Joe Maddon and Volleyball…(preview for VolleyballMag)

Joe Maddon is a baseball manager famous for thinking outside of the box. He’s also an outstanding “people person.” He guided the 2016 Chicago Cubs to the World Series title, and while his specific ideas do not always work, the philosophies on which he he tries to base them are sound.

As with most things in life, Maddon’s theory about the five stages of a ballplayer’s career isn’t really original. You can see an earlier template for this with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs/theory of human motivation. For Maslow, an individual put the most effort into securing basic necessities first and only when those were taken care of did the person worry about “self-actualization.” For Maddon, the top of the pyramid comes when a player is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of team victory.

In brief, Maddon’s five stages are: — “I’m Just Happy to be Here” — “I Need to Survive This” — “I Belong” — “Getting My Stats/Being a Starter” — “I Don’t Care — Just Win, Baby”

…if you are interested in reading the rest of the article, check it out at www.volleyballmag.com!!!  Otherwise, hit that ‘follow’ button if you like reading odd opinions on volleyball, history, sports, or culture.