The Art of Influence by Chris Widener

Author:Chris Widener
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780385526746
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2008-07-07T20:00:00+00:00

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GOLDEN RULE OF INFLUENCE NUMBER TWO: ALWAYS DEMONSTRATE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

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Tom Martin had the highest winning percentage of any major league manager—and for good reason. His players loved him and gave every bit of effort they could. It certainly helped that he had a great baseball mind, but it was impossible to find a person who had a bad word to say about him, and that served as the basis for his reputation.

Tom had been out of baseball for a couple of years when Bobby Gold picked up the phone and invited him back in. Tom had begun a new career as a broadcaster, had written a book, and was trying to spend more time with his family, something that had been tough to do as a coach and manager, with a schedule of 162 games a year, not including spring training and the playoffs. But Tom’s youngest child had left for college the same year that Bobby had purchased his beloved, albeit hapless, Chicago baseball team, so the timing was right.

Bobby had followed Tom’s career closely and knew that he embodied his second Golden Rule of Influence: Always demonstrate a positive attitude. So he picked up the phone to find out if the timing was right for Tom to jump back into the big leagues. Indeed it was, and he quickly turned the team around. He, along with the general manager, made some good strategic trades and began to rebuild their minor league clubs to prepare for the future. Soon, the team had its first winning season in over two decades. Tom Martin was back!

As Bobby and Marcus walked into the manager’s office deep in the stadium, Marcus was wide-eyed. He loved baseball and never dreamed he would be offered this kind of opportunity, especially so early in life. Heck, he was happy if he got tickets where he could see the team without binoculars. Now he was meeting with one of the legends of baseball. It was going to be great fun and an honor. He couldn’t quite figure out how it fit into the lessons on influence he was supposed to be getting, but he wasn’t going to argue.

“Marcus,” Bobby began, “meet Tom Martin, the best manager in baseball.”

“Great to meet you,” Tom said, extending his hand.

“Fantastic to meet you!” Marcus exclaimed.

Tom motioned to some large leather couches in his office. “Let’s sit down and talk for a bit. We’ve got an important game tonight so I don’t have a ton of time, but Bobby told me he wanted us to spend some time together. He thinks you have a lot of potential. Since you’re a graduate of Northwestern, I bet he is right. You have to be talented to make it there.”

“Thank you,” Marcus said.

Bobby knew they didn’t have a lot of time so he stayed quiet and let Tom take the lead. Bobby had already prepped him on what he wanted him to discuss with Marcus. “So, you have been learning Bobby’s Golden Rules of Influence, have you?”

“Well, one so far.

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