Sara Leoni is Founder & CEO of Ziplines Education, partnering with universities to upskill professionals for today’s tech-driven careers.
With the return of baseball season every spring, I’m reminded of the principles I’ve carried with me from the diamond to the boardroom.
In college, I played softball for UNLV. During the regional finals against Oklahoma, I found myself in a storybook scenario—bottom of the seventh, two strikes, everything riding on the next pitch. A win would send us to the College World Series; a miss would end our season.
When I walked up to the plate, I wasn’t just hoping for a hit; I was fully focused, ready for that moment I’d trained for over the years. I stood my ground as the riseball came, swung and connected.
As I rounded the bases, I saw my teammates erupt—cheering, shouting, piling out of the dugout. In that moment, it didn’t feel like my victory. It felt like all of ours. Because the truth is, it was. Every drill, every practice, every shared sacrifice led to that swing. I may have hit the ball, but we got there together.
That moment has stuck with me as an ongoing reminder that success is built on preparation, trust and shared effort—a principle that continues to shape how I lead teams, build company culture and navigate challenges in business. Here are the key lessons I took away from that day on the field.
1. Nothing worthwhile gets built alone.
The most effective leaders create environments where individuals feel empowered to contribute, fail safely and rise together. In my role as CEO of a career accelerator, I strive to build our company culture around that principle. When one team member delivers, we all win. When someone stumbles, we adjust together.
This approach isn’t just good for morale—it’s essential for growth.
Recently, our team launched a new certificate in AI Prompting, developed in partnership with subject matter experts, learning designers and employer advisors. This program wasn’t built in isolation. It came together through cross-functional collaboration, continuous feedback loops and a shared goal.
That’s the kind of adaptability today’s workforce demands—not just individual brilliance, but collective alignment. I’ve seen that the best outcomes happen when no one’s trying to be the hero. Make sure to stay focused on getting it right, together.
2. Excellence is a habit, not a moment.
People often ask me, “How do you build a strong culture?” The answer is simple, but not necessarily easy: consistency.
Culture isn’t built during all-hands meetings or company retreats. It’s built in the daily effort you make to help your team do better—how you handle feedback, how you treat missed goals, how you respond when someone’s having a hard day.
That home run happened because of years of preparation—thousands of swings, not just the one that counted. That kind of consistency might not always be glamorous, but it’s powerful.
I believe it’s important to celebrate steady progress, not just final results. Whether it’s a team member finding new ways to support our learners or an instructor personalizing a live session to better meet student needs, those small, everyday actions add up. They enable you to create an environment of care, commitment and continuous improvement. And that consistency behind the scenes allows you to deliver transformative experiences for learners who are building the next chapter of their careers.
3. Great teams know how to lose together.
There’s a part of the story people rarely ask about: Yes, we made it to the College World Series, but we didn’t win. We finished third. It was a tough loss, and it stung.
But just like we celebrated together as a team, we also processed that loss together. That’s what great teams do. They don’t crumble after a setback; they recalibrate and keep going.
The same is true in business. The strongest cultures are those that acknowledge hard truths, adjust with transparency and recommit with purpose. My team is constantly navigating evolving market demands, university partnerships and learner needs. Not everything lands perfectly. But when we miss, we learn. And we do it as a team.
4. Confidence comes from doing the work.
That swing at the plate wasn’t luck. It came from confidence earned through years of focused effort.
Today, I see that same principle play out in the lives of our learners. Many are mid-career professionals looking to pivot into new industries, reenter the workforce or gain skills to stay relevant in a tech-first economy. What they need isn’t just a credential—it’s confidence.
I believe that transformation comes from doing, not just knowing. By focusing on interactive learning with hands-on experience, learners can come away feeling more confident in their ability to take on new responsibilities. That kind of confidence isn’t incidental. It’s built through consistent effort, relevant skills and the support of a team that believes in your growth.
Shared purpose is what drives lasting impact.
Leadership is about building momentum over time, through mutual trust, sustained effort and a shared belief in the value of working toward something greater than yourself. In both business and education, the path to making a lasting impact depends on your ability to show up for your people and create an environment in which they can thrive.
I see this at my company every day: learners stepping into new challenges, instructors shaping confidence through action, and teams behind the scenes making it all possible. That’s how transformation happens—not in the highlight reel, but in the commitment to grow together. No one gets to the World Series alone.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
