~Hall of Fame Basket Ball Coach John Wooden
The other day a friend sent me a video of a guy dressed in a bright yellow suit, yellow shirt, wearing a matching Bowler hat; said I’d enjoy what he had to say. I tried my best to reserve judgement about someone dressed up like that, although I was told he owns a baseball team. He talked about how he got his start in the baseball business a decade ago, when his first boss hired him straight out of college to be General Manager of the Gastonia Grizzlies, a college summer league baseball team.
It struck me as a nice gig for someone who loves baseball and is waiting around to find a real job and start their career in earnest. Slightly more productive than backpacking across Europe, but hardly a resume builder.
That’s nowhere near how this story ends.
The speaker was Jesse Cole; the baseball team he owns is the insanely successful Savanah Bananas. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. The Bananas are a barnstorming baseball team packing in fans at stadiums across the States. Last month 120,000 fans showed up for a weekend series at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
For a minor league baseball game.
Well, actually more like one part baseball and two parts circus, the yellow suit and hat being part of the show. I closed my eyes and listened to what he had to say: Cole spoke enthusiastically about a go-to leadership practice his first boss employed when he was the new guy in the office down the hall with all those crazy ideas.
As to what that practice was, it was simply asking “What do you think, Jesse?”
The Stuff of Genius
Some people collect baseball cards; others, bobblehead dolls. My prized collection is made up of wisdom gained from leaders way smarter than me. My talent, if it can be called that, is simply paying attention, with small credit given to the ability to differentiate good sense from non-sense.
There has always seemed to be a lot more of the latter going around than the former. I continue to be amazed by what otherwise intelligent people will accept as good stuff, never bothering to subject it to even the least bit of scrutiny. Yes, I know: while a little bit of thinking critically can go a long way, playing the role of the skeptic or asking tough questions in a staff meeting instead of jumping on the bandwagon is likely to resurface in the next performance appraisal as “not being a good team player.”
No good deed goes unpunished.
If you invest a few minutes thinking critically about what Cole had to say about how his first boss dealt with his suggestions – simply asking for Cole’s thoughts about his ideas – you’ll appreciate the uncommon good sense, and how much there is to be learned from the simple practice he used.
One gem found in my personal collection came from a very good second level leader, an up-from-the-ranks type, who told me, “A good supervisor always knows their people.” A shocking revelation, I know, but clearly good sense. Doesn’t matter whether they’re a member of the crew or the executive team, individuals bring different strengths and styles to the job; it behooves a leader know what they are – and manage accordingly. I suspect Jesse Cole’s first boss at the Gastonia Grizzlies was one of those leaders who not only understood the principle of “knowing their people”, but practiced it to a fine art.
His name was Ken Silver; he owned the Grizzlies. Minor league baseball is a very small business; your corner grocery store probably takes in more revenue. A Captain of Industry Mr. Silver was not. So, Silver hires a ball of fire, twenty-three-year-old fresh out of college kid as his General Manager; what does he expect from his new guy?
An idea, pretty much every single day, naturally. More than a few not particularly well thought out.
In the places I have worked, the person on the receiving end of ideas is normally a very good student of history. “We tried that idea ten years ago. It didn’t work.” Many are expert at analysis, pointing out flaws: “You forget to factor in how long it will take for someone to do that.” Some have expertise in the regulations that govern such matters: “Sorry, there’s a rule that says we can’t do that.” Run into enough brick walls, it doesn’t take long for the new guy to figure out the culture: ideas are not what drives the business.
Jesse Cole’s first boss took exactly the opposite approach. Was that because he understood how badly his business needed new ideas? Or was it because he was wise enough to appreciate that a bright, ambitious, free thinking new person needed to be managed differently?
My guess is both. It’s the stuff of genius.
Leadership Practices
As a case study in the practice of leadership, this only gets better. Instead of the typical approach of breaking out the cold water upon receipt of a new idea, Ken Silver made it a practice to ask Jesse, “What do you think?”
He knew his people, and he knew how to use one of the most powerful tools a leader has at their disposal: a question.
But not just any old question.
I’m not the least bit surprised Jesse Cole would be telling the world how empowering being asked, “What do you think?” was. Leading and motivating followers by asking questions was a technique I’d seen practiced decades before Cole first showed up in Mr. Silver’s office. In my time in the manufacturing business, there were a couple of geniuses who’d used the technique on me, and I’d watched it executed brilliantly with others. My father, the Plant Manager, called it “Letting someone talk themselves into the right answer.”
Clever stuff. Looks easy when done successfully, but I will tell you from experience, it takes preparation, practice, and an understanding of how the process of leading by asking questions works. If you’ve taken our course, or read Alive And Well, you know it as asking a Darn Good Question. I once received a personal testimonial from a Mill Manager, who told me he turned his site’s safety around simply by asking Darn Good Questions and making the Case for Safety.
Of course, he did that relentlessly, every single day for a year.
That asking a Darn Good Question is a wonderful technique to use when on the receiving end of a suggestion was not lost on Mr. Silver. That tells you something else about a practice like this: it’s versatile. But it’s not the kind of thing that’s part of an MBA curricula; something worth noting about so many of the leadership practices that make a real difference.
Best practices may fly under the radar, but they do endure. Consider Mr. Silver’s listening to what a follower had to say, taking that seriously, asking questions: they’re practices traceable to fundamental principles that have been tested and proven valid. Good leaders seem to know that; better leaders know that and practice them well.
Ken Silver did that, simply by asking his new General Manager what he thought – about his own idea. Now, I’m sure there was more to the conversation than just that. But I’d be willing to bet that a lot of what followed were more questions coming from Ken to Jesse. “How would you do that?” “What if this happened?” “Have you checked to see if…?” Not questions as a way to filibuster or frustrate or avoid making a decision; but good questions to test how an idea would play out.
The Critical Role of the Supervisor
A supervisor is defined as “someone who is responsible for the work of others.” Ken Silver might have owned a baseball team, but to his new employee, he served as Jesse Cole’s front line leader. It’s clear that Cole, his follower, now appreciates how fortunate he was to work for a leader like that. Clearly Silver left a lasting and very positive impression.
As followers, we should all be so lucky. Often the lasting impression left by our supervisor is anything but positive.
But you know that. The Darn Good Question you need to ask yourself is what are you going to do about what you know? Hope the leadership practices of the supervisors who report to you are working well? Trust the leadership practices of the supervisors who report to you will positively influence their followers? Cross your fingers and hope you’re lucky enough to have a few Ken Silvers working in your operation?
Hope isn’t much in the way of a method.
Sense – and Non-Sense
I was among the fortunate few who worked for and around more than my fair share of Ken Silvers. I can name the names of leaders who were geniuses at the practice of leadership, from the front line to the executive suite. They knew their people and led them well.
As for their practices, they were observable, teachable, and practical. Their practices worked in the real world of people and work, out on the shop floor, where real life is found, and where most people know the difference between good sense – and non-sense.
If you’ve been there, you’ve seen that.
Still, it never hurts to be reminded of that, even when it comes from a guy all dressed up in yellow who owns a baseball team named after a breakfast fruit.
Paul Balmert
August 2026