The World-Class Leadership Culture of the Toronto Blue Jays with Steve Rassel

This week, we sat down with Steve Rassel, Assistant Director of High Performance with the Toronto Blue Jays. We recently got a tour of their world-class training facility in Tampa Bay, FL, and were blown away by their team values, culture, approach to leadership development, and the mindset they use to train professional athletes at an elite level. So even if you’re not in the outfield, but you’re in the boardroom, classroom, or any other environment — the topics we cover today translate in surprising and inspiring ways. And you know PQ is a baseball fanatic!<br /><br />To make things a little easier to navigate, check out the timestamps below that serve as chapter titles to this episode:<br /><br />CHAPTERS:<br />0:00  -  Introduction<br />2:21  -  PQ's Scouting Report<br />3:22  -  The Blue Jays Development Philosophy<br />5:11  -  Bouncing Back from Failure<br />6:23  -  PQ's Hall of Fame Case<br />7:07  -  Creating "Artificial Failure Scenarios"<br />11:12  -  Get Better Every Day (You vs. You)<br />13:30  -  The Game of Adjustments<br />15:07 -  How To Lead Elite Talent: "The Journey"<br />18:50  -  Growth Mindset<br />20:56  -  The Importance of a Values-Driven Culture<br />23:00  -  Collaboration & Avoiding Silos<br />25:58  -  The Pursuit of Learning<br />27:05  -  Empowering Others: Sustainability & Scalability<br />28:44  -  After-Action Reviews<br />31:46  -  Setting High Standards<br />33:51  -  Managing Expectations<br />37:28  -  Leading To Others' Capacity<br />40:47  -  The Anchor of Respect<br />42:00  -  Customized Team Development & Competing Together<br />44:31  -  The Messy Side of Collaboration<br />47:46  -  The Separator Mindset & Today's Professionalism<br />51:50  -  A Player Slides Into 3rd Base, And His Phone Falls Out Of His Pocket<br />53:45  -  The #1 Draining Thing In Player Development<br />55:10  -  What Fires You Up About Leadership Development?<br />57:00  -  Drawing Healthy Boundaries in a Demanding Job<br />59:50  -  Final ChallengeRESOURCES THAT INFLUENCED THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS CULTURE:Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystalBelonging by Owen EastwoodGive and Take by Adam GrantThe Obstacle is the Way by Ryan HolidayPeak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool