2 months on the job, new and untested—when he got the chance to step up and provide the leadership that kept the miners alive, together and hopeful.
§ Jeff Hart was drilling water wells for the U.S. Army as a contractor in Afghanistan when he got the opportunity to fly to Chile and man the drill; Mr. Hart spent the next 33 days on his feet, the chief operator of the drill that finally provided a way out for the trapped miners. "He's become our hero,” said one of the miner’s family members.
Timing and being in the right spot at the right time may be everything life, but Giants Outfielder Cody Ross, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, Miner Luis Urzua, and Drill Operator Jeff Hart, have all chosen the right time to excel.
You never know when the opportunity will strike—without warning you are called upon in a situation to step up or step away. While LaserShip is not rescuing trapped miners, we do have our challenges each and everyday—opportunities—for just regular people to step up to an extraordinary level of play—the performance.
It is in a challenging situation or a crisis when leadership is discovered and most tested. Leaders always emerge whether they have been formally chosen or from the natural effects of chance and circumstance.
Whether you are in an entry-level or non-management position with our company, a first level supervisor, or a manager, we have plenty of opportunities to step up to a higher level of performance: Whether it is responding to a customer with greater speed and empathy, checking and rechecking the final details of a flight option before assigning a job, making a note to follow up on a matter before the end of the day, catching a missorted package before it goes the wrong way, sending just one more communication to update a customer….
Leaders are not appointed; they usually are in the right place, at the right time, with a burst of performance. Like Cody Ross, no one saw it coming, but when given the opportunity to be the hero of his team he stepped to the plate and hit the ball.
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