Compassionate Leadership And The Ronny Simon Story

Forbes

29-05-2025

Positive workforce cultures recognize that we all have 'Ronny Simon' days.
Sports vignettes can often provide valuable leadership lessons, whether by actions on the field, in the clubhouse or in the front office. All too often, however, those lessons are inherently negative; e.g., 'palms up' body language from team stars; coaches who lose the respect of their players; impatient owners who make rash termination decisions.
Then there's the Ronny Simon story, in which his Miami Marlins teammates and coaches responded to his dreadful on-the-field miscues with a very public demonstration of sympathy, support and camaraderie.
It's the most 'feel good' kind of lesson; about how leadership support, understanding and compassion in the face of individual adversity can make a difference not only to the player, but also change the internal dynamic of the team and perhaps how it is considered by its fan base. Business leaders should take note; it's a cost-free lesson.
In some ways, it resembles a baseball version of 'It's A Wonderful Life'. Simon is that not ‒ uncommon commodity, the baseball vagabond. Signed at age 18, he has languished in various corners of the lower minor leagues for seven years without ever reaching he majors. The back of his baseball card resembles a road map, compiling 558 games in towns ranging from Hillsboro (where's that?), Visalia (hello, Crash Davis), Mesa, and Bowling Green to Montgomery, Durham and Jacksonville (the 'Jumbo Shrimp').
He isn't a big guy; he certainly isn't a star. He's just a guy who loves playing ball. But miracles do happen, and he was called up by the Miami Marlins on April 20, as a reserve infielder. Finally, he had reached 'The Show'. But the miracle turned into misery on the evening of May 27 in San Diego, before 40,000 Padres fans.
For on that evening, second baseman Simon was charged with three errors before the end of the fourth inning (and was briefly charged with a fourth). After the last of the errors, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough humanely called a mound meeting, in which the entire infield surrounded Simon with visible demonstrations of support; backslapping, rear end patting, shoulder rapping. He was mercifully replaced at the end of the inning but left the field in tears.
Yet after the game, the compassion continued. Simon was showered with support from teammates, retired Marlins stars and even members of the Padres. His response was warmly typical of an underdog: 'Just keep your head up...[D]
And 'the guys' are right ‒ those things are going to happen. And they happen in every occupation, including both sports and business; to all of us. But they are, more often than not, greeted with blame, derision, ridicule and penalization rather than sensitivity, compassion and thoughtfulness.
That's the 'big picture' leadership takeaway from Tuesday evening at Petco Park. As the National Association of Corporate Directors has repeatedly noted, a positive workforce culture is an important organizational asset. And 'winning' organizational cultures will often respond compassionately to Ronny Simon moments within their own workforce. Those cultures will recognize that everyone ‒from the executive suite to the probationary employee ‒ will have 'one of those days'. Almost everyone has had nightmares of garish failure when thrust upon the big stage of their own career.
But winning cultures will also recognize the value in employees who, like Ronny Simon, 'just keep trying;' they're often the glue within a diverse workforce. They're examples of commitment to the mission; they provide inspirational value to those whose work desire may be lacking.
That's not to suggest that individual employees shouldn't eventually be held accountable for their mistakes. There will always be situations in which seemingly harsh employment decisions must be made. Indeed, Ronny Simon's three errors contributed mightily to the Marlins' loss that night in San Diego, and he wasn't in the lineup the next day. His tenure in the majors may prove to be the veritable 'cup of coffee'.
But Simon's contribution to the game, and to leadership principles in general, may ultimately read like an All-Star's statistics line. Because the Marlins' reaction sends a message to all board members, executive and managers who may be prone to 'bench' subordinates whose errors cause the company to lose the equivalent of one game in a long season.
In those circumstances empathy, not ruthlessness, may sometimes be the best leadership strategy, and in so doing score one for the team.