Do the Right Thing

A famous quote of Peter Drucker's, management guru, is this:  "Managers do things right and leaders do the right things."  I always advocate to my students and sons to "do the right thing," but what exactly does.this mean?  I came across a great story that illustrates doing the right thing.

Rick Reilly, one of my favorite writers who wrote for Sports Illustrated for years, would have loved this story.  As a former college softball player myself, this story resonated with me.  At a college softball game in Washington State, Sara Tucholsky, a senior on the Western Oregon University team, was up to bat with two runners on base.  She had never hit a home run in her college career, but smacked the ball over the center field fence.

Tucholsky rounded first base and destroyed her knee and collapsed. The two runners on base scored while Tucholsky couldn't even take a step or crawl and she just laid on the ground.  The coach of Western Oregon could have sent in a pinch runner, but the umpires said Tucholsky would have been awarded only a single and the rules prohibited her teammates from helping her.

At that point, two Central Washington University players (players from the opposing team) picked up Tucholsky and carried her around the bases and her run counted resulting in a win for Western Oregon.  One of the players who carried her explained why they did it even though this action cost them the game.

"It was the right thing to do," she said.  It was the right thing to do.  While they lost the game, think about what everyone won who watched the game, played the game, and even heard about the game.