CEO’s Message – November 2023

Baseball and Leadership

I’m a huge baseball fan. I have been since I can remember. I was 1 of those kids who snuck a transistor radio into my bed to listen to games. Growing up in northern California, it was the Giants and A’s broadcasts. My grandfather got me interested initially. We would watch the Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons and he would grouse whenever Joe Garigiola was the announcer. For some reason, he had an extreme dislike for Garigiola. Maybe because he played for the north-side Chicago Cubs at 1 time, and my grandpa was decidedly a south-sider — Chicago White Sox.

It’s an exciting time to be a baseball fan in Arizona. The Diamondbacks just won 2 playoff series and have reached the National League Championship Series. By the time this magazine is published, a World Series Champion will be crowned. The Diamondbacks are a decided longshot. But you never know.

I’ve adopted the D-backs. If you’re a baseball diehard — seamheads, they call us — it’s impossible not to gravitate toward the local team. Because of the nature of the long season (162 games), baseball teams and their fans experience a gamut of emotions. There are the highs of a long winning streak, the agonies of a long losing streak or a blown save. You hope either grows or diminishes as the season grinds on. Ultimately, there is a reward or wait ’til next year.

I’ve watched the D-backs closely through their last 5 seasons. They have been building into a solid baseball team and likely will be 1 of the best teams over the next few years. This didn’t happen because of accident or luck. The snakes have walked through some valleys—they lost 110 games 2 years ago—but they were unwavering in their approach to finding young, talented players and developing them into big leaguers The strategy has paid off.

As someone who has been entrusted with managing a different type of team, I like to learn from other leaders. How have they succeeded? What lessons can I learn from their accomplishments? From their failures? How do they act when things are going great? When things are achingly terrible? How do they push through to the other side?

I could write a book — or at least a master’s thesis—on what I’ve learned over my long career of observation. But for now, I’ll name a few of the characteristics and traits that I’ve observed in successful leaders, including the Diamondbacks and their Manager Torey Lovullo and General Manager Mike Hazen.

Empathetic. Visionary. Steadfast. Honest. Humble. Intelligent. Curious. Eloquent. Relatable. Accountable. Dice rollers. Talent evaluators and developers. Credit givers, not takers. Success sharers.

It would be interesting for a leadership guru to research the characteristics of all of the managers and coaches of professional and college teams who have won the ultimate championships in their sports. Are there similarities in their leadership acumen? I’ll bet some of the traits I’ve identified would be on the list.

Dave Lock
CEO