In Search of an Authoritative Manager

Since other things have been preoccupying me lately, I've offered no commentary about recent Bucco happenings that pleased me. The total housecleaning that rid the Pirates of Creech and Graham, in addition to this year's coaching staff, was something that had to happen. And for once, something that had to happen actually happened.

Which brings me to the start of another Bucco offseason. The baseball playoffs are underway which of course means the Pittsburgh Pirates are no longer playing baseball. In addition to hiring a new scouting director and director of player development, the Buccos will need a new skipper for next year. Since several other blogs love to speculate about various candidates (and believe me, I enjoy reading all that speculation) for the vacant Pittsburgh managerial position, I thought rather than list names of potential candidates, I'd list the qualities I see as crucial for the next manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates to possess.

Allow me to begin with yet another teaching analogy (three years spent in a middle school classroom will do this to you, be forewarned). As a teacher, I learned about four different types of "classroom management" profiles. A teacher who profiles as "laissez-faire" is a teacher who places few "demands or controls" students and is more concerned for their emotional well-being than being concerned that they learn anything. An "indifferent" teacher places few demands on students and thus the classroom lacks discipline. An "indifferent" teacher is also generally disinterested, and rarely puts any time into preparing lessons for the class, and students can sense their teacher's indifference. Just as "laissez-faire" and "indifferent" were definitely not the profiles to achieve success in a classroom of children, so too did Jim Tracy's managing style, what I believe to be a hybrid of "laissez-faire" and "indifferent," was not a way to achieve success with a fairly young and inexperienced team.

However, based on the blogs I regularly read, I believe some Bucco fans are mistakenly screaming for Tracy's antithesis--which would be an "authoritarian" manager. In education, an "authoritarian" teacher is described as one who places "firm controls and limits" on students (which, admittedly, sounds pretty good, especially if a classroom lacks discipline in the first place). Yet an "authoritarian" teacher is also one who expects swift obedience without explaining the rationale behind decisions, allows no room for communication, and gives no indication of caring about the students they teach. Given the past two years under Jim Tracy's at best laissez-faire and at worst indifferent management style, it is understandable why some Bucco fans are yearning for an authoritarian manager who will crack a whip and constantly hold players accountable.

Except--here's the thing. Both students and baseball players can be held accountable with reasonable discipline. While reasonable discipline might involve cracking an occasional whip, in the classroom, an "authoritative" teacher is the one who firmly establishes expectations and consequences for the failure to meet those expectations while also clearly communicating the rationale behind those expectations and consequences. An "authoritative" teacher shows their care for students by clearly communicating to students when expectations have been exceeded or reached and remains in clear communication when expectations are not being reached. In the vast majority of American classrooms, an "authoritative" teacher is the type of instructor most likely to get the best results in terms of classroom culture and student achievement.

While I understand the thirst for an authoritarian figure who will show his "passion" by losing his temper, getting into fights, and publicly calling out every player who fails to meet expectations, the Buccos do not need an authoritarian manager. The Pirates need an authoritative manager. The Pirates will need an authoritative manager regardless of whether the team trades a few high profile players this offseason or if the team remains pretty much the same.

Why do the Pirates require an authoritative manager? If the team is going to trade away any assets this offseason, a "rebuilding" phase will occur. A "rebuilding" team--e.g. a young and inexperienced one--will need a manager who can hold players accountable while also clearly communicating with them. An authoritarian manager who may occasionally excite the players will also frustrate young and inexperienced players due to a lack of communication skills. In order for young and inexperienced players to improve, they need to be managed and coached in such a way that they know what they need to improve and how they can improve. A passionate, fiery authoritarian manager may rouse one player from his doldrums, but overall, such an authoritarian manager would likely do more harm than good due to an inability to communicate clearly with, and thus coach, the majority of the team's players.

While I pay little heed to the sparkling and lengthy adverbs with which the new Bucco general manager continually peppers his speech (readers of this blog know Mr. Huntington and I are probably a little similar, verbiage wise), I will break down what Mr. Huntington should be looking for in a manager in one word: Authoritative. Authoritative enough to be able to hold his players accountable for their conduct on and off the field. Authoritative enough to be able to communicate clearly with every player on the team, which means learning that one motivation method (a public call out) may work great for one player but that another motivation method (a more private rebuke) is necessary for another player. Authoritative enough to lead a major league team and authoritative enough to allow players to assume leadership responsibilities at the right time. Authoritative enough to respond to progressions, setbacks, regressions, wins, and losses, with the right combination of rationality and emotion. Authoritative enough to demonstrate to his players his care by thorough preparation for spring training and games and authoritative enough to demand his players continuously prepare themselves in the same professional manner. Authoritative enough to demand the bottom line results in terms of winning games and yet be able to work out all the steps, good and bad, that will help a club become a winning baseball team.

With that being said, what would my short list for an "authoritative" manager resemble?

1. I want a manager. I want someone with managerial (but not necessarily major league) managerial experience. While I'm sure there are successful first-time managers who don't make the mistakes of going too authoritarian or too laissez-faire to compensate for their inexperience, I don't want to take the unnecessary risk of entrusting a young and inexperienced team to a person who's inexperienced in management. Management is different than coaching third base, and I want to hire a manager who has a track record of success in his role as a manager of a baseball team.

2. I do not want authoritarian, laissez-faire, or indifferent managers, no matter how successful the big-league or minor-league teams they previously managed were. An authoritarian figure who can't communicate and lacks coaching and tactical skills will not help young players learn how to improve. A laissez-faire manager could work quite well on a veteran team full of very good to great players, but a laissez-faire manager is not going to fly with a young and inexperienced team. The Pirates need to find a manager who's experienced success using an authoritative style--clear communication, clear instruction, and clear accountability.

3. Someone who is passionate and who cares. And yes, an authoritative manager can be someone who is passionate and who cares--and that might mean there are very specific occasions, rather than weekly or daily occasions, when he finds himself raising his voice.


Given this list, you can probably guess what I don't want:

1. Passionate, emotional men who played the game but don't have a clue how to communicate with the current generation of players, have no tactical knowledge of how to manage games, and have no instructional skills. A complete lack of communication skills and basic intelligence are also, obviously, not desirable traits.

2. Experienced coaches with a track record of success gained through managing teams very different than will be the 2008 Pirates.


Clearing Up Any Confusion:

1. Passion and emotion are necessary, but the next manager must apply his passion and emotion in the right directions--in clearly communicating his expectations to his players, ensuring his coaching staff provides the proper preseason and in-season instruction to meet those expectations, and demanding accountability while also holding himself accountable for preparation--rather than applying his passion and emotion to showcasing how passionate and emotional he is and only being Jim Tracy's antithesis in personality but not in terms of bottom-line results.

2. Basically speaking, the Pirates are still going to have a fairly young pitching staff next season. Outside of a few arbitration eligible players, the Pirates are going to have several players still making entry-level salaries next season. When thinking about a manager, you have to have a manager who will be able to push the right buttons to help a young starting pitcher achieve consistency and to help a position player avoid defensive mental lapses. You have to have a manager with the sense to know the appropriate time to give a pitcher the hook, and you must have a manager who has the right combination of patience, impatience, accountability, high standards--to have the sense to bench a player or allow him to work out of his slump and to give a pitcher the freedom to respond to a poor outing with a good one. You have to have a manager who can communicate with his team and reach his team and teach his team and lead his team. You have to have a manager who can know his players and a manager whom the inexperienced players will respect and heed.

So, without any name-dropping, the one attribute that stands out, above all else, when it comes to next season's manager, is that he must be authoritative.
Get an authoritative manager, and, hopefully, that hire will eventually demonstrate why the "authoritative" style is often regarded as the best of all management styles.