The Little Things Still Matter

Day one of spring training for the Royals took place this week, and the focus was on the little things. Pitchers covering first base. Early work. Fundamentals that don’t make highlights but shape how a season is built. I stopped by the Royals complex in Surprise on Wednesday before heading to Tucson to meet with leaders from different companies around the country as part of the Chief Executive Network.

Different environments, same emphasis on details.

Kansas City Royals first day of spring training, 2026 in Surprise, AZ

In Tucson, we spent an hour and a half talking about trust, leadership, and what it looks like to lead people as the world moves faster than most of us can comfortably keep up with. AI is changing how work gets done. Multiple generations are sharing the same workplaces with very different expectations. The pace of information, decision-making, and change doesn’t slow down for anyone.

We broke into table groups twice. First, I asked them what small ball looks like inside their organizations. What are the everyday actions that quietly build trust and culture over time? Later, we talked about how they’re navigating change and trying to lead people in a moment where uncertainty is part of the job.

Chief Executive Network meeting in Tucson

What stood out wasn’t a clever framework. It was how grounded the answers were.

Leaders talked about walking the floor instead of staying in offices. About being accessible and listening. About creating space for honest conversation without supervisors in the room. About sharing context instead of just decisions. About admitting when they don’t yet have all the answers, rather than pretending everything is settled.

One theme kept surfacing in different ways: transparency.

Not transparency as a slogan. Transparency as behavior. The kind that shows up when you tell people what you know, what you don’t know yet, and what you’re still working through.

In a world moving at the speed of AI, it’s becoming easier to focus on tools, systems, and efficiency and forget that leadership is still practiced one person at a time. The leaders in that room weren’t looking for shortcuts. They were looking for ways to stay human while everything around them keeps accelerating.

Trust doesn’t erode because change is happening. It erodes when people feel that change is happening around them rather than with them.

That’s the small ball work right now. Staying committed to the fundamentals of how we treat people, even when the game around us is changing fast.

Question: Where are the fundamentals in your world starting to slip, and what small detail would be worth recommitting to this week?