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by Rick Baker
On Jun 28, 2012
Business leaders are expected to have 'visions' of the future.
How do they go about that?
There are many suggestions, some ancient, some recent.
Here are three modern-day suggestions:
Visualization in Seven Steps
- Deserve: Know that you can have what you repeatedly see. Be willing to create the picture exactly as you want it.
- Intend: Direct the picture; concentrate your mind. See the picture and hold it. Don't let your mind wander.
- Ease: relax, don't tense or strain. You may want to do muscle relaxation exercises first.
- Intensity: Pour your feelings into the image. Let yourself feel an intense longing, or desire, for what you see.
- Detail: Step into your picture and see the detail. See the grain in the wood, the dew in the grass.
- Include: If you want the object of your visualization, be sure to include yourself in the picture.
- Enjoy: Feel good about what you see. Express gratitude for receiving it. Let it go. Know that it is done.
Laurence G. Boldt
'ZEN and the art of making a living', (2009)
Visualization Elements...consider these as you solidify your Vivid Vision
- Frequency...the more you visualize your Vivid Vision the better
- Duration...the more time spent visualizing your Vivid Vision the better
- Vividness...the clearer you picture your Vivid Vision the better
- Intensity...the more you inject emotion into your Vivid Vision the better
adapted from...
Brian Tracy
'GOALS!', (2010)
6 Visualizing Guidelines
- Visualize once a day
- Visualize no longer than 5 to 10 minutes at a time
- Imagine every conceivable detail
- Feel the emotion: feel what you expect to feel
- Put yourself in the picture
- Dwell on the end result or beyond [not the 'hows']
paraphrasing...
Mike Dooley,
'Manifesting Change', (2011)
***
January 13th, 2013 addition...
“Visualization Made Simple
Make it Vivid: Use all your senses to make the experience real.
Choose a Perspective: When you visualize, are you looking through your own eyes or are you watching yourself on a stage? Some research suggests using the audience perspective is the most beneficial.
Visualize in real time: That’s the speed you’ll use in reality.
Maximize control: You control everything that happens in visualization – successes, comebacks, other people’s reactions, etc. Use that control to take yourself where reality may or may not go.”
Jeff Brown & Mark Fenske
'The Winner;s Brain', (2010)
by Rick Baker
On May 3, 2012
If you inspire people, you have the first ingredient for growing profits.
If you do not possess a magnetic personality, you can still inspire people and grow profits. You do that by developing your communication skills. Perhaps, Warren Bennis said it best1:
"successful leaders have an extraordinary, though not necessarily charismatic, ability to communicate their vision in a way that allows their people to make it their own and give it personal meaning."
Bennis boiled it down to 4 traits of leadership:
- Attention - the leader's intentions are clear, strong, and visible...successful leaders exhibit focus
- Meaning - followers understand and buy into the leader's vision
- Trust - the leader's actions are consistent with the leader's expressed vision [i.e., Integrity as Spirited Leaders defines it]
- Self - the leader has high self-regard and high regard for others...errors are seen as mistakes, a necessary opportunity to learn
These 4 traits of leadership empower people by:
- making them feel significant,
- focusing on their developing competence rather than failure,
- creating a shared sense of community, and
- making work exciting and worthy of dedicated commitment.
Making people feel significant: this matches the wisdom of Dale Carnegie who taught - people want to feel important. Stated another way, people want to be recognized in a positive light. And this explains why constructive criticism is an oxymoron. We all know this. We all forget this. Successful leaders forget it much less frequently.
Focusing on developing people's competence rather than failure: a great way to do this is to do strength assessments, embrace strengths-based learning, and provide your people strengths-tools.
Creating a shared sense of community: community has taken on a whole new meaning with the explosive growth of social media...consider, for example, the impact of Facebook. So, it now takes much more thought and effort to create a meaningful sense of community. Creative thought must be applied.
Making work exciting and worthy of dedicated commitment: again, the pace of change makes this more complicated. The businesses that figure out and make workplaces more exciting will have a chance to survive. The rest will not.
Footnote:
- 'The Leader-Manager', (1986), edited by John N. Williamson
by Rick Baker
On Jan 31, 2012
The other day I read1:
"The source and center of all man's creative power - the power that above all others lifts him above the level of brute creation, and gives him dominion, is his power of making images, or the power of imagination."
"Imagination pictures the thing you desire. VISION idealizes it. It reaches beyond the thing that is, into the conception of what can be. Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own."
Do these quotes resonate with you?
Do those quotes help you understand what people mean when they say things like:
- What's your Corporate VISION?
- Can I see your VISION Statement?
Do you agree:
- Leaders must have a Vivid VISION?
- Leaders must capture and communicate their Vivid VISION?
- Leaders must lead-by-example along the path to their Vivid VISION? Imagination?
What about IMAGINATION?
How important is it for Leaders to possess the power of IMAGINATION?
Do you agree, IMAGINATION is Invigorating...both to the owner of it and to those it affects?
***
I have been interested in IMAGINATION and VISION for many years. And, my interest increased as I took on supervisory, then managerial, then leadership roles. Now, looking back, I better understand the errors I have made in business and with People. One of those mistakes was not explaining things well enough: not explaining what I was thinking, assuming people heard and processed my words the same way I said and intended them, etc. That was a major communication problem. Often, the words we think we say are not actually the words we say. And, often, the words we say mean different things to other People....even when they are doing everything they know to try to listen, to understand, and to follow.
To help fix my communication problem I now define words. So, when I read words like those of Robert Collier, quoted above, I use those words to firm up and clarify the words we often use but rarely troubleshoot for shared meaning. As examples:
Definitions...
IMAGINATION: the source of creative power: creating images in the mind, picturing things in your mind's eye
VISION: holding the mind's-eye picture of the thing you desire, seeing beyond the things that are and conceiving and idealizing what can be, and communicating the desire you idealize to other People
Footnote:
by Rick Baker
On Jan 24, 2012
I was about 30 years old when I learned that specific actions can be taken to build Confidence. I learned this from books, not directly from people.
Perhaps, that's unusual? Perhaps, most people learn about plans and actions for Confidence at a much earlier age? Perhaps, most people learn about plans and actions for Confidence through direct conversations with other people?
I did not...plans and actions for Confidence building just wasn't something people I knew discussed. And, it wasn't something I thought through and figured out on my own.
Likely, my experience is not singular; I expect some, perhaps many, people do not know planned actions can bolster Confidence.
This Thought Post is for those people...and for others who may need a reminder.
There are many ways to build Confidence.
Here is a summary-introduction to one example, from the work of Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt in their book 'The Power of Focus', (2000)1.
Six Confidence-Building Strategies
- Every day remind yourself that you did some things well: give yourself a mental pep talk at the beginning of the day
- Read inspiring biographies and autobiographies: build a file of the stories that inspire you most
- Be thankful: focus on the benefits you already enjoy
- Build excellent support around you: excellent relationships will boost you
- Push yourself to accomplish short-term goals: get things done
- Do something for yourself every week: celebrate your accomplishments
***
Confidence is one of Spirited Leaders Values. When Confidence is healthy good things happen.
Here is a link to Spirited Leaders' definition of Confidence.
Here is a link to one of our favourite inspiring stories about Confidence.
Footnote:
by Rick Baker
On Jan 10, 2012
The best of mentoring happens 'naturally' when an eager-to-learn business person 'connects' with a more-experienced business person who is eager to teach. For both people, mentoring is of value. This type of 'natural' mentoring tends to happen in cycles: over time, the student of the present becomes the teacher of the future.
One of my favourite examples of 'natural' mentoring is the story of 25-year-old Napoleon Hill meeting steel-baron Andrew Carnegie in 1908. At the time, Andrew Carnegie was well into his 70's and he was one of the richest men in the world. Yet, for some reason, when Napoleon Hill visited to interview him about business success, Carnegie took Hill home and spent 3 days with him. That was the starting point for Hill's labour of love...and the creation of his classic self-development books, including my favourite 'Think and Grow Rich'. This story does not end with the creation of books like 'Think and Grow Rich' in 1937. That's just the beginning. For example, one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century - Mahatma Gandhi - read Hill's book. The book was translated and widely circulated throughout India; I suppose supporting the good work of Gandhi.
Some business and education organizations promote mentoring. I am honoured to be able to participate in Conestoga College's mentoring program. Mentoring at the student level is a tremendous idea!
I am keeping my eyes and ears open for mentoring ideas, advice, and suggestions. If you have any then please share them.
Here is a sample of the things I have learned about mentoring. This is the advice of Eric Chester, the author of a recently-published book titled 'Reviving Work Ethic':
5 Tips on Mentoring
- Find your style
- Develop trust
- Value tact and timing
- Tell stories
- Cast a vision
Good, simple advice!
by Rick Baker
On Jan 4, 2012
Thought Tweet #383 "He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it." James Allen
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
This is a quote from James Allen's 1903 book 'As a Man Thinketh'. Allen was a [modern-era] pioneer in the areas of positive thinking, abundance thinking, and the law of attraction. Apparently, Napoleon Hill and other self-development gurus were influenced by Allen's work. And, it seems Allen was influenced by Eastern philosophies.
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