How Champions Build Their Mindset | Rance Mulliniks

World Series champion, Rance Mulliniks breaks down how winning changes the way we judge a career while reminding us how much of a title is outside any one athlete’s control. We talk about roles, ego, and the daily preparation that turns talent into trust and teams into champions.

• how a championship shapes legacy and personal identity
• separating outcomes from controllables like habits, effort, and mindset
• why leadership is the key to role acceptance and buy-in
• preparing at game speed even when you might not play
• the mental edge of studying opponents and spotting tendencies under pressure
• contributing in ways that do not show up in stats
• building culture through nonnegotiable standards from executives to coaches
• respect and trust over being liked in a locker room

Download the pod, subscribe to our YouTube channel, check us out at athleticfortitude.com. Five stars only, baby.

Transcript

How A Title Changes Legacy<br>

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Do you think you would view your career the same way if you had never won a World Series championship?

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Well, that's a great question. Because having the opportunity to play 19 years professionally, 15 at the major league level, I think it goes without saying. I experienced a lot of special moments, uh, either individually or collectively, with, you know, as a as a member of a team. But I would have to say that I would look at my career a little bit differently. Because I think what maybe not everyone, but I think most of us that that play, and it doesn't matter what level is, uh, our ultimate goal was would would be to win a championship. And I think that if if I hadn't been fortunate enough to be on a night the 92 team that won it all, uh there would be a little bit of a void. Because you look back on it and you say, well, you accomplished a lot of things individually, and you were on a lot of really good teams. Being able to finally win it all just was um I guess that was the final touch. That you know, you kind of feel maybe complete as an athlete at that point. I guess maybe that's the best way to say it. But I think I would have looked at it. I'd have been, I guess maybe I should say I'd have been disappointed in the end to not have been on a World Series championship team. And the reason I say that is because in 80 I was a member of the Kansas City Royals, we lost to the Phillies. In Toronto, I was with a ball club that in 85, 89, 91 had gone to the postseason and had obviously didn't win the league championship series and came up short. So 92, being able to finally win it all was something that was very special and I'll always cherish about my career. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

There's such a dichotomy with like the accomplishment space because I do believe outcomes matter, and I do believe winning championships will change how you view your own career in whatever sport that you're in. But there are so many things outside of your control that go into winning a championship. And I think it I think if you would have told me that you wouldn't have viewed your career a little bit differently, I I don't know if I would have believed you, because winning a championship in any sport is going to completely shift and change the dynamic of how you view yourself, all the work that you put in, all the sacrifice, the commitment, and how it ties to a to a bigger picture. Like you said, it kind of brings everything complete. But then there's all the athletes in the world who, like you said, never got the championship, never got to be part of that team, about a part of that winning ecosystem or environment. And it's they are the ones that, in a way, have to figure out where that void is filled and how you come to terms with never winning a championship. Because, like I said, there is so much that is outside of your direct control that impact winning and losing.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Absolutely. There's no question about that. And when I think back about the point that you're making, I look back on those teams, those ball clubs. And number one, we had a common goal. Everybody on the ball club, that team, their goal was to win a World Series championship. Individual stats will take care of themselves. They come second. So in every situation that comes up, your thought process is what do I need to do in this situation to give my team the best chance to win this game? Or even simply win in that situation. Then you have to stay healthy, right? You have to stay healthy. And then all of those really good teams I played on, when someone did get hurt, there was always death, someone that could step in and fill that void. And sometimes that is something that I believe oftentimes goes overlooked. And if I were gonna say, if I would get down to what ultimately in made it happen, as to your point, there's so many moving parts that as a player, all you can control is what you can control. In other words, I can prepare for the game. I can prepare for my at bats, I can do all of that, same as you playing football. But there are a lot of other people things that are going on around us that we have absolutely no control over. And I think a big part of being a member of a championship team is everybody understanding their role, fulfilling that role, and controlling what they can control and understand about themselves what they do best, their strengths, their weaknesses, and as often as they possibly can play to their strengths. And then last, I would say leadership. Leadership in the clubhouse in '92, the leader on that ball club was no doubt Dave Winfield in the clubhouse. And then we had great leadership with our manager, Anceto Gaston. And when you combined all

What Winning Really Depends On<br>

SPEAKER_01 4:52

that together, ultimately is what led to a World Series championship.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

What do you think the best teams do to help curate the ego of professional athletes to fill certain roles? Because when you get into larger environments of high-performing athletes, the larger the team, the harder it is to manage all the different egos because likely there's going to be players who are serving smaller roles that think they're deserving of a bigger role. So, what have you seen the best teams do to put a cap on that and get everyone to serve their role to the best level?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Leadership is so critical. You have to have someone who can who can get the players to buy in to what it is we're trying to accomplish and where we're trying to go with this ball club. And it's often been said, at least it is in baseball, and I like to talk about that because that's what I played, you know, I did the most, you know, at least professionally, is that the guys that are playing every day, it's much easier to get them to buy into where you're trying to go and not be an individual on the baseball field, buy into the fact that, hey, this is a team, we all have a common goal, and it means sometimes you're gonna have to make a personal sacrifice that is gonna give us the best opportunity to win. It's the guys that aren't getting to play, and you said those who feel like they should be have a more important role with the ball club, getting them to understand. And let me use an example as let's just say a utility player in baseball, who's someone that can probably play several different positions, maybe a pretty good little pinch hitter coming off the bench, whatever it may be, but as somebody that definitely on some other teams, he's looking around the league and he's going, if I were on that team over there, I'd be an everyday player. Okay. And so he knows that someplace else there would be that opportunity. Here, that's not going to happen. So it becomes critical that leadership helps that individual understand their role within the team and understand how important they are. Because they have to be extremely, they have to be just as well prepared every day before the game starts as someone who's playing every day. Because they never know when they're gonna be thrown into that ballgame in a critical situation, filling a critical role, or when someone gets hurt, you're gonna be prepared to step in and perform. And that may not be baseball season starts late March, early April. This may not happen till July. But if you've been going through the process that you need to go through every day to be ready when it does happen, and to step in and be a positive with your ball club and help us win and get where ultimately we're trying to go, that's where the leadership is critical. Because those players do play a critical role. It's just not every day. But if they're not preparing and if they have a bad attitude, sometimes that carries over with the rest of the team, can be a negative as opposed to a positive. So I think that for me, leadership that gets players to buy in what where we're going, how we're gonna get there, is is so critical. And I you now I think about some of the Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston were two managers that I played for that could explain to players their role within the team and how valuable they are. You may not, you may be sitting on a bench, you may be out there in the bullpen, but you have a tremendous amount of value that is just not being recognized every day. So keep preparing and being ready to go when that opportunity presents itself. Because it's gonna come up. It's gonna come up. And if you're not prepared for it, it probably is not gonna go well. So for me, that's that's

Roles Egos And Leadership<br>

SPEAKER_01 8:45

extremely important.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

That's the hardest part is getting people to prepare with so much unknown. When you're saying, hey, you're a backup right now, or you know, football-wise, you're a practice squad player, you're the third on the depth chart, whatever the case is, getting them to prepare with so much unknown, knowing that I could prepare like I am the first quarterback on the depth chart, but I may never get a rep in my entire NFL career. But in the event someone does get hurt or something changes or something happens, I may only get one moment and I have to be ready for that moment. The hard part is doing it regardless of an outcome or not. And that is one of the hardest parts I see with athletes, maybe more so this generation than previous ones, is the preparation aspect without any guarantee of an opportunity. And so if you come into it with that wrong mindset or with your ego in front or you pout or whatever the case is, that opportunity may come and you were not prepared because you were feeling sorry for yourself. And it is, it is the difference between good players who become great players and great players who become elite, is they're able to keep that same level of discipline, intensity, and focus without any promise of any type of outcome or opportunity on the back end.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

And that and that can be obviously that's very challenging. Because it's the hardest. It's the most difficult part of it. To accept the fact that I have to come to the ballpark every day and prepare as if I'm in the starting lineup. And I may in the next month get to start maybe one, two games, and that's just to spell, give some the everyday guy a day off, give that player a break. But if if you don't, in other words, I used to like to say this. Maybe I I think a coach I had, somebody told me, look, when you're not playing everyday, when you're not the everyday guy, prior to the game, you're gonna take your ground balls, your fly balls, your batting practice, you have to, to the best of your ability, make that elevate that to game speed. Go about that at game speed as best that you can because the opportunity's coming. It's gonna happen. An example would be, and I did quite a bit of pinch hitting during my my playing time in Toronto. And so you get the ballpark, you're not in lineup. Okay? I think it's natural you're disappointed, but you also understand that there may be the opportunity late in the game that you're gonna pinch hit. Well, if you haven't, if you sit there and you're just upset and you have a poor attitude because you're not in the game, you didn't get to start the game, then that situation comes up in the eighth inning, ninth inning, and that situation could determine the outcome of the ball game, and you are not prepared at all. Well, how is that gonna go unless you just get lucky? There's gonna be no consistent success there. So you have to take on the attitude of, all right, this is what could possibly happen, and I need to be as prepared for it as I could possibly be. And I can either sit here and be bitter about my situation, or I can get prepared for the opportunity that presents itself. And sometimes, and if you know this, any athlete knows this, it's that one time that that opportunity presents itself that can change the direction of your career. Because it may be the only opportunity you ever get. Maybe it comes up two or three times, it's obvious you're not prepared. And so what happens? They're gonna go find somebody else that is going to be prepared, and you may never get that chance again. So I think that is part for me of being a professional. And I think one of the things you said earlier about good players becoming very, very good players, and very, very good players becoming elite players, for me that's the mindset. It's how they prepare mentally for the game, how they study the game and get ready for the game. And that separates them out. They become a consummate professional as opposed to just the run-of-the-mill everyday major league baseball player, football player, pick your sport. There's some that decide I'm going to be the best that I can possibly be. I'm not okay with where I'm at. Where I'm at is going to allow me to play another 10, 12 years. I'm good enough to do that. But do I want to take it to that elite level and really be a consummate professional? I think that's what separates to your point earlier, the difference between somebody who's average and becomes exceptional, and somebody who's naturally exceptional that becomes a superstar.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

When I'm looking at these decisions, I think that there's times to make things super black and white, and there's times whether you need to zoom out and understand the complexity of something going on. When it comes down to the type of role that you're playing, I make it super black and white. It's either A, I can show up and do my best, or B, I can not do my best and see where that takes me. And if you just simplify to those two options, when you're in a situation that you don't like, that you don't think is fair, you can do you either A can do something about it, or B, sit in pal. And when you make it that simple, I'm gonna be, you know, maybe I overestimate, but majority of people are gonna choose the option, all right. Well, I'm gonna do something about it. It's when you start adding the things that are downstream. Well, this isn't fair. I did this, this player did that. That coach likes him a little bit better because they're golf buddies or whatever it is, right? Whatever political excuse you want to throw in there, right? Professional otherwise, oh, they're getting paid more. They were a first-round pick. That's why they're getting more opportunity than me. Well, you can either complain or pout about it, but you make yourself a victim, or you can do something about it. Now, to your point, the the consummate professional. So I've seen you've been labeled the consummate professional throughout your career. What was it about you that enabled you to become that? Was it genetic? Did you have to work at it? Like when did you realize, hey, I'm good enough to play for 15 years, and I want to make

Preparing Without Any Guarantee<br>

SPEAKER_00 14:52

this the absolute best version of myself that I can?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I think that the genesis where that started was when I was traded to Toronto. Bobby Cox, Ceto Gaston, and I would say the one that had the most influence over me most definitely was Ceto Gaston. And we can talk about that more later, but to the point that you're the question you're asking right now is I think I came to the realization I had been around long enough that I realized I wasn't the guy that was going to hit 25, 30 home runs, drive in 90 or 100. But I was the type of player what I realized I could do was I could be the type of player who could do things that aren't a statistic that could help my team win, that I could be really good at, that the guy that hits 25 or 30 couldn't do or wouldn't be comfortable doing. Let me maybe that's a better way to say it. And I'll give you an example. I was oftentimes hitting behind a base stealer, a guy that could really run. We had some guys that could steal bases, Damaso Garcia, Dave Collins, Lloyd Mosby, those kind of players. And what I got, I was I realized I could do, I was come, I could take pitches and give them a chance to steal second base, give them a chance to run. Which oftentimes meant that I would take till I took a strike, and on occasion I would even take two strikes or swing through a pitch intentionally when they were running to give them a chance to steal second base. Okay, let's say they steal second base. Okay. So I'm using them as a strength to complement their strength, which is going to help us win baseball games. So let's say they steal second base and there's nobody out. Now they don't play the game that I don't, at least with any consistency today, like I was taught in my generation. And now it's my job, if I do not get a base hit, to make an out on the right side of the diamond, to move that runner to third base so we have a runner at third base with less than two out. And there's a many more ways to score a run from third base with less than two out than there is from second base. And that's just common baseball sense. Everybody knows that. But those are that's something that I realized I could do, which made me much more of a professional player. And that was something that was going to help us win baseball games. I could do that and set the table to let the three, four, and five hitter drive in that run. That's their that's their job. So that would be just one example. I also learned that by really studying my opponent, and that could be a pitcher, that could even be a hitter. That that could help me position myself defensively, look for tendencies. You know, because hitters sometimes would tip, were they looking to pull the ball, were they looking to hit the ball the other way, were they maybe thinking about maybe bunting, something like that. Watch for body language that might give me, might tip me off to what they're thinking at the plate. And so I would study hitters that way. I would study pitchers to try to get a pattern on them. What do, especially, what do they do under pressure? When a base hit's gonna drive in a run, what pitch is it? What's their out pitch? What's their go-to pitch? The one that they're most comfortable and confident throwing. Well, as a hitter, if I know that and I'm gonna be facing that pitcher in that situation, now I have a better chance of success because I have a very good idea what he's gonna do. And through that process of observation, I learned that under pressure, all of us, almost all of us, I mean, there's probably exceptions, there's exceptions to anything, but we're going to do what we feel most confident, most comfortable, and what we trust most. That's what we're gonna do under pressure. And then I realized that that made my opponent in some situations much more predictable. So, how does that help me as an athlete? And to me, that's part of being a consummate professional. As it just going out there and hoping I get a few hits today, and if the ball's hit to me, I make the play. That's taking it to a different level for me. And that's what I tried to do. How did you learn that process of that?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Go ahead. How did you learn that process of that? Because a lot of guys don't think that way or have the it's not that they may not have the cognitive ability, but they don't think that way. They don't think that from or they don't think about the game in an intellectual way like that and how it improves performance and increases your probability to serve a role on a team and a high performing team at that. It's like, where did you learn that process?

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Well, that that's a great question. Obviously, I had some struggle, I have some, you know, I played for some great managers and coaches and instructors. But what I decided I was going to do is I was going to take that on in order to be, I wanted to be an unselfish teammate that did the best, that took my strengths and played to them as often as I possibly could to give the team that I was playing with or for the best chance to win. And once I accepted that, then it became easy because I no longer took a selfish approach to it. I took the approach of what do I need to do in this situation? What does this situation call upon me to do as a professional athlete to give my team the best chance to win? And once I took that approach and started really taking a much more analytical and mental approach to the game as opposed to just a physical, that really changed everything. It really did. It made me a much more complete player. It made me a much more valuable asset to the team. And when I reflect back, I think the reason I was fortunate enough to play in Toronto the last 11 years that I played, because you could have found someone to replace my physical tools. You could find somebody faster, somebody with more power, somebody with a better arm, whatever it may be, go across the board. But I think what became hard to replace was my professionalism. And what I brought to the team day in, day out. Because I was extremely reliable. I was extreme. They knew what I they I guess maybe what I'm trying to say, and I I don't I'm this is not bragging on myself. I'm just trying to best answer your question.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Is they realized Bragg all you want, my friend. This is your time to shine.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Well, they realized, I think what the organ, and I'm I'm reflecting back now, you know, because I've obviously I haven't played in a long time. I still have passion for the game. Think about it all the time. Think about what made all that happen for us as an organization in the 80s and early 90s in Toronto. And I believe they knew that whatever role we ask Rance to fill,

Becoming The Consummate Professional<br>

SPEAKER_01 21:28

be the DH, play third base, be ready to pinch hit late in the game. He is going to go about it in a professional way. He's going to be extremely well prepared. He's not going to complain. He's not going to sulk. And we know that in every situation, he's going to, to the best of his ability, understand that situation, what he needs to do in that situation, to give our ball club, his ball club, his teammates the best chance to win. That's why it happened. And like I said, when I changed that mental attitude and that mental approach, it changed everything for me. It most certainly. Made me a more valuable player to be around, even though I wasn't a guy who's going to hit a bunch of home runs, drive in a lot of runs. I could contribute in a way that I, quite frankly, I guess some others would. And I think anybody could have done what I did. But if you don't take on that mental mindset and accept that role and say, all right, this is what I'm going to do to the best of my ability, and I'm going to accept my role within the team, then I think to me that's being a professional, not just a major league baseball player, but a professional athlete that really understands their role within that team concept and carries it out to the best of their ability every day. And I think that's something that, you know, not everybody's going to be the star player. Not everybody's going to be the number one starter on the team on the mound. Not everybody's going to be the closer in the bullpen. Not everybody's going to be the superstar on the field. That's not possible. But we most certainly can be the best that we can be within the job we're being asked to fulfill. And if you've got some players on, you know this. Any athlete will tell you this that's played. If you have some players on the team that aren't willing to accept their role within the team, you'll never win a championship.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

That's so true. And I look at everything from like an identity perspective. And, you know, some of the questions I ask, and like what I'm hearing back in relation to what made you so good is some of that is so unique to you and your willingness to do these things, be intellectual, be analytical, dive into what is next. And it tells you that you're a professional and it gives you the conviction to say, I am a professional because it's part of who you are. And those behaviors reflect that and earn that right. And some athletes from either a lack of awareness or lack of caring don't know how to earn the identity of being capable of playing in the MLB, in the NFL, NBA at a high level and do it the right way. And to bring awareness to those actions that earn the right, to be confident in any situation, to know that, hey, I can hit this ball to the right side and move the runner over. I can do this in the World Series game seven. I can do this in, you know, game one of 162 game season because I've done it over and over again. I've taken the time, I've prepared, and I've readied myself for this. And people lack the uh I don't know if lack is the right word, but they aren't doing those things. They aren't building that awareness around themselves. They aren't building the desire to be all in. And a lot of people just look at it as being an athlete because being an athlete worked for a long period of time. It works when you're younger, it works when you're better than everybody else. But as you climb or excuse me, climb the ranks, the gap between the best and everybody else is razor thin. And everybody else was the best in college and the best in high school and the best athlete. And that's where being a professional athlete comes in, going from a student athlete to a professional athlete, just going from an athlete to being a professional athlete. And like you said, I love how you keep saying you earn the right to call yourself a professional. That's what made you a professional, was the actions that you took. And I think that is just such a powerful thing for athletes and professional athletes in particular to hear as well, is there's a difference. There's a distinct difference between being there on ability and being a professional.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

That is so true. And if I were just going to relate it to football, which I'm very limited in my knowledge of, but just that team concept, I think I do realize and understand this. When you know, as a player on a football field, that that teammate that's playing next to you or on the other side of the field from you is going to be where he is extremely prepared, number one. And number two, is going to be where he is supposed to be no matter what happens. In other words, you can trust him. You have the utmost trust in him. He's not going to cost you a game because he's not prepared or he's out of position. He may get beat, everybody does. There's no question about that. But he's not going to get beat because he makes a mental mistake. And he's not going to get beat because he's not prepared. He may get beat because the other guy across the line from him is just a little bit better or a step faster, whatever it may be.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

But I actually just got off the phone. I just got off the phone with one of the NFL guys I work with. He plays nickel in the NFL. And we were talking about almost this exact point where uh, because he he's a jack of all trades type of player, and we were talking about the nickel specifically. And this is how guys who have less talent, because he is not the most talented in the NFL, but he's been in the league for a while now, and he's going to continue to be in the league. And he talks about, he's like, I know every single detail. He's like, when I particularly when I'm in the nickel, he's like, you have to. You have no other choice. You can't play that position. He's like, I know tendencies. He knows, I know when people line up, what they're going to do. He's like, I know my responsibility everywhere. He's like, I know my skill set. He's like, I know from a technical standpoint how I need to line up on different players based off

The Hidden Skills That Win Games<br>

SPEAKER_00 27:08

of their profile that complement or opposite of mine. He's like, I know every single detail about my own defense and about the other team's offense. And he's like, it gives me a step over people who are quicker and faster than me because I know exactly where I need to be and when I need to be there.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

And that's that's a great point. And something that uh oftentimes just gets overlooked. And to your point, this is what this particular player understands is that if you prepare in the manner that this individual that you just talked about, the way that he prepares, you bring more value to the team than someone who has more skill than he does, but they don't prepare like he does. So they'll get beat because they're not prepared. He'll make a play because he is when the other guy is two steps faster. And that's the difference between a guy that's just a really good athlete and a good player. You know, I mean, he he can play at that level, but this guy brings something that he doesn't. This guy's gonna help you win ball games when the other guy's gonna get beat and cost you a game. And that's the difference between that I said it earlier, and it's the point you're alluding to now. Is that's the difference between a guy that, like I said, is a major league baseball player and a professional. Professionals win championships. Everyday run-of-the-mill players, they put up good stats, they stay around in the league for 10 or 12 years, they make a lot of money, they're very successful, but they don't win championships. Professionals do.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

My buddy's an executive for an NFL team and they've run very well. Super successful, been successful for a long time. And with the draft, we were talking about it, and he and he says, he's like, I can't get over in this league the amount of people who are incompetent in terms of the things that they look at. He's like, I'll talk with other teams and how they scout and how they report on players. He's like, it some of it's very media-based. He's like, nobody's looking at the makeup of people, how they prepare, how they do things the right way. They don't look at, hey, if I'm drafting X player, I don't want to play with a massive ego. He's like, I'll take a less talented player in round four who is all about serving the team and serving the role. He's like, I don't care if they're slow or slower. He's like, if they serve that role and they're all in, they'll be infinitely better to the team. You know, people look at just one part of the equation, how fast someone runs, how high they jump, how athletic they are, how good they look with their shirt off, but they're missing the important key components of building a team. There's a difference between constructing talent and then building a team capable of winning. And it's night and day between the people, individuals who do it right, and then the teams and organizations collectively. And the part that's befuddling to me is with all the information out there, more so than ever before, why can't more individuals and more teams get it right? The only thing I come back to is there's some people just have this, and some organizations just have like this innate desire. So I think some people are just interested, and then a lot of people, or I should say a lot of people are just interested, and some people are truly committed. And you can see the difference in how they live their lives.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

I'm gonna relate it to football now. You know, Tom Brady, of course, we all know the career that he had. But I remember him saying something one time, and I'm gonna give you two opposite examples. Tom Brady, when talking about this preparation and being a real professional, he said, by the time the Super Bowl game started, they couldn't throw a defensive look at me that I didn't know exactly who was going to be open and where to go with the ball. No surprises. And we know what he was able to accomplish. But most people just think, oh, he's a great quarterback. They don't see the prep. And then there was another quarterback, because I have a friend of mine, well, an acquaintance, played in the NFL for 16 years, was a blocking fullback, had a great career. But there was a young quarterback, he was a first-round draft pick, tremendous athlete, had all the skills. And I'm not gonna name any names, but he just couldn't figure it out. You know, as a layman fan like me, I look at him and go, Yeah, this guy makes a lot of mistakes. You know, he just, it's obvious. He's not pre. So I asked him about it. He was with the team at the time. And he said he's never gonna be a big-time NFL quarterback because as a matter of fact, he's gonna be out of the league in two or three years. And I said, with his skill set, he said, yeah. I said, why? He goes, because he can't be yet beyond the second level of that defense and defensive looks. Once they start to mix and match, mix it up a little bit with their coverages and so forth, he's not prepared. He has no interest in preparing, and he goes, in the NFL in that league, you're not gonna be around very long if you don't prepare. It's just not gonna happen. And I thought that was but to take it one step further, uh uh Pat Gillick, who was the general manager in Toronto when I was there, and of course, he's now in the baseball hall of fame based upon his accomplishments as an executive in baseball, brilliant baseball man. I could see talent, I could really recognize talent. But he understood what it took to put a winner together. But I remember he he said something to me one time offhand, and I'll never forget it. He said, We are going to win, that is our goal. And if we have a player here that doesn't buy into what we're doing, and he may be a really good player or a really good pitcher, he's not gonna be long for this franchise. We're gonna move him along, we're gonna trade him, we're gonna let him go, send

Studying Tendencies And Pressure Patterns<br>

SPEAKER_01 32:40

him someplace else. Because he's not bought into where it is we're trying to go. So sometimes, I I think you've touched on it, is you have to have leadership that says, yeah, this guy's a great talent. He's a tremendous talent, but he's not a winner. He's not interested in preparing to win, buying into what it is that we're doing. So we're gonna send him somewhere else. But there's a guy out here playing for another team who doesn't have this skill set, but he's a real pro and he knows what it takes to win. And so we're gonna send this guy packing. Let's somebody that's all caught up with the six foot three, four, three, forty, two hundred and fifteen-pound frame, whatever it may be, we're gonna send him packing and we're gonna find somebody that knows how to win and can make plays for us when it means something because they're so prepared. I think that's a critical part of building championships as well, is you have to be able to let go and say, he's had enough time, we need to move on. And that may be somebody that steps in in that role that doesn't have his skill set, but he's a better player and he's better prepared. To me, that's how you win championships.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Or touched on leadership. It's a big part. You've touched on leadership a number of times, and I know you you've worked with some legendary managers. Bobby Cox is one you've mentioned a number of times, Hall of Fame manager. What was it that they did so well? Wow.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

Well, what made them successful for me, number one, I would say they were very humble. And I'm gonna I'm gonna put Ceto Gasson and Bobby Cox in the same category. I'm gonna talk about those two. They were very humble. As a result of their humility, they were always constantly learning so they didn't repeat the same mistakes. They were extremely good at leading and managing people. They understood the personalities on the team, which enabled them, through their understanding of the personalities, to get to how do I approach this athlete? I can't approach Rance as the same way I would approach a Lloyd Mosby. We're different personalities. So that helped them understand their personalities and get the best out of their personnel. And the other thing that they did that was, I think, maybe more than anything else, or just as important, is you were gonna play to win, and anything less than that was not acceptable. Period. And I don't care if you're the superstar on the team, if you didn't run a game ball out or you didn't play the way you were supposed to, they'd yank you out of the ballgame. Or sit you down for a couple of days and say, hey, when you decide you're gonna go about it the right way, let me know, I'll put you back in the lineup. So they made it very clear that there's only one performance that's gonna be acceptable, and that is you're prepared and you're gonna play the game the right way, the way it should be played, and play to win. And if you're not gonna do that, we're gonna find somebody else that will. And those three things that I just mentioned were non-negotiable, and everybody was treated the same. If you didn't go about it the right way, you were sure enough gonna hear about it. And it might not be pu it might be a private conversation in the manager's office, but you were gonna hear about it. And they were those three things non-negotiable, period.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

I think about like upholding standard, upholding standards that are equivalent. Now, how did like how did a manager get that same buy-in from you know executives that, hey, hey, we're paying this guy X amount of dollars. Why are you taking him out for not running hard on a ground ball or whatever, whatever the situation may be? How did there, how was there consistent communication from all the way up to the top to all the way down to the bottom?

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Well, I believe, first of all, the top at that time in Toronto, as far as what I just described, everybody was on the same page. That's what was expected from the president of the ball club to the general manager of the ball club to the manager in a dugout. Everybody was on the same page. Not acceptable. Remember what I said about Pat Gillick? Mm-hmm. We're gonna have people here that want to win. And we'll send somebody else out of here that's a real talent, that has no interest in that, is an attitude problem that we don't want around because he's a detriment. He's a negative, not a positive, and they would get rid of him. But the other thing I would say about Ceto Gaston and Bobby Cock is they were the manager in the dugout. And they were gonna make the personnel decisions when it came to, I'm gonna yank somebody out of the game. You're not gonna play tomorrow. Matter of fact, I'm not gonna put you back in the lineup until you decide you're gonna go about it the right way. And if you if they decide they're gonna fire me, they fire me. But I am not going to sit around

Unselfish Identity And Daily Reliability<br>

SPEAKER_01 37:30

and tolerate less than anything but maximum effort and professionalism from the guys that I'm managing. And if you want to send me packing and bring somebody in here that's gonna allow some of this to go on, in other words, I'm the man that's in charge. I make out the lineup card and I'll make the end game decisions. And some of those decisions are tough, but I'll make them. And if it means you don't like what I'm doing and you fire me, so be it. That's okay. I'll accept that. It's my job. And if I don't make decisions that the decisions that I think are necessary to build this into a championship team, you're gonna end up firing me anyway. Because if I allow this type of behavior to continue and go on, where are we going with that? Guys just do what they want to. If they don't want to run a ball out because they're frustrated, if they don't want to prepare and play the same the way that the game should be played, and I'm gonna tolerate that, then I'm gonna end up being fired anyway. So if I'm gonna get fired, I might as well get fired doing it the way I feel it needs to get done. And that's what I would say about Ceto and Bobby Cox. And when you combine all of these together, you have the best chance to win. I think that's why Toronto, during that time frame, as a very young franchise, went to the postseason four times and eventually won back-to-back World Series championships. It didn't happen by accident, it happened by design. Consistency, year in, year out, throughout the entire organization. Here's how it's going to get done. This is the way we're going to go about it. Scouting, player development, major league level.

SPEAKER_00 39:03

What I love is hearing the multifaceted personalities that we can have. And I talked earlier about making things black and white and making other things nuanced. And you hear how you're talking about those managers, how they can be super humble, always looking to learn, not or not afraid to admit their faults, but in that same breath, be very convicted in the in what it takes to win and upholding a standard and being firm but fair, learning how to communicate with different personalities on the team. It's every single one of us is multifaceted in personality. And I think too frequently we box ourselves into one way to view ourselves when in reality we can be multiple things at a time. We can be highly have high conviction and high confidence and have a little bit of ego, but still have that humility and willingness to buy into a role, to do what's right, to be willing to learn. And when we box ourselves and make ourselves to black and white, that is when we restrict our growth and restrict how high we can really be, versus when we dive into the, hey, I am multifaceted. I can be this when I need to be, and I can be the equal opposite when that is required as well.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

No, there's no question. That's definitely true. There's, there's, there are times that we can be, it's it look, I think anybody that's a successful professional athlete or successful in anything in life. And by the way, what we're talking about right here and discussing today applies to so many things in life, right? It applies across the board. It's okay to have a little bit of ego sometimes. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. I think that is part of, you talk about the nuances, you know, the different personalities, our different traits. That's part of what drives us. You know, we can is our ego to some degree. But there's so many other moving parts that have to fall into place that are taking place day in, day out with the individual athletes and together as a team that make individually and as a team successful that most fans, most people never see or understand. And that's not a criticism of them, but they're they're not involved, right? They're doing they have their careers, they're trying to make a living, raise their etc. etc. So they don't see all of those things. But if there's any if there's any part of that mechanism that's missing, you just can't you're never gonna win consistently with consistency, and you're probably never gonna win a championship unless it's just by a f it's a fluke. You know, we occasionally that does happen. But to be consistent day in, day out, you have to But I think it's all right. Like I play you, you played, I played, I played with athletes that had egos. Yeah. I mean it's yeah, they had egos. You know, they had egos. But you know what they did? But they when it when they got to the ballpark and when it came time to play the game, they prepared and they did what it took during the course of that game to help us win. Whatever that situation called upon. And so, you know, I I get the way I look at the way I kind of approached that teammate of that clubhouse atmosphere was did I like everybody that I played with? The answer would that be no. Did everybody like me that I played with? The answer to that would be no. But what mattered to all of us more than anything else is that person prepared and doing the best they can to help us win. Because once they get to the ballpark, we got to put all that other stuff aside and go win a baseball game. And it didn't matter, you know, when you get caught up, that's that's something else that I think is critical to winning, is it doesn't matter if I like you and you like me. What matters is do we do our job? That's what matters as professional athletes. That's what that's what matters. That's all I care about. If you were my teammate, all I care about, are you prepared? And I would expect that you, as my teammate, would also want to know that I'm prepared. And if you felt I wouldn't, or if I didn't go about it correctly, you would bring it to my attention and say, hey, you know, you're better than that. You knew what you needed to do in that situation, and you were selfish in that situation. And we lost the ball game tonight because you didn't do what you know and I know you needed to do in that situation. So look, it's part of those moving parts. Yeah, I I never had a problem with ego and personalities. Because we, like you say, we're all different. You know, I mean, we are. Um, it's

Talent Versus Team Building In Pro Sports<br>

SPEAKER_01 43:24

just part of the process, part of going through it. You know, that's a really good point. We to be successful in life, you have to learn, we all have to learn how to deal with people. Right? Yeah. I mean, that's it's part of it. You know, in a in a in a group. I mean, it's that's we all have to do that. And that's perfectly normal and okay. It's all right.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

You bring up a really good point in it's not about liking each other. And I think culture and standards can be confused with kumbaya, we're best friends, we're we're brothers, we hug each other. And to me, respect is so much more important than being liked. When you inherently in deep And respect someone for who they are and the way that they carry themselves and the way that they approach their work, that inherently will bring a closer bond or connectedness than, hey, I like going out and having a beer with you, you know. And I'm not not to say you can't have both, but like you said, the as a professional athlete, when we show up, you know, you show up to your work and we're in a professional setting, I need to trust you're gonna do your job because we both inherently, even if you do the minimum, give a lot to be here. And we're chasing goals and we're chasing multiple goals at a singular time. And I need to know that you're in this with me. And the more I know that you're in this with me, the more respect I'm gonna have for you, the more respect we're gonna have for one another. And the more that we're either consciously or subconsciously gonna make decisions that better not just one of us, but the both of us and the collective of the unit.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

No, it's a great point. And something else that the word that I think is based upon what you described, what that means is is this we trust each other to do what needs to get done. And that trust is huge, right? You have to know that your teammate and your teammate has to know that I myself, it goes back to that being prepared. I can trust you in every situation to know that you're going to do what you're supposed to do. And that's critical as well. If there's any doubt about that, then it it leads to a breakdown. You start to have a breakdown in that in that machine in order to try to win. Respect and trust. Like you say, your point is great in the fact that I don't have to like you, you don't have to like me. But as professionals, we have a job to do, and we've got to have respect for each other and trust. And if we have that, then we give ourselves the best chance to succeed.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

Well, hey, Rance, I appreciate you coming on today, my friend. It's been a pleasure getting to have a conversation with you. You have a wealth of knowledge. I, you know, winning winning a World Series in 15 years in in the MLB will do that for you. But if people want to reach out to you, you know, they want to get a hold of you, you have anything to highlight, please take the time to do so now.

SPEAKER_01 46:12

Well, you can I have a website, uh, which I'm it's just go to rancemollonix.com and uh take a look at the website. I always enjoy a lot of feedback. I'm I'm probably gonna be making some changes, adding some things to it, because it's a process that I'm, you know, that process that I'm going to. But that aside, what my goal is with everything that I'm doing is yes, I want to help people succeed and be a better athlete and experience more success as an athlete. But as I mentioned earlier, and we've we've we've touched on on a number of occasions, it applies across the board. And I just want to help young athletes and anyone, anybody else, no matter what their career is, understand the value of making change when it's necessary and how much that can benefit us. And I can use myself and what happened during my career as an example of that. But that's what I want to do. I want to help people be more successful and in their careers and in their relationships. And if there's anything that I can take from my personal experience in life and as a professional athlete that can help them along with that process, that's my goal. That's what I want. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

I love that. Thank you again, Rance. I appreciate it. Listeners, thank you for tuning in. Tune in next week. Download the pod, subscribe to our YouTube channel, check us out at athleticfortitude.com. Five stars only, baby.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

Appreciate you, Rance. Appreciate you. Thanks for having me on. I've really enjoyed the conversation. It's been great.