In Denver, Colorado, October has been unofficially designated “Rocktober” — as in the Colorado Rockies baseball team. There is much to learn about leadership from this amazing group of people – even after a 13-1 setback during their first World Series game.

This is a team that has had its history of big-ticket, big-name players — but that was a period with only modest success. The team that won the National League pennant and faced the Boston Red Sox in their first World Series is a home-grown team — they have patiently nurtured young, promising players and seven of them were on the field for the first game of the series. This careful nurturing and steady confidence in one’s own people, the coaching and mentoring over many years, and the patient and consistent focus on growing people has resulted in twenty-one victories in the last 22 games of the regular season. Only five teams in the past 71 years have done that. And the Rockies have not lost a road game in six weeks. Great leaders develop talent.

And this is a team with heart – in fact, their heart is what makes this a great team.

“Our energy doesn’t come from baseball,” says outfielder Matt Holliday. “Our energy comes from how you care about your teammates.”

Says Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, “These guys run in packs.”

I am not a baseball buff, but I must admit that I get excited during the World Series because the passion of the players and the fans rubs off on me — it’s what I want to see in every organization that I work with. And I love seeing a group of human beings doing something they love with all their hearts — following their calling. It’s the same passion and the same caring and nurturing and coaching that builds great leaders, generates excitement and inspiration and leads to high performance. What more could we want from organizational life?

Oh, and did I mention that the starting pitcher is a six-foot-five Canadian, Jeff Francis? That’s inspiring too – just another signal that we are one!