Staying neutral out of hand, Jim Valvano’s epic speech, and SF Giants Kai Correa’s interview
Life lessons through sports.
2.27.23 | by Coach Mike Deegan
The Opener
Later in this article, you’ll get to know San Francisco Giants Bench Coach, Kai Correa better. For now, I’d love to share a phrase he taught me: Neutral out of the hand.
The phrase stems from basketball. When the ball leaves the shooter’s hand, you can often tell if the player thinks it’s going in. They back pedal and hype the crowd up as the ball is still in the air. They are positive it’s going in. Sometimes they are right…. but other times, they are wrong.
How does this relate to leadership?
Coaches, managers, leaders, teachers and CEO’s often assume their message lands with the audience. When asked: How’d the presentation, practice, class or meeting go? They will quickly answer, “Fantastic!”
Meanwhile, if you were to poll the audience you are likely to get a different response.
Much like the shooter backpedaling down the court after the shot, the leader assumes their message is on target. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.
How can we guard against this? We stay neutral. Instead of assuming we crushed it, we ask for feedback. “How did that go?” “What was your key takeaway?” “How did that land with the others?”
Stay neutral out of the hand.
“The closer we can come to experiencing the work as the audience experiences it, the better position we are to evaluate it.”
– Rick Rubin
The Set-up
In John Feinstein’s new book, “The Legend’s Club” there’s a brilliant story of Jim Valvano’s epic speech at the ESPYs. I’m sure you’ve seen the video. Valvano, body riddled with cancerous tumors, implores the audience to: “laugh, cry and think every day.”
If it’s not the best speech of my lifetime, it’s pretty darn close.
Here’s the behind the scenes story as told by Feinstein.
The audience stood and clapped and cheered and cried as Vitale and Kryszewski helped him down the steps. He all but collapsed in Kryzsweski’s arms as he reached his seat. When he sat down, Pam (his wife) leaned over and gave him a kiss.
“Was I okay?” he asked her softly.
“Yes, honey, you were okay.”
He closed his eyes completely drained, and, with the cheers and applause still ringing in his ears, he passed out.
Neutral out of the hand.
The Closer
This week two people I know and admire sat down for a “Damn Good Conversation” on the 1% Better Podcast. If there is a better podcast host than Joe Ferraro, I’d be surprised. His genuine curiosity, preparation, and question asking skills have been on display with guests such as: Seth Godin, Jon Gordon, Mitch Albom, Annie Duke, Steven Covey, and Roy Firestone.
I think the world of Joe. His interview with Kai Correa is my new favorite. The term “master coach/teacher” is frequently used but rarely deservingly so. With that being said, Kai is a master. His ability to communicate complex skills in digestible and vivid ways is second to none. I met Kai in person for the first time in 2019. After spending time with him I told the people I was with, “That’s a feature MLB manager.” He’s well on his way to making my prediction a reality.
If you are interested in teaching, preparation, systems for learning, and communication you’ll love this episode (Shoot…that’s not being neutral out of the hand.)
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