Small Ball Takes Everyone
The Yankees are in Kansas City this week. For me that means a chance to catch up with a true pioneer in my industry. Suzyn Waldman is a longtime radio voice of the New York Yankees and someone who spent years proving she belonged in places where people told her she didn’t.
Visiting with Suzyn Waldman at Yankee Stadium in 2023
A few years ago I sat down with Suzyn and shared that I wanted to include her in my book Small Ball Big Dreams. I mentioned that I was also writing about my mom, who had been given the same message in the 1960s that so many women heard: you can only be a teacher or a nurse. Before I could finish the sentence, Suzyn cut me off and finished it herself. She had heard those exact same words.
Different careers. Same barriers. Both kept going anyway.
Last week I spoke at Kauffman Stadium to the Greater Kansas City chapter of NAWIC, the National Association of Women in Construction. Before the event, I had Barb Allen on my podcast Rounding the Bases. Barb is a longtime leader in the construction industry and she shared a powerful statistic.
Women make up fourteen percent of the construction industry workforce. Less than four percent are trades workers.
But the statistic wasn’t the point. As Barb said, “Women alone can’t make these changes and get them to stick. We need everyone in the industry working together to do it.”
The event at Kauffman celebrated those in the construction industry, but it could have been any profession. I spoke about trust, empathy, accountability, and meaning, or TEAM as I like to refer to it. Because every industry is trying to figure out the same things. How do you build trust? How do you create cultures where people feel valued? How do you get more people pulling in the same direction?
NAWIC’s 2026 Construction Industry Celebration
It was a privilege to take part in the celebration. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective and the power of storytelling to give people space to reflect on what matters most.
The stories may come from baseball. The lessons almost always end up being about people.
Small ball isn’t a solo act. It never was. Small ball takes everyone.
Question: Where could your workplace become stronger simply by bringing more people into the conversation?