Lessons from the Matheny Firing

Last week the St. Louis Cardinals fired manager Mike Matheny.  Despite this being a game, it is a business at the professional level.  Decisions have to be made and people have to move on.  The organization decided that we would be better off with a new manager.  Let's be clear, he is not the type to bring shame to the Cardinals and he did not exhibit behavior that demanded him be fired.  Don't forget, hall of famer Tony LaRussa was arrested for DUI back in 2007.  Mike was fired for the well complained about poor game decision making that led to tough losses despite having a talented team.  Other rumors were that he had lost the confidence of the locker room and it was time to part ways.  I'm happy that it was not because he has compromised his values in any way.  From what I understand, he is very good man.

In Cardinal Nation there was jubilation and joking over the firing.  People see this move about wins and losses and in some ways see this firing as an indication that Matheny is a terrible baseball manager.  After the firing, new reasons to dislike Mike surfaced.  Look at the Tweet on the bottom right.  Remember when Matheny was hired, people liked the notion that he was a man of faith and it gave him credibility and we had confidence that he would uphold the Cardinal way.  It's funny how our perception of coaches can change with wins and losses.  I think fans have been a little unfair.

It's not all bad.  There are some reasonable people out there.  For all the guys with jokes there are people that do care that he will land on his feet.  Matheny has been very gracious in his exit and says he is thankful for the opportunity he was given.  He for sure has a ton of class and I'm sure he will find new opportunities in the MLB.

To my fellow school administrators, lets examine ourselves as people that could some day meet the same fate.  You can do everything right, lead with your values, genuinely care about people and give everything you have but still become a victim of a "change in direction".  In a lot of ways, we would suffer the same treatment.  If you were to be let go, there would be some that feel it was deserved and make their objections to you suddenly known and then there would be some that are sympathetic to your situation.  What creates an unfair scenario for us is that the most vocal seem to be those with objections to your leadership style or approach and they obviously do not know what you deal with and what you sacrifice for your position.  These are the people that shape public opinion and that is a painful experience for people like us.

Matheny was aware that if things did not improve, he was going to be let go.  He was aware that he was not longer a good fit for the organization.  We are very familiar with the word "fit".  We are taught early that fit is everything.  When we look for a job we are making sure that we fit the school or district so we can serve at the highest level and positively impact the students.  The critical element for us is to recognize when the fit is no longer there, we still must serve with our values and integrity just as Mike Matheny has.  His firing doesn't mean is a bad manager.  He obviously has something to offer if he has been successful at the highest level.  He will just have to find the team that can benefit from that the most.  A parallel we can relate to and learn from.