Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Let me tell you about two baseball legends and a lesson that goes far beyond the diamond. Picture this: It's the World Series, Yankees versus Milwaukee Braves. Behind home plate is Yogi Berra, famous for his witty remarks and endless chatter, facing off against the mighty Hank Aaron.

Now, Yogi was doing what Yogi did best - trying to get into the batter's head. "Hey Henry," he called out to Aaron, "you're holding that bat wrong. You need to hold it so you can read the trademark!" Aaron didn't say a word. Instead, he just waited for the pitch, and CRACK! The ball soared into the left-field bleachers. After his victory lap around the bases, Aaron looked at Yogi and simply said, "I didn't come up here to read."

Isn't that just perfect? Aaron knew exactly why he was there - to hit home runs, not to read bat labels. But here's the crazy thing: in today's business world, less than half of employees know their company's mission or values. It's like having a team of players who don't know which game they're playing!

Think about Sarah, a leader I once knew at a struggling tech company. She inherited a team that was talented but directionless. They were like a ship with a skilled crew but no compass. Sarah realized three things that turned everything around:

First, she dug into the company's history, sharing stories of how they started in a tiny garage and grew through innovation. "We need to know where we've been," she told her team, "to understand where we're going."

Second, she made sure everyone understood their current mission - not just as words on a wall, but as a living, breathing purpose. Like Hank Aaron at the plate, her team learned to tune out the distractions and focus on what really mattered.

Finally, she showed them how their present actions were building their future. "Every line of code you write," she'd say, "every customer you help, is laying the foundation for tomorrow."

The transformation was remarkable. Within a year, her team wasn't just meeting goals - they were knocking them out of the park, just like Aaron with that World Series pitch.

The moral of our story? Whether you're at home plate facing a 90-mph fastball or in a conference room facing quarterly targets, knowing your purpose is like having a superpower. It's not enough to just show up - you need to know why you're there.