Spring Training for Success: What Sports Taught Me About Customer-Focused Partner Readiness

I still remember that American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) championship game where, with the scoreboard reading 1-1 in the final inning, a ground ball shot toward me and everything slowed down. The crucial double-play required absolute precision – one fraction of an inch off, and our season would end. We executed flawlessly, setting up the game-winning home run moments later. Years later at Lawrence Stadium in Wichita, Kansas, I found myself in an even bigger spotlight – the NBC World Series with 16,000 fans creating a wall of sound, the energy electric as we battled through nine intense innings with every fan on their feet for the dramatic conclusion. 

Those epic games taught me something I’ve carried into business: in high-stakes situations, the margin for error is vanishingly small. Teams that succeed aren’t just talented — they’re precisely calibrated machines where every component works in perfect harmony to deliver results that matter. 

While my experiences come from baseball, these principles of teamwork, preparation, and execution apply across all sports and competitive endeavors, whether it’s football (soccer) teams coordinating intricate plays, cycling teams working together in the Tour de France, or cricket players executing under pressure. The universal lessons of elite sports transcend the specific game. 

Growing up in a baseball family shaped my approach to business strategy. From following my father Luis Pujols as he coached the Montreal Expos to spending countless hours in clubhouses watching Hall of Famers prepare, sports wisdom has influenced how I work with our partners at Cisco to create exceptional customer experiences. 

As we prepare for the Cisco 360 Partner Program launch in February 2026, I see clear parallels between sports training and customer-focused partner enablement. Both are about preparation, assessing capabilities, and making necessary adjustments to deliver winning outcomes. 

The Greatest Team That Never Was 

In the early 1990s, my father was the bench coach for what many consider “the greatest team that never was” – the Montreal Expos squad stacked with future Hall of Famers like Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, and Vladimir Guerrero. This wasn’t just a good team; it was a historically great collection of talent poised to win a World Series.

Then the 1994 MLB strike happened, cutting the season short and shattering those hopes. I experienced this firsthand, moving between Houston, Montreal, and Florida as my father’s career dictated our family geography.

Like that Expos team, our partners have assembled impressive capabilities. But unlike that team, we won’t let external factors derail our momentum. The Cisco 360 Partner Program represents our window of opportunity – a chance to align our business model with customer needs in ways that generate measurable value for them while creating sustainable growth for our entire ecosystem.

The Mental Game: Creating Customer Value 

What most people don’t understand about sports at the highest level is that it’s primarily mental. The subtle adjustments, anticipation, and strategic thinking separate good players from great ones.

I was reminded of this when an old teammate visited. As we watched a game together, my wife listened to our conversation about catcher positioning to shave precious tenths of a second off throw times and other subtle adjustments invisible to most viewers. She was stunned at this hidden layer of the game happening right before her eyes.

Similarly, the Cisco 360 Partner Program isn’t just about changing incentive structures – it’s about transforming how we collectively create value for customers. By rewarding partners across the entire customer lifecycle – from land to adopt, expand, and renew – we’re incentivizing the precise behaviors that lead to superior customer outcomes. The partners who succeed will be those who understand how these subtle adjustments in their approach deliver the experiences customers need to thrive in their digital transformation.

Commitment, Consistency, and Courage in Customer Success 

During my teenage years, I spent countless hours at Olympic Stadium practicing the same move repeatedly. One day, frustrated by the monotony, I complained about doing the same drill for weeks on end.

A veteran player overheard me and walked over. “You’re complaining about doing this for days and weeks,” Larry Walker said, looking me straight in the eyes. “I’ve been doing it for 20 years. That’s what it takes to be great: commitment, consistency, and courage.”

Those words changed my approach forever. Throughout high school and college, I wrote “CCC” under the brim of my baseball cap as a reminder that greatness requires these three elements.

For our partners navigating the transition to the Cisco 360 Partner Program, this same “CCC” principle applies to customer success: Commitment to understanding their business challenges, consistency in delivering reliable experiences, and courage to evolve your service model to meet their changing needs. These qualities separate partners who create transformative customer value from those who merely fulfill transactions.

Respecting the Process of Transformation 

Learning to respect the process of transformation came to me the hard way. After one game, I made a careless decision to swing an overweight bat that I had no business using. The result was a torn rotator cuff that sidelined me for a year and a half.

Forced to watch others play the game I loved, I reflected on my mistake. I hadn’t properly prepared my body for that transition. Transformation requires a full commitment – your entire system needs to be ready for change.

The lesson applies directly to our customers and partners today. Digital transformation requires systematic preparation and holistic change. Our customers need partners who understand this journey and can guide them through it safely. With the Cisco 360 Partner Program, we’re enabling partners to develop the capabilities needed to minimize customer risk while accelerating their transformation outcomes.

The High-Performance Regimen 

One of my most vivid memories is watching Pedro Martinez – all 150 pounds of him – in his post-workout routine. While I could nearly match his weightlifting numbers as a young player, what separated Pedro was his meticulous approach to body maintenance, nutrition, and recovery.

For our partners navigating the transition to the Cisco 360 Partner Program, there’s a similar mindset required for delivering customer value. Success isn’t just about making the big plays when the spotlight is on – it’s about the consistent, often unglamorous work of building capabilities, understanding technologies, and developing repeatable processes that create exceptional customer experiences every single day.

The Customer-Focused Ecosystem 

What made great sports teams special wasn’t just individual talent – it was how those talents complemented each other within a system designed to win. Each player had a role, and the whole became greater than the sum of its parts.

That’s exactly what we’re building with the Cisco 360 Partner Program. Moving beyond transactional relationships to customer-centric value creation requires specialized capabilities and cross-industry expertise. Just as a team needs players with distinct skills, our ecosystem needs partners who excel in different areas – managed services, lifecycle support, vertical solutions, and more – all working together to deliver complete solutions that address our customers’ most complex challenges.

Ready for the Customer-Focused Future 

As we approach February 2026, we’re in our preparation phase. It’s our time to build capabilities, understand where we need to improve, and make investments before the new program launches.

When I think back to that Montreal Expos team that never got its shot at a championship, I’m reminded that we can’t take opportunities for granted. With the Cisco 360 Partner Program, we have a chance to align our partner economics with customer success in ways that will drive mutual growth for years to come.

The question is: Will you be ready to deliver the transformative customer value that will define our shared success?

Before his technology career, Alex Pujols played Division 1 baseball (the highest level of U.S. collegiate athletics) as a catcher and third baseman. He is the son of former Major League Baseball player and coach Luis Pujols, who is cousin to Albert Pujols, one of baseball’s greatest hitters of all time. 

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