The Kid at Second Base Who Is Learning How to Lead
How preparing young athletes for leadership early bridges the gap between talent and real influence on the field.
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The Kid at Second Base Who Is Learning How to Lead
A pro mental performance coach said something recently that should change how you coach tomorrow. His name is Kellen Lee. He works inside the Seattle Mariners organization. And the thing that stopped me wasn’t the credential — it was the clarity.
Results drive fear. Process creates confidence.
I’ve been sitting with that line for a week. Not because it’s new. Because I watched it play out in real time with a college team I’ve been working with this spring. And it started with a kid at second base who doesn’t quite know he’s becoming a leader yet.
A Junior Who Doesn’t Know He’s Being Watched
He’s talented. His teammates know it. His coaches know it. And somewhere underneath the missed signals and the loose energy at practice, he knows it too.
The problem isn’t ability. It’s that nobody has ever told him what leadership actually requires — and the people around him are waiting for him to show them before they’ll follow.
That’s not a knock on him. That’s the norm.
Here’s the pattern I’ve seen at every level: a coach decides a player will be captain next year. Maybe they tell him. Maybe they don’t. Either way, there’s no plan. No framework. No development. The player is handed a title and expected to grow into it — as if leadership just shows up when the moment calls for it.
I’ve been in and around sport for decades. I can’t think of one program — college, high school, travel ball — that looked at a future captain and said: we know this is coming, so let’s actually prepare him for it. Not one. And that’s a miss. Even natural leaders have blind spots. Even they have habits that undercut their influence before they’ve said a word.
That gap is what we’re addressing this summer. We’re piloting a captain development program — working specifically with players identified as future leaders — to train what leadership looks and feels like before the title ever arrives. Not a speech. Not a one-day workshop. A structured process for building leadership identity, communication under pressure, and the composure that makes teammates want to follow you when things go sideways.
More on that soon. But first — back to second base.
The Turning Point Is Happening. Slowly.
The junior at second base isn’t lacking character. He’s lacking awareness. He doesn’t yet see the gap between how he shows up at practice and how his teammates read it.
He forgets a signal — laughs it off. Practice gets loose — he matches the energy. He’s not being disrespectful. He genuinely doesn’t know that leadership is being evaluated all the time, not just in the big moments.
Last week something shifted. He caught himself mid-laugh after a missed rep, reset, and got back to work without being told. Small moment. Nobody else probably noticed. But that’s exactly the moment the work is built for.
That shift started with one question: What’s your Weather right now?
☀️ Sunny — Dialed in. Confident. Ready to compete.
☁️ Cloudy — Not quite locked in, but building. The tools are there.
🌧️ Stormy — High mental load. This is your reset starting line.
Most players use Weather to manage their own at-bats. Future leaders need to use it to manage rooms. When a team is Stormy after a tough loss, the captain doesn’t match that energy — he changes it. But you can’t change a room’s weather if you can’t manage your own first.
That’s the work. And it’s starting to show.
Culture Isn’t a Poster on the Wall
One of the first things I do with any team is define their principles together — not mine, theirs. What do we stand for? How do we compete? What does this team look like on the best day and the hardest one?
We write them down. We come back to them — when things are going well, when they’re grinding, and especially when they’re falling apart. Principles aren’t motivation. They’re a compass.
A captain who can point back to what the team agreed to stand for — in the middle of a tough stretch, in a quiet moment before a must-win game — is worth more than any pregame speech.
That’s what we’re building. Not just a player who can lead, but a player who understands why teammates follow, and what his job is when the scoreboard isn’t cooperating.
Lee puts it well: when athletes focus on controllable aspects — routines, effort, process — they build reliable confidence that holds up under pressure. That’s as true for a captain managing a dugout as it is for a hitter managing a slump.
The RPM Advantage — For Leaders Too
The same framework we use with every player applies directly here: Routine, Process, Mindset.
That junior at second base is learning all three in real time.
Routine — He’s learning that how he shows up at practice is his leadership. Consistent effort, consistent focus, consistent body language. Before you can change a room, you have to be consistent in one.
Process — Leaders who chase outcomes — wins, approval, the stat line — lose their footing when results don’t come. Leaders who stay anchored to process stay steady. Teammates feel that and pull toward it.
Mindset — This one isn’t manufactured. It’s earned through reps. The same way you build a swing, you build a leadership mindset — one day, one practice, one decision at a time.
And when things go wrong on the field — because they will — that’s when ARC does its job. Acknowledge what happened. Release it. Concentrate on the next play. For a captain, that sequence isn’t just a personal reset. It’s a message to every player watching: we’re still competing. Follow me.
This Week’s Monday Morning Task
Look at your roster. Identify one player who will likely wear a leadership role next year.
Now ask yourself honestly: what are you actually doing to prepare him for it?
If the answer is “not much” — you’re not alone. But that can change. And it starts long before the title does.
Leaders aren’t named. They’re built — rep by rep, long before anyone hands them a C.
Be where your feet are. Compete the next pitch. Own the process.
— Game Ready Mindset
About the author
Scott K. Wilder is the founder of Game Ready Mindset™, a program and platform for teams and athletic programs, working with players, position groups, and teams in baseball, soccer, softball, and volleyball. He holds a Master’s from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University), an MBA from New York University, and a Master’s in International Studies and Conflict Resolution from The Johns Hopkins University, with coaching credentials from Georgetown University, Brian Cain’s MPM Program, the National Federation of High Schools, and FC Barcelona Football Club. He is the author of Millennial Leaders, Find What Energizes You (just published), and Compete in Any Weather.