#battersbox

very major league baseball player has what is called a “Walk-up Song”. It’s the anthem played in the stadium as the player is walking from the on-deck circle and getting ready to bat. It creates the swagger, the identity for the player. Is he a hip- hop guy? A classic rock guy guy? A weird song guy? In all cases, the song is supposed to get the player psyched to hit a 96 MPH fastball and the crowd amped up for a big at bat. Woo-hoo. Ball players now list the walk up song next to their batting average and RBI’s.

Sometimes a song becomes inseparable from the player. Think “Wild Thing” with Charlie Sheen in the movie Major League. Or, the Metallica song "Enter Sandman" which now means Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is entering the game. Head for the hills!

What does this have to do with the workplace?

Before a recent speaking engagement I was asked to name my own walk-up song. It makes sense. Every day we are walking from the on-deck circle into a meeting or a presentation or something that requires a little high voltage. We all need a walk-up song but it is not as easy as at the stadium watching Buster Posey ("Hell on Wheels" by Brantley Gilbert) stroll to the plate. Is my walk up song Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”? It would show a thoughtful and inclusive side. Or is it “Back in Black” by AC/DC? That song would show I am all about implementation. Either can get me fired up to face the work world.

More importantly, all of us should have a walk-up song, at least one that we play in our head when we are approaching the batters box. We especially need it on Monday mornings. It’s that tune that helps us think we are going to hit a home run every time.