To summarize my previous passion blogs, I referenced fearlessness, confidence, hard work, conflict, and breathing as keys to winning. All of these things are incredibly important, but these are all solo mission ideas, and life is rarely a solo mission. This brings me to my next key to winning, leading.

I remember washing my hands in the bathroom as a fifteen-year-old sophomore boy. This senior, whom I had always admired and maybe even feared, walked in. His words to me exactly were, “Holy shit, you were insane last night.” He was referencing a baseball game the previous night where I broke the school’s single-game home run record with three. In fact, I hit five home runs over the course of three games. Meaning I was leading the state in home runs at the young age of fifteen.

This all sounds great, but there’s an underlying issue: the ego. When you are fifteen, you don’t know any better; you are just trying to fit in and rise above the rest. And when people you admire start to admire you, you become cocky. I became incredibly cocky that day in the restroom.

Being egotistical and cocky is no way to lead a team. I learned this the hard way when it became my turn to lead. I was now sixteen, and I was loud. When I hit home runs, I let everyone know. When I did anything significant, everyone knew. I continued to perform well, but the people around me got worse. But why? Because nobody wants to play behind an arrogant a-hole. And unsurprisingly, we didn’t win; we lost in the quarterfinals.

One year later, something changed. I was a senior and realized how little time I had left to play baseball. Because of this, I turned into a different beast. I went from being loud and cocky to calm and confident. I went from impatient to compassionate. And everything around me turned to gold. I not only led the state of Pennsylvania in every significant baseball category, but my teammates followed suit. They grew to respect me and we won, we won a lot.

Some days, I struggled, but guess who was there to pick me up? My teammates, my guys, my best friends.

That year, I learned a crucial lesson. I learned that being cocky and arrogant were recipes for resentment and disaster. And most importantly, I learned how to lead. No matter what you do or where you are, people will surround you. Some of whom you will be forced to work with. My advice as a former egotistical and disrespectful leader; be humble and compassionate and watch everything around you turn to gold.