On Tuesday night during baseball’s AAA All-Star game in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a former Telford, PA resident achieved his lifelong dream, to play in the big leagues. Erik Kratz who toiled in the minor leagues for nine seasons received the call every player hopes will come and then faced a live national television audience for an interview with the MLB Network. You can view it by clicking on this link: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=9918449
Kratz, who is now on the Pittsburgh Pirates roster, wasn’t known as a baseball standout in high school or college. He was a solid player but not the super star that often makes headlines. This made the road to the top of his chosen profession especially long and difficult. How does one explain a young man’s persistence in following his dream through camps, tryouts, minor league towns, and more than one baseball organization? Where does any leader find the courage and persistence to never give up, even in the face of overwhelming odds? Is dreaming even realistic in today’s uncertain and turbulent business environment?
More than one of my coaching conversations have centered on what gives the client passion and energy to come to work each day. Sometimes the answer is obvious and other times the dream has been buried for so long it is hard to rediscover. Yet having a dream (a purpose in life) really does matter. It is like a destination point on the map guiding a person toward what they truly hope to achieve or become. Without a dream, leaders struggle to make sense of their lives and find meaning in their work.
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech called a nation to “...live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal...’" President John F. Kennedy cast a dream before the American people to put a man on the moon within a decade. In 1974 Ronald Reagan (before he ran for president) was already articulating his dream for the nation when he included these words in a speech to the first Conservative Political Action Conference, “We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth.” Jesus challenged his followers to “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations...”
These dreams galvanized those who heard them to take action. Personal dreams invite the same level of commitment. Like Kratz, who dreamed of playing baseball in the major leagues, you need a personal dream that awakens your soul, stimulates your thinking, and motivates you to follow it through to fruition. It may take thirty years or a lifetime but the journey and the waiting will be worth it all. Dream on (and best wishes, Erik)!
P.S. Kratz debuted with the Pirates on Saturday, July 17 and went 2-5 with two singles, an RBI, and a run scored.
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