Product Description

Since the 1920’s, the New York Yankees have become the most successful sports franchise in history because of the way they manage their talent and their organization.  So how do they do it?  The Yankees’ sustained success can be traced to 14 core management principles, applicable to any business operating today.  These principles embrace cultivation of home-grown talent, creation of a culture that demands excellence, pursuit and introduction of the most talented players from outside the organization, promotion of a diversified workforce, and utilization of a productive farm system as currency in making talent deals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #846989 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From the Inside Flap
At the heart of the Yankees' dynasty is the organization's incredible track record in managing talent. The Yankees know how to find, nurture, and retain stars and superstars better than anyone else. Lance Berger shows that, contrary to popular belief, the Yankees' talent management secret isn't their payroll. In fact, most Yankees superstars—including such greats as Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, and Bernie Williams—have been developed internally, not bought or traded from other teams. The Yankees' secret weapon, described in this book, is its sophisticated talent management system.

Great businesses emulate the Yankees by finding and keeping the best and brightest talent available. You don't have to pay Yankee-sized salaries, but Berger shows that any business, in order to be successful, needs to develop or hire away from the competition at least one superstar. He explains the Yankees' management strategy for balancing superstars with stars, solid performers, and other key role players, and techniques for developing a deep talent pool. Applying these smart principles to the business world, Berger shows you how to cultivate winning values from the top down; how to establish a standard of excellence above and beyond your competition; and ten other timeless principles that make the Yankees a powerhouse year after year.

The Yankees, in the context of this book, serve as a metaphor for sustained organizational and business excellence. The iconic characters, from owners to managers to players, who have served in the Yankees organization for the past eighty years are symbolic of the types of people we manage and work with every day in our work environments. If you want to build your business into a championship organization, Management Wisdom from the New York Yankees' Dynasty will show you how to step up to the plate and swing for the fences.

From the Back Cover
What can your business learn from the Yankees' dynasty?

Love 'em or hate 'em, the New York Yankees have been America's winningest sports franchise for most of a century—and there's no arguing with success. Since the 1920s, the Yankees have dominated Major League Baseball, appearing in thirty-nine World Series and winning twenty-six. No other team comes close. But what accounts for the team's phenomenal long-term success and consistent performance? Why do so many players have the best years of their careers while playing for the Yankees? And what if your business could duplicate that excellence? This book reveals fourteen core management principles behind the Yankees' eighty-year dynasty and shows you how to apply them in your own organization.

Author Lance Berger is a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies and has served as a consultant to Major League Baseball. After looking deeply into the history of the Yankees organization, Berger discovered that many of the same principles that made the Yankees great were also driving the success of his business clients. These include:

• Create a balance between superstars, stars, and solid performers
• Set the bar higher than your people have ever seen it
• Cultivate ownership values from the top down
• Make the superstar the focal point of your organization
• Hire the best frontline managers you can find
• Formally recognize your informal leaders
• Celebrate your history, heroes, and legends

These and other core principles emerged in the 1920s under the leadership of owner Jacob Ruppert and have been developed and refined by owners and management teams ever since. For business leaders who want to build a championship organization, this fascinating book offers time-tested management techniques that will turn any team—in sports or in business—into a long-term winner.

About the Author
LANCE A. BERGER is a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies and has served as a consultant to Major League Baseball. He specializes in talent management, change management, and compensation. A former general partner for the largest compensation practice worldwide, the Hay Group, he is the author of The Talent Management Handbook, The Compensation Handbook, and The Change Management Handbook. He has been a featured speaker at the United Nations, The Conference Board, and the American Management Association.

DOROTHY R. BERGER is a consultant in talent management. She co-edited The Talent Management Handbook, The Compensation Handbook, and The Change Management Handbook.

Customer Reviews

The Yankees Bat Up for Business
The New York Yankees are the most successful team in sports history - and a hugely profitable enterprise. With 26 World Series championships, 39 World Series appearances and universal recognition, the Yankees are a model of excellence and consistency that every other major league baseball team tries to emulate. In this in-depth, business-oriented look at baseball's most storied franchise, author Lance A. Berger, writing with Dorothy R. Berger, explains how the Yankees have dominated baseball. More importantly, the Bergers suggest that any business interested in achieving greatness should study the Yankees' proven management techniques - these include having a bigger payroll than other teams, but go well beyond just that. Baseball fans - Yankees fanatics, in particular - will appreciate this analysis. We believe this book is a solid play for business owners and executives looking to hit one out of the park.

Be "The Boss"
Not even the biggest Boston Red Sox fan or anyone who follows sports can deny that the New York Yankees have been the most successful franchise in sports history.
Everyone knows the names, personalities, individual records and team achievements; but, what are underlying principals that have led to their unparalleled success?
In Management Wisdom from the New York Yankees' Dynasty, Lance Berger and Dorothy Berger explore the fourteen principals that have contributed to the Yankees' eighty-year run as the premier organization in baseball.
They look at the Yankees' success from a unique perspective. More than a business book, more than a baseball book and more than a history book, they demonstrate how the Yankees' business principals can be applied to any business organization.
Extensively researched and wonderfully written, the book dispels the myth that the Yankees stack their team with superstars and "buy" championships. Instead, we see the "business" strategies that have led to 26 World Series titles.
From owners Jacob Ruppert to "The Boss", from managers Miller Huggins to Joe Torre and all the coaches, executives and players in between, this book is full of interesting anecdotes and examples that will educate and entertain even the most ardent Yankee haters.
If my business school instructors had used the Yankees as a metaphor for business, I might have graduated at the top of my class.

Winners Plan to Win
The New York Yankees - most either love 'em or hate 'em. Regardless, the team's accomplishments during the past 80 or so years defies the odds. It may seem that the Yanks are very lucky or that money cures all problems, but neither is really true.
Fact is, the Yankees have been doing what all great organizations do - they plan, develop operational models to fulfill their plans, and discipline themselves to deliver expected results.
The Bergers do a great job using sports excellence as an example for the rest of us.
Marc Rubinger, Principal, Compass Solutions