Earlier today as I was picking up some things for my wife from Walmart I was checking voice mail and realized I had missed a call from a good friend of mine Dave Collins. It was great hearing from Dave because I hadn’t talked to him in a while. You may remember him as the “fastest white man in baseball” (he used to run a 9.6 100) who played for several teams including the Angels, Mariners, Yankees and Reds. In 1980 he hit .303 and stole 79 bases for the Reds. He also led the American League in triples in 1984 with 15 while playing for the Mariners. Most recently he spent time as a base coach for the Rockies and Marlins and as the manager of the Single-A Inland Empire 66′ers.

Pete getting hit # 4,192

After talking to Dave today it made me think of a story he told me a few years back about Pete Rose, who was his teammate back in the early 80′s when he played for the Reds. It’s this story that should give all leaders a great take-away.

Dave actually played in the game where Pete got his 3,000th hit, which in baseball is a Hall-of-Fame benchmark. After the game Dave asked Pete what it felt like to get his 3,000th hit. Pete responded without hesitation, “Not nearly as sweet as it’s going to feel when I get 4,000.” You see, Pete had extreme clarity of his vision. His goal was not to simply join the 3,000 hit club but to be the all-time hit leader in Major League Baseball, which he accomplished after finishing with a league record 4,256 hits.

If someone asks you about the vision for your church or business, can you answer as quickly and as clearly as Pete? The more clearly and well-defined your vision is, the greater the chance that it will stand the test of time and the tests that are sure to come.

Try to simplify your vision into a single sentence. Can you do it?