Bob's Update - October 16, 2006

For sixty years, yes that’s 6 - 0, I’ve been a Tiger fan. My Dad said I learned to read by following the Tiger box scores in the Detroit Times, now long gone. Like a lot of fans, my memories intersect with Tiger accomplishments. I was working in downtown

By almost any measure, considering their recent past, this season for the Detroit Tigers has been pretty phenomenal. They'd lost 300 games the past three seasons. They lost 406 the past four. Three years ago they lost 119 games. They were shutout 17 times. They started the season 1-17. Their last winning season was 1993 when Saturday's starting pitcher, Jeremy Bonderman, was 10 years old.

They have won seven straight postseason games, the last six by at least three runs. No one has ever done that. What’s more they’ve beaten the New York Yankees, one of the biggest money franchises, with a paryoll that dwarfs that of the Tigers.

So, what did they do right this year?

Of course, there are loads of incremental steps and reasons that they now stand atop the American League. Some point to the front office, the owner, the general manager, but you have to think that none of this would have happened without the leadership of Jim Leyland, the Tigers’ manager.

As you listened to Leyland’s comments after the Tigers swept the A’s to make it to the Series, I think you get an idea of his style:

“I think early on in spring training we had a lot of good players. We didn't have a good team. And today I can make the statement that we've got a good team and that's the thing that I'm proudest of."

Now those are the sentiments of what Jim Collins (“Good To Great”) would call a “Level Five” leader. Level Five Leadership is based on the idea that respect towards people, selflessness - even a certain humility – and a powerful commitment to achieve results, bring out the best in those who work with you.

I think that this organization is good on its way to being great; around here we call it “world class”. The County and our staff have recently been honored with local and national awards: the 14A District Court won a national Excellence Award for its web site; Ellen Clement was honored with the University of Michigan’s 2006 Distinguished Public Health Practitioner Award; The Library for the Blind & Physically Disabled just received the 2006 State Librarian’s Excellence Award for exemplary public service and the Jaycees have named Elections Director Derrick Jackson a 2006 Outstanding Young Michigander! Such recognition is one way of being able to demonstrate excellence. And congratulations to all, and to all I might not have mentioned, for your exemplary achievements.

But, like Jim Leyland, it’s good to remember where we have come from, what we’ve had to do to get here and  how we will face the challenges before us. The OCS starts tomorrow – your turn to tell how this franchise is doing. You’ll get an e-mail with the link to the survey. Please take the 10 or 15 minutes to complete it. It’s confidential, it’s important, and it counts as our way to a world series, to a world class organization.

Have a good week, go Tigers & complete that OCS!

Bob