When Results Become Feedback
Jac Caglianone is just 22 years old, but he’s already learning lessons some veterans take years to figure out.
Earlier this summer, the highly touted prospect made his long-awaited MLB debut. The results weren’t pretty. He went on the injured list in late July, returned in early September, and came back with more than just a healthy hamstring. He came back with perspective.
“Last time I was here, when I would have those stretches of two, three games, [it was] probably eating you up at home…Now it’s like, been there, done that, don’t like it, but I know how to move on.”
He told me, “I love swinging. I love hitting balls hard.” And he does. The 6’5”, 250-pound slugger has the kind of frame built to destroy baseballs. One day this summer in Chicago, as I walked past the visiting batting cage, he smoked a ball right at me that took my breath away, even with the protective netting in front of me.
Jac Caglianone running in from right field in Cleveland Sept. 9
But power alone won’t get him where he wants to go. In college, pitchers feared him and walked him to deny him a chance to swing. In the majors, opponents simply refused to give him anything to hit until he proved he could lay off. He hated the free passes in college. Now, he sees every walk as a small victory and a step toward forcing pitchers back into the strike zone.
That’s maturity. As his teammate Michael Massey recently told me, results, good or bad, are simply data points. In other words, he views results as feedback, each moment adding to a growing database of experience.
It’s the same in business and in life. We all drive home some nights beating ourselves up over a meeting, a mistake, or something out of our control. I try to ask myself one question after a rough moment on the air: could I have done something differently? If the answer is yes, I make the adjustment. If not, I move on.
No wasted brain power. No sleepless nights.
Small steps. Perspective. Persistence.
Small ball matters.
How do you let results become feedback that moves you forward, instead of setbacks that hold you back?
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