Cal Ripken shared his story earlier this year at the Food Shippers Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. His incredible story was not only inspiring to supply chain professionals in the food industry but offered practical advice on perseverance.

For those who are not big into baseball, what’s Ripken’s incredible story anyway? Nicknamed “the Iron Man,” Ripken is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire 21-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles from 1981–2001. One of his position’s most productive offensive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ripken holds the record for consecutive games played (2,632), having surpassed Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years and that many deemed unbreakable. In 2007, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 98.53% of votes, the sixth highest election percentage ever.

He retired from the game in October 2001 after 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. His name appears in the record books repeatedly, most notably as one of only ten players in history to achieve 400 home runs and 3,000 hits. On July 29, 2007 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, collecting the second highest vote total ever by the BBWAA.

Value of Perseverance

Ripken outlined the seven traits involving perseverance required to help break his records.

First, use the right approach. “All this means is you have to have the right attitude about your job – no matter what job you’re in,” he says. A strong will to succeed, passion for what you do, and a love to compete are also critical, he adds.

Second, you need to have a strong will to succeed. Ripken shared a story about how his mom helped him at an early age to channel energy and to have a strong will to succeed.

“At a very early age, I started to show bad behavior on the athletic field,” he remembers. “If things didn’t go my way I threw down my helmet, threw my bat, and threw a tantrum. All those things just made my mom cringe – but the cool part was how she reacted (or better yet how she didn’t react). She simply asked me the question: ‘What are you feeling when you get so upset?’ And I responded: ‘This power starts to come over me,’ and my mom immediately suggested that the power is good but advised me to tap into that power source and do something good for myself rather than something negative. She suggested combatting my feelings of frustration by doing pushups until I couldn’t do any more so I’d become stronger. She suggested that I go for a long run with that power source to get in better shape or take 100 swings in the cage.”

“The bottom line is that how you react to that overwhelming feeling or power – and channel this to be productive – can be a game changer,” advises Ripken. “And for me, it was.”

The third trait involving perseverance is passion. “Love what you do,” he advises, “because it’ll carry you through the tough times.”

Fourth, love to compete, he says. “We live in a competitive world, but the less obvious forms of competition are yourself and your teammates.

Next, consistency is the secret ingredient to achieving perseverance, just like Ripken did over 21 seasons, holding the MLB’s longest streak of 2,632 consecutive games. But the key to maintaining consistency lies in taking responsibility for your offseason work, according to Ripken. Think of the off-season as the critical period where champions are forged, he advises. During this time, he laid a solid foundation for his performance.

“To me, it’s about your discipline in-between your ears,” he says. “You’re the one who must put the work in and get ready for spring training. No one is standing over you in the off-season. It all falls on you. I prided myself on being consistent each year. The key to consistency is taking responsibility for that offseason work because that builds you up for the regular season.

”Taking responsibility for your offseason work means committing yourself to continuous growth and development, he advises. It means investing time and effort into enhancing your knowledge and skills, even when there’s no immediate competition on the horizon. Have the discipline and the drive to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and reach new heights.

Conviction. Ripken recalls there were two forms of stubborn growing up in his family’s household: “good stubborn” and “bad stubborn.” When you stand up for something you believe in, it was considered in our house to be good stubborn – and that was encouraged, he recalls. If you were just being uncooperative that was considered to be bad stubborn – and that was discouraged.

The sixth trait involving perseverance is strength, which includes physical as well as mental preparedness.

Life management. Ask yourself this important question: “What controls can you put on things that seem to be out of your control?”

Lessons Learned Along the Way

He has authored nearly 30 books, including a New York Times Bestselling autobiography “The Only Way I Know.” In addition, he has written books on baseball instruction, coaching and various children’s selections.

Ripken is a co-owner and contributor to The Experts Network (TXN), an interactive digital sports network consisting of sports analysis along with Phil Simms, Cris Collinsworth, Howie Long, Nick\ Faldo and Boomer Esiason.

Ripken resides in Annapolis, MD with his wife Laura and has two children.

Baseball and Business: Not Too Dissimilar

In business as in baseball, pursuing greatness is a journey that requires unwavering dedication and a commitment to excellence. Ripken’s success, forged through his illustrious baseball career, revolves around timeless principles: unwavering consistency, an unyielding focus on the present, a relentless dedication to every detail, and the cultivation of exceptional habits.

Adopt and embrace these invaluable lessons into your leadership playbook to hit home runs in the business world, crushing every obstacle in your path to set new records of achievement.

Ultimately, managing a supply chain or operations in logistics and transportation can be challenging—filled with uncertainties and complexities. But armed with the right support and the most effective tools, you can transcend challenges and exceed expectations.

Step up to the plate with confidence, advises Ripken, and the rewards of your efforts could be nothing short of extraordinary.

He closed with a Theodore Roosevelt quote that inspires him. “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

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