Derek Redd LEADERS LUNCH – Roberto Clemente Jr., son of Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente Sr. and founder of the Roberto Clemente Foundation, talks to the hundreds gathered Wednesday at the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce's Lunch With Leaders.

A successful business community is much like a baseball team, Roberto Clemente Jr. told the hundreds at Wheeling Park’s White Palace on Wednesday afternoon.

A baseball team has its superstars — its home-run hitters and fireball ace pitchers — but there are so many people who’s talents and contributions go into making the entire team a success.

“Not everyone will be doing interviews after the game, but every role matters,” said Clemente, the son of Pittsburgh Pirates legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente Sr. “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.”

Clemente was the keynote speaker of the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce’s Lunch With Leaders, an opportunity for business and community leaders to gather, network and hear words of wisdom from a renowned guest speaker. Clemente not only followed his father’s footsteps into professional baseball — he was a player as well as a broadcaster — but he also continued his father’s legacy as a humanitarian and philanthropist.

The younger Clemente founded the Roberto Clemente Foundation in 1994, which empowers at-risk youth, provides disaster relief, and promotes service leadership. He also has served as Global Ambassador for Food for the Hungry, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the world’s most vulnerable communities, and is actively involved with the National Hispanic Foundation and the American Latino Veterans Association, among other organizations.

During his life, Clemente said he has continued to find the parallels between baseball, business and service. In all of those areas, one of the most important things to remember is to play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. Community leaders make sure that all members of that community have the opportunity to grow and to succeed.

“We need leaders who understand that success is not just about growth, it’s about impact,” he said. “It’s about asking who are we helping? Who are we mentoring? Who feels seen when we show up? What kind of legacy are we building together?”

Influence cam come in many forms, he said. It can look like leading a company, creating jobs, mentoring someone quietly behind the scenes or believing in your community enough to invest in it. And, just like a baseball team, everyone in a business community can be competitive, but still move in the same direction toward a common goal.

“There is a difference between selfish competition and purposeful competition,” he said. “Selfish competition tears teams apart. Purposeful competition builds excellence.

“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.”