Retire Your Number
9 Questions that Build Leaders
My 10-year-old son sat in the stands for nearly an hour, waiting for a jersey retirement honoring a player who had no idea it was coming.
A kid’s wisdom found what was most obvious about Ryan Ellis. He loves being on a baseball field with his teammates. My son gave him the highest compliment a 10-year-old can offer:
“He’s always smiling.”
“He’s grateful to be on a baseball field,” I told him. “That’s why he hasn’t stopped.”
Success in college baseball can be difficult to define. Sometimes it’s having your number retired by the summer collegiate team you returned to year after year.
On Sunday, Ryan was that college senior.
Three schools and as many leg surgeries have left him able to DH only. Still, he kept playing. He kept smiling. And he kept returning for another summer with the Walnut Creek Crawdads and head coach Brant Cummings.
Coach Cummings is part John McGraw and part Mike K — the legendary Duke University men’s basketball coach —baseball to the bone, high behavioral standards, and leading with heart. He led the charge in retiring #2.
As parents, we can hope for two things: that our children leave each place better than they found it, and that they have examples like Coach Cummings.
This is success.
Ryan is headed back to Sacramento State, where he will do great things again this year and long after baseball ends. He is a happy warrior—and he happens to hold nearly every offensive record in Crawdads history.
We’re preparing our kids for more than the next season.
What Sports Prepare Us For
The lessons taught through baseball—and sports in general—become the foundation for how we lead teams, solve problems, build relationships, and eventually build careers.
This week’s final 3 Nights in July conversation featured former student-athletes Grant Cleghorn and Matt French, who now lead teams, companies, and people in the professional world.
Their message was simple:
The habits that make great athletes often become the habits that make great leaders.
As school gets ready to begin, here are nine ideas worth sharing with your children and discussing around the dinner table.
1. Bring Solutions, Not Just Problems
“I want to empower that employee to come with three ideas to get the job done.”
— Grant Cleghorn
Conversation starter:
When you encounter a problem this week, can you bring one or two possible solutions before asking someone else to solve it?
2. Sports Teach More Than Sports
“I’d get dozens of resumes. I go straight to the bottom and ask, ‘What has this person done outside of business?’ I’m looking to see if they’ve competed. Athletes usually know how to prioritize and work.”
— Matt French
Conversation starter:
What has your sport taught you that will help you long after your playing days are over?
3. Character Gets Hired
“In hiring, I ask if they’re hungry. Are they driven? Do they take pride in what they’ve accomplished? I flip the résumé. It’s about making connections and understanding the person.”
— Grant Cleghorn
Conversation starter:
If someone met you today, what would they say about your attitude, effort, and character?
4. Coaches Love Growth. Employers Do Too.
“Finding that growth-minded athlete saves time in hiring.”
— Grant Cleghorn
Conversation starter:
Where have you shown growth this summer—not just improvement, but a willingness to listen, learn, and adjust?
5. Great Teammates Do More Than Their Job
“Job descriptions don’t define your job all the time. Sometimes it’s about stepping outside your role to help. The best business teams have teammates who step up to do the hard things.”
— Matt French
Conversation starter:
Where can you help your family, class, or team this week without being asked?
6. Learn Fast. Adjust Faster.
“There’s a term in the corporate world called ‘fail fast.’ Do your homework. Move quickly. Learn a lot. Adjust until you master it.”
— Matt French
Conversation starter:
What is one mistake you made recently that actually helped you get better?
7. Keep Your Priorities in Order
“As athletes, we can become so myopic. I had to redshirt my freshman year at Colorado because of grades. Finding balance made me more driven in every area of my life.”
— Grant Cleghorn
Conversation starter:
Are you investing enough energy in the parts of your life that matter beyond your sport?
8. Redefine Success
“Success is fulfilling your potential while serving others.”
— Grant Cleghorn
Conversation starter:
Who did you help this week?
9. The Hardest Person to Lead Is Yourself
“Look in the mirror. Do you like what you’re doing? Evaluate honestly what can be better.”
— Matt French
Conversation starter:
If you were coaching yourself, what would be the first thing you would work on?
More Than the Next Season
Together, Grant and Matt reminded us that athletics is about far more than wins and losses.
Every teammate prepares you to work with others.
Every challenge becomes preparation for the career, family, and life you may someday build.
The scoreboard changes.
The lessons don’t.
Ryan Ellis kept returning because he loved the field, valued his teammates, and remained grateful for another day to play. In the end, that may be one of the most important lessons sports can teach.
Keep showing up.
Keep smiling.
Leave the place better than you found it.
Make Time for the Full Three-Hour Course
Over three Wednesday nights in July, Danielle Martin, Jordyn Shapiro, Grant Cleghorn, and Matt French helped us build a three-hour life-skills course for students and families.
The series moves from mindset and emotional control to executive function, personal leadership, teamwork, and career preparation. Together, the three conversations form something more valuable than three separate webinars.
They create a practical course for life.
As school approaches, I hope families will watch the full series together. Pause the recordings. Ask the questions. Let your children disagree, think out loud, and connect the lessons to their own lives.
Three hours is a small investment in the habits, perspective, and skills they will carry into school, sports, college, work, and adulthood.
If you know a parent, coach, or student preparing for the school year, please share it.
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On the adventure,
Greg Moore
greg@thriveware.ai
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