This week, we sat down with Steve Rassel, Assistant Director of High Performance with the Toronto Blue Jays. We recently got a tour of their world-class training facility in Tampa Bay, FL, and were blown away by their team values, culture, approach to leadership development, and the mindset they use to train professional athletes at an elite level. So even if you’re not in the outfield, but you’re in the boardroom, classroom, or any other environment — the topics we cover today translate in surprising and inspiring ways. And you know PQ is a baseball fanatic! To make things a little easier to navigate, check out the timestamps below that serve as chapter titles to this episode.
This week, we sat down with Steve Rassel, Assistant Director of High Performance with the Toronto Blue Jays. We recently got a tour of their world-class training facility in Tampa Bay, FL, and were blown away by their team values, culture, approach to leadership development, and the mindset they use to train professional athletes at an elite level. So even if you’re not in the outfield, but you’re in the boardroom, classroom, or any other environment — the topics we cover today translate in surprising and inspiring ways. And you know PQ is a baseball fanatic!
To make things a little easier to navigate, check out the timestamps below that serve as chapter titles to this episode:
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
2:21 - PQ's Scouting Report
3:22 - The Blue Jays Development Philosophy
5:11 - Bouncing Back from Failure
6:23 - PQ's Hall of Fame Case
7:07 - Creating "Artificial Failure Scenarios"
11:12 - Get Better Every Day (You vs. You)
13:30 - The Game of Adjustments
15:07 - How To Lead Elite Talent: "The Journey"
18:50 - Growth Mindset
20:56 - The Importance of a Values-Driven Culture
23:00 - Collaboration & Avoiding Silos
25:58 - The Pursuit of Learning
27:05 - Empowering Others: Sustainability & Scalability
28:44 - After-Action Reviews
31:46 - Setting High Standards
33:51 - Managing Expectations
37:28 - Leading To Others' Capacity
40:47 - The Anchor of Respect
42:00 - Customized Team Development & Competing Together
44:31 - The Messy Side of Collaboration
47:46 - The Separator Mindset & Today's Professionalism
51:50 - A Player Slides Into 3rd Base, And His Phone Falls Out Of His Pocket
53:45 - The #1 Draining Thing In Player Development
55:10 - What Fires You Up About Leadership Development?
57:00 - Drawing Healthy Boundaries in a Demanding Job
59:50 - Final Challenge
RESOURCES THAT INFLUENCED THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS CULTURE:
STEVE RASSEL’S TOOLBOX:
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