Baltimore lawyer and sports agent Ron Shapiro reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Ravens business card reading "Special Advisor to the Owner."
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti says he created the title to demonstrate that Shapiro holds a significant, if little-known, place with his football team and in his life.
Quietly, Shapiro - better known as Cal Ripken Jr.'s agent - advised Bisciotti during the buyout of former owner Art Modell under which Bisciotti took control of the Ravens in 2004. Shapiro also helped with the development of the club's training complex and has offered free counsel on countless other matters.
Shapiro's role - not only with Bisciotti, but also with dozens of other top executives in the sports and corporate worlds - can be hard to define. He's a consultant, confidant, guru or mentor. Among those who swear by him are San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, who says Shapiro gave the team a road map to follow in negotiations with players; former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph; Minnesota Twins All-Star catcher Joe Mauer; and Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro, who is Shapiro's son. The elder Shapiro, who runs an institute teaching people about negotiations, also works with numerous nonsports businesses, such as Sony Pictures Television, Verizon and the Council of State Governments.
His adherents say Shapiro, 65, teaches them about preparing correctly, about not bullying or allowing their egos to get in the way of such things as negotiations or encounters with umpires, agents or others. He's a specialist at modulating inner demons, showing people whose lives revolve around games how not to behave like kids when the contests are done.
"I always kind of prided myself on making quick decisions," Bisciotti said. "I think what Ron has taught me, really, in our personal meetings is that quick reactions are not always good reactions. I am working hard to learn how to not react to people in as controversial or adversarial a way.
"It's all about suppression of ego," Bisciotti said of Shapiro's philosophy, largely laid out in a series of books, including last year's Dare to Prepare: How to Win Before You Begin! which hit The New York Times' best-seller list and which Bisciotti said he immediately gave to incoming Ravens coach John Harbaugh before the season.
