A scene from The Clubhouse tells us a lot about Craig Breslow
Here’s something that’s been gnawing at me.
In The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox, E6, “Buyers or Sellers,” just at the 25-minute mark, Craig Breslow meets with front office staff and announces that he wants to acquire James Paxton at the trade deadline. Did anyone else take issue with his leadership style, or was it just me?
Here’s what I heard in that scene. Over the course of about twenty seconds, Breslow briefly describes to the room, in a general way, why he wants to trade for Paxton and what to do with “whoever he displaced.” While I’m certain there were multiple, more detailed conversations that occurred off-camera, it’s clear that this is Decision Time. Craig Breslow sums up:
“I think we should do it. If anybody wants to stand on the table and scream that we shouldn’t…”
The tiniest lilt at the end indicates he’s sort of asking a question.
He pauses, ever so briefly, while giving a cursory glance around the room. No one says anything. It’s true there’s no standing and screaming, but there are no words of agreement, either. Either scenario feels improbable, given that he left no room for discussion. Well, technically, he did—but you had to be standing on the table to have it.
Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Now here’s what I saw. During his quick pause, he crosses his arms. The camera continues to pan around the conference table, showing a group of seven or eight staff, including Raquel Ferreira. While a couple people are looking at their laptop, several others seem to be staring at the ground or off into space. Someone seems to be smirking. One person sort of grimaces, furrows his brow, and looks over his shoulder. Another repetitively drums his fingers against his other hand. Ferreira blinks, but doesn’t reply. One—and only one—staff member shakes his head, as in, No, I’m not going to get up on this table. It’s fine. While silence can be tacit agreement, I wouldn’t characterize any of this as a ringing endorsement.
First of all, let’s get this out of the way: I was jumping up and down on the table saying we shouldn’t do it, but I guess the guy just couldn’t hear me from 3,000 miles away. I had witnessed the recent, unsuccessful go-round with James Paxton in Seattle and could see the writing on the wall, but that’s all water under the bridge now.
Second, what an uncomfortable meeting, right? Someone might’ve had a legitimate counterpoint, but how do you flat-out disagree with your boss’s stated intentions in this scenario? His body language, word choice, brevity, the way he seems to preemptively exclude opinions other than his own—all of it—are textbook examples of “What Not to Do” in management and team building.
Plenty of people have said they don’t like or trust Craig Breslow’s leadership style. I’ve heard him called a procrastinator, a poor communicator, and more.
Fast forward nine months, and I think we just saw Raffy Devers standing on the table and screaming. Is that the only way to get Craig Breslow to listen?