standard ovation blog: August 2016

Ned Yost's Leadership Has The Kansas City Royals Surging

By New York Times Best-selling Author, Forbes Contributor & Professional Speaker, Don Yaeger

Article published in Forbes, August 30, 2016

Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost makes his case to the umpire (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Don’t look now but the Kansas City Royals, the defending World Series champions, are roaring back into contention thanks in part to a leader who knows how to manage change.

On August 5, the Royals looked out of the playoff hunt with a 51-58 record. But after winning 17 of their last 21 games, the Royals are back from the brink, surging to a 68-62 record and are now five games behind in the wild card chase.

Manager Ned Yost knows how tough it is for a team to defend its crown. From 1991 to 2002, Yost was with the Atlanta Braves, serving as bullpen coach and third base coach under Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox as the team contended every season and won the World Series in 1995.

Looking back to his time in Atlanta, Yost said he learned important lessons from Cox and GM John Schuerholz as the Braves lineup often featured new players each season.

“You win a championship and you want to keep the group together but financially it’s just not possible,” Yost told me in a call recently. “It gets you down a little.”

Yost goes back to what Schuerholz always told the Braves coaches during each offseason. “Our job is to manage change,” Schuerholz would tell the Braves’ staff.

In his time with the Royals, Yost has taken that lesson to heart. The Royals lost some key players from last year’s championship run including Ben Zobrist who can play second base and the outfield, and pitcher Johnny Cueto.

But even with those departures, Yost had a simple reminder for his team. The Royals lost players before and they won. It can happen again.

“You can’t focus on what’s leaving,” Yost told me. “You have to focus on managing change. You have to focus on getting new players.”

Noting that both the Braves and the Royals had success when they brought in new players, Yost said there were other factors besides talent at work. Like many other leaders of great teams, Yost let culture shape his recruiting and realized that fit was more important than credentials.

“You don’t have to get the best players, you have to get the right players,” Yost said. “You find the pieces who can fit in your environment and inside your club house and help you continue your success.”

One of the reasons the Royals players buy into Yost’s leadership is they trust him to support them. Yost told me his years in the majors, mostly as a backup catcher, helped him relate to struggling players.

“As a leader, you have to have belief in a player’s ability, his talent, his makeup, and his desire to win,” Yost said. “If you’ve been around this game long enough, you can identify guys who will be good players. If you give players the opportunity to work through it, they will be okay.”

Yost said that type of patience paid off for the Braves in his time there as young players like Tom Glavine, David Justice, Jeff Blauser, and Ron Gant matured. But even veterans require some patience, Yost said, pointing to outfielder Alex Rios last season.

“I’d seen too much of Alex and knew he could be better,” Yost told me about Rios’ struggles during the season. “We had to put him in position to be successful.”

Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Rios was put in that position as he produced some critical hits in the Royals’ playoff run last year.

“It’s not that hard to be patient if you believe in someone,” Yost said. “You have to believe in what you’re doing and, if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. My whole focus was to do whatever we needed to do to give these kids the experience to let them compete for a championship. They would know how to handle a situation and manage adversity. That helped them take off when the faced adversity in the playoffs.

“They knew as a group they were never out of the game,” Yost added. “The chemistry and trust in the clubhouse was phenomenal.”

Yost’s style of leadership adds to the trust the players have in each other and themselves. Even thought the Royals are considered a good baserunning team, Yost said he didn’t even have signs to steal bases.

One of the reasons the Royals players buy into Yost’s leadership is they trust him to support them. Yost told me his years in the majors, mostly as a backup catcher, helped him relate to struggling players.

“As a leader, you have to have belief in a player’s ability, his talent, his makeup, and his desire to win,” Yost said. “If you’ve been around this game long enough, you can identify guys who will be good players. If you give players the opportunity to work through it, they will be okay. ”

Yost said that type of patience paid off for the Braves in his time there as young layers like Tom Glavine, David Justice, Jeff Blauser, and Ron Gant matured. But even veterans require some patience, Yost said, pointing to outfielder Alex Rios last season.

“I’d seen too much of Alex and knew he could be better,” Yost told me about Rios’ struggles during the season. “We had to put him in position to be successful.”

Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Rios was put in that position as he produced some critical hits in the Royals’ playoff run last year.

“They knew as a group they were never out of the game,” Yost added. “The chemistry and trust in the clubhouse was phenomenal.”

Yost’s style of leadership adds to the trust the players have in each other and themselves. Even thought the Royals are considered a good baserunning team, Yost said he didn’t even have signs to steal bases.

“I don’t micromanage the games,” Yost told me. “Our guys like to play a certain style of baseball. My philosophy is to take a group of kids, teach them how to play the game right, and let them play. I trust them to do the right thing.”

Follow-through is important to implement Yost’s vision and he’s willing to take the blame when things go wrong.

“The worst thing you can do as a player is to play scared and be afraid to make a mistake,” Yost said. “You have to teach them to play the game fearlessly but you have to allow them to play the game fearlessly. That’s part of being a good manager. If you’re screaming and yelling every time they make a mistake, they won’t play fearlessly. That’s how you play to win.”

Yost said the Royals’ success is due to the entire organization, from the minor league teams all the way down to thorough scouting even before players get drafted.

As the World Series run and the recent surge shows, Yost knows about winning and so do the Royals who are making their move up the standings. By showing patience and once again managing change, Yost is putting the Royals back in position for another run.

When did you have to show patience to develop a teammate? Who has been the Ned Yost on your team who excelled in managing change? I’d love to hear your story!