Time & Perspective Quote by Dusty Baker

"So I let them be responsible for there particular areas. Then by the time it gets to me that means that there is a problem. I have my eyes open and I need to know something about every department but you don't want to micro manage any particular department"

Dusty Baker, Athlete

About this Quote

Leadership, in Dusty Baker's telling, is less about omniscience than about trust with a tripwire. He sketches a managerial model where delegation isn't a feel-good corporate slogan; it's operational necessity. "Let them be responsible for their particular areas" signals a clubhouse hierarchy: coaches coach, trainers train, scouts scout. If everything funnels up to the manager, the system is already failing. The line "by the time it gets to me... there is a problem" is blunt and revealing: his ideal workflow is quiet competence, not constant check-ins. Escalation is a red flag, not a routine.

The subtext is an old baseball truth modern workplaces keep rediscovering: control can be the enemy of performance. Baker isn't advocating detachment; he's drawing a boundary between awareness and interference. "I have my eyes open" is the key phrase. It frames him as vigilant without being intrusive, a manager reading the room, tracking patterns, sensing fatigue, noticing slumps, clocking tension. He wants enough cross-department knowledge to ask smart questions, not enough to rewrite everyone else's playbook.

Context matters: in pro sports, especially MLB, "micro-managing" isn't just annoying; it can fracture authority and erode accountability. Baker positions himself as the final backstop, not the daily bottleneck. The intent is pragmatic: empower specialists, preserve autonomy, and keep the manager's attention free for the moments when leadership actually matters - when something breaks, and everyone suddenly needs the person at the top to be decisive.

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Topic	Management
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About the Author

Dusty Baker (born June 15, 1949) is a Athlete from USA.

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