“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” – Yogi Berra.
Yes, I’m even willing to quote a member of the New York Yankees (being a Red Sox fan) to help get my point across.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” – from Alice in Wonderland
The only way to enjoy a successful career and to operate a high quality, state-of-the-industry organization is to set objectives, goals if you will, and to LEAD your team towards them. Achieving these objectives involves visualization, belief, action, commitment and communication on your part.
If you ask any professional athlete how they made the impossible shot, the multi-millionaire how he or she closed the big deal or how Academy Award winning directors created their masterpieces, the answers are all about the same…they visualized the successful ending BEFORE they started.
The athlete saw the ball go in the basket, the cup or over the ballpark wall, the business person knew the deal was done, they just needed to do the formal close, the director saw the finished movie and the thrilled movie goers. Once the end was clear, visualization, all that remained was backing into the ending by orchestrating the steps necessary to motivate the people and the resources to bring it to life.
This of course is where belief in yourself, the dream or goal itself and your people comes into play. There are two differences between a dream and a goal…first is that a goal is written and the second is that deliberate, focused action is needed to make a dream real.
What also has to be addressed is the fact that belief without action is useless and action without the commitment and drive to see the project through, and to go over, around or through any obstacles that appear in your path will cause the process to fail.
The last ingredient is communication. You must communicate your vision in a way that others can see, endorse, adopt and join with you as your vision becomes THE vision. Everyone must know their role, must feel your belief and must see your action and resolve.
People love to follow leaders and they love being a part of something new, interesting and positive…if you can create that vision in your service and set the stage well…they will follow. If they see you acting in a way that supports your message and vision, they will join with you and together the team becomes unstoppable.
