When I open the door, I can see the spacious living room. The view from the high floor is also good. The eyes of the family are wide open. “Dad, are you staying here?” The child is already excited. It’s a hotel suite. Dad shrugs his shoulders. “Oh, yes. The director gave me this room so that my family can relax.”
On a hot day in the summer of 2018, a field employee of the SK Wyverns baseball team led his family to a spacious room. Family A stays for two days at a luxury메이저사이트 hotel in downtown Seoul, where the air conditioner is blowing. In the baseball team life, which is operated on a season-by-season basis, I used to pay attention to my children’s vacations and family events, A. “It’s hard to see my children’s faces because I come in late at night or go on expeditions on weekdays. Thank you so much for letting the players and staff members use the big room during the expedition. My family likes it more and is proud of it.”
Only Trey Hill was SK manager’s idea at the time. “I just need a regular room. Please give me my room so that I can be comfortable with the players and staff members when they come.”
So the Wyverns’ principle of allocating suites was different from other teams. Professional baseball team coaches are given hotel suites during away games. Airplane seats also provide business seats, which are treated with respect and treatment as a team leader. But Hillman gives his room to others. Choose the happiness of athletes and staff. What did he gain from showing his true feelings. It was respect and dedication.
I was wondering what kind of leadership other team managers have when working on a team. There is no right answer to leadership, and each person has a different style. So look for the team’s training style, conversation style, interview wordings, etc. Arrive in advance according to the other team’s training time. I got a hint from the way coach Kim Kyung-moon analyzes the other team.
The coach’s words and actions are compressed evidence of not only the coach’s individual leadership, but also the coach’s partner, the coaching staff, and the front organization. It will soon be revealed whether the coach and the front desk truly understood and coordinated what the coach thought and said. Otherwise, it goes offbeat and eventually runs aground. Is it just baseball. The world is similar. In any case, it is also the director’s ability to draw such unity. I felt the unity of SK baseball at the time from A, who was proud to tell the story of the suite room.
Hillman’s story was brought up again because he had many thoughts while watching Lotte baseball, which was noisy due to the recent transfer of coaching staff. Lotte Baseball also has the experience of a great foreign coach named Royster, but his “no fear” baseball was incomplete that could not cross the wall of the front desk. Hillman’s case is a good leadership textbook where you can learn how to implement your philosophy under different cultures and baseball traditions in Korea and the United States.
He has been a coach in all Korean, American, and Japanese professional baseball, and he is at the top of the list in Korea and Japan. He’s a very successful director. They make a lot of stories that lead to a strong team by winning the team in 2 years in Korea. A pitcher who finished the game and hugged an infielder who made a decisive mistake. Pitcher Park Jong-hoon said in an interview at the time of his victory, “Hillman was the first one to tell me what’s on my mind. “He’s like a father who’s been listening to a lot of player stories.” Hillman, a devout Christian, explains ‘coaching = love’ before his strategy. Hillman also negotiates with high-ranking officials at the front desk over the management of the coach. This story is not known to the outside world. I think his information and judgment to discipline was possible because the support and trust of many members became a story and spread and accumulated in internal organizations.
Hillman’s story has several messages. Among them, what I want to say to a foreign coach who experiences a foreign culture, and to those who are with him and the team is that the position should not be simply a manager. The coach himself must win hearts from the players, coaches, and front desk. If that’s the case, you need to help. Who is your story written for.
Kim Jong-moon, certified coach of the Korea Coach Association
Kim Jong-moon was a former reporter for the JoongAng Ilbo and served as a front desk for the NC Dinos baseball team from 2011 to 2021. At the end of 2018, he headed the “Last Place” team and led the team to its first championship two years later. He is currently a certified coach (KPC) of the Korea Coach Association.