Elevate: It’s Your Move

Leadership Lessons from the Detroit Tigers

The sports analogies just keep on coming from the D!

For those who are not sports enthusiasts like we are, we apologize in advance. But we couldn’t ignore the many lessons we have learned from this year’s Detroit Tigers, who miraculously (and we’re NOT overstating that) made it into the American League playoffs this fall.

If you don’t follow Detroit Tigers baseball, let us briefly share their journey:

• The team was admittedly in a rebuilding year, with one of the youngest teams in all of baseball.
• At the trade deadline in July 2024, the team traded away four outstanding players, a clear sign they did NOT believe they were in playoff contention.
• On August 31, 2024, the team had a 69-68 record; they had five games out of a playoff spot.
• In September, the team went 17-8 to clinch a post-season playoff spot.

No one believed it could happen. Their owners didn’t believe it, and their fans didn’t either. However, it did happen—they made the playoffs.

So, what can we learn from this team?

1. Believe in yourself. “My mission is to be the best player possible and help win a World Series Championship for Tigers fans everywhere,” rookie Colt Keith said. He had a laser focused goal, and despite what anyone said, he remained focused on it. Do you know what your mission is? Have you defined who you are and what you want to do? We hope you always believe in yourself and in your potential to achieve great things in your career.
2. Never give up. When the Tigers beat the Yankees in the tenth inning walk off at the Little League Classic, something clicked. They recognized their ability to triumph over adversity and embraced their capacity to win with youth, speed, and aggressiveness. We’ve all been there. When things get tough, what is your response? We hope you never allow your weaknesses to define you, but that you always lead with your strengths.
3. Miracles do happen. With one of the youngest teams in baseball and a 1% chance of making the playoffs, the Tigers went to the post season. When you believe in yourself, when you refuse to give up and you show up every day, executing on the fundamentals—guess what? You become a winner.

Regardless of where your career is at today, we hope you continue to believe in miracles. We hope you are delivering at a high level, regardless of what your boss, the economy, or anyone says you’re capable of—because we know that the relentless pursuit of excellence pays off in the end.