In drawing the parallels between local business communities and baseball teams, Roberto Clemente Jr. hit a home run.

Clemente, the son of Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente Sr., was the keynote speaker at the recent Lunch with Leaders held by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.

While Clemente followed his father into professional baseball, he most notably followed in his father’s footsteps with philanthropy, creating and running the Roberto Clemente Foundation.

Among the most poignant points he made during his speech was that, while not everyone on a team will enjoy the brightest spotlight, their behind-the-scenes work is just as important.

“Not everyone will be doing interviews after the game, but every role matters,” said Clemente. “The (Chamber of Commerce) is a team. Each business here is a player. Each leader here has a position. Each person contributes something unique to the success of the whole community.”

Not everyone in a business community will be flashy, but fundamentals definitely matter. Whatever a business or businessperson’s role is in a community, they need to do it to the best of their ability.

And that doesn’t mean a business or businessperson shouldn’t strive to climb into the spotlight and earn that postgame interview. Yet, Clemente said, there’s a difference between selfish competition and purposeful competition, and selfishness never helped anyone.

“Businesses should absolutely strive to be great,” he continued. “They should innovate, they should improve, they should push each other to a higher standard. That kind of friendly competition creates energy. It creates better service, better ideas, better leadership, better experiences for customers and families. And when that happens, the entire community wins.”

Everyone who listened to Clemente that afternoon would be wise to heed his words and put them into action. Doing so will make our community even stronger.