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by Rick Baker
On Dec 9, 2011
I was listening to 'Keys to Success' when the following picture popped into my head:
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In 'Keys to Success', Napoleon Hill was asking his readers/students questions like:
- Where are you going?
- How strong is your desire to get there?
- What changes are you making to ensure you get there?
These are straightforward-enough questions.
And, straightforward-enough does not necessarily mean easy enough or simple enough.
One of the things we have noticed when we help people with Vision statements is: most people experience some difficulty. This is absolutely normal. About 19 out of 20 people experience difficulty describing in vivid detail the future they would like to live. For many people, it is difficult to be concrete about the future. After all, when it gets right down to it nobody can predict the future. On the other hand, most people have desires, wants, and needs. Often, those needs are strong, embedded, life-long needs. And, everyone has some level of imagination. Imagination exists in us. Why, it even works while we are asleep - creating various types of dreams...some quite fantastic. Yet, when it comes to people picturing their future, most people have difficulty. To help them, we have designed 1-Page Tools. for example, here is a link to one VISION: 1-Page Tool.
The picture above forms the basis for another 1-Page Tool...a simpler tool, which will help people who need help to get into the swing of visioning, envisioning, contemplating, and finally holding a Vivid Vision of their desired future, firmly in their minds. In relative terms, it should be easier to start by considering the near-term future...say tomorrow.
When you think about what you expect to live through tomorrow:
- What do you see happening?
- What don't you see happening?
How do you feel about those things you expect to happen and those things you expect will not happen tomorrow:
- Do you like them?
- Do you dislike them?
Use the results to help your imagination take baby steps farther and farther into the future.
Then you can answer those important questions:
- Where are you going?
- How strong is your desire to get there?
- What changes are you making to ensure you get there?
by Rick Baker
On Dec 8, 2011
You probably will not read the words in this sentence if:
- you don't dream about achieving
- you think change is overrated or
- you think you are incapable of making personal changes.
It is times like this I wish I was the most-gifted writer...then you would still be reading and wanting to read more.
However, the reality is there are more people who 'turn off' to this topic than people who 'tune in' to this topic...let's call the business people who do not dream of achievement or embrace change with an open mind the Unchanging Majority.
Hopefully, you have less than the normal share of Unchanging Majority people at your business.
Regardless, you will have some of them. That's not 'bad news', it is just a fact. And, it is a fact you can deal with. You simply need to recognize people are different. Some people, due to past events dating back perhaps as far as the day they were born, for a huge range of reasons, do not dream of business achievement and do not embrace personal or business change with an open mind.
Is this a material problem for you?
You can get a better handle on the extent of the problem by rating yourself and rating others, using a Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale.
Rate yourself in 3 areas:
- How vivid are my business dreams and how strong is my desire to achieve them?
- How important is it for me to make personal changes for the better?
- How willing am I to do the tough work of creating new Good Habits?
Rate your people, one by one, in the same 3 areas.
Compare yourself to your people...check out the gaps.
Consider the significance, the broad implications, of your Good Habits!
by Rick Baker
On Nov 22, 2011
Thought Tweet #352 When Leaders tell followers what to do they need to limit that telling to BIG PICTURE things.
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Some think Leaders should provide followers latitude to do their work as they choose. Some think that’s the way to breed creativity and maximize motivation, innovation, and results. Meanwhile, many [perhaps most] entrepreneur-Leaders tend to micro-manage. 4 keys to success in business:
- The Leader must pick strong/capable followers,
- The Leader must tell those followers the desired BIG PICTURE things such as VALUES, VISION, MASTER RULES, and MAJOR GOALS,
- The Leader must show those followers how he/she [the Leader] goes about his/her work [actions]…i.e., setting one example, the example that fits the Leader’s strengths and personality, and
- the Leader must make it clear he/she expects followers to take action that fits their unique strengths and personalities.
by Rick Baker
On Oct 12, 2011
Can you tell me what you want?
I ask business people that question a lot.
It is a simple question yet, for most people, it is difficult to answer.
Up until the last few years, I only ‘did lip service’ to that question. I asked it. People answered it. And, if I thought I understood their answer then that was pretty much the end of the discussion. If I didn’t think I understood the answer then I politely worked with the other person as they changed the subject.
That was my mistake.
I hope you are not making that one.
Now, I ask business people the question a lot: Can you tell me what you want?
Most business people find this question difficult to answer. I expect that…I have experienced it myself and I have seen it in many other people. When well over half the population are doing it, it is normal…absolutely normal.
So, when business people cannot state clearly what they want, that’s a very normal thing.
3 examples:
- If you ask business owners what they want and they cannot tell you in clear and simple words – that’s normal.
- If you ask business allies what they want and they cannot tell you in clear and simple words – that’s normal.
- If you ask bosses what they want and they cannot tell you in clear and simple words – that’s normal.
Now, this normal behaviour does create a bunch of problems in the business sector. In fact, most business problems are a direct result of this normal behaviour. The normal behaviour is the cause…and business problems are the result.
Business people spend huge, absolutely huge, amounts of time remedying the resulting problems.
We recommend: business people must spend time removing the cause and those ounces of prevention will save them pounds of problem-cure.
Business people need to think about what they want then know how to express that in clear and simple words.
by Rick Baker
On Feb 8, 2011
"Success is Clearly in View" - The Leader's vision must be vivid and shared*.
How often do you stop what you are doing, sit back, and quietly ask yourself - “Why am I working?”
I don’t mean, ask yourself - “Why am I doing this piece of work right now?”
I mean, some day you will no longer be working. When that day arrives, what do you hope you will have accomplished?
I mean, asking yourself questions like…“ When I stop working
- how do I want to be remembered?”
- what will my memoirs say?”
- what legacy will I leave?
- who will replace me?
I mean, asking yourself – “When will my career end?”
And, asking yourself – “How will my career end?”
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Obviously, none of us has a crystal ball. None of us can predict the future.
And, for some people the credo is ‘Live For Today’. Those people stopped reading this Thought Post many lines ago.
Leaders have the ability to choose. [That perk comes with the territory.]
Leaders have the ability to choose…and none of us can predict the future.
However, leaders can ‘approach the future’ with intent.
Leaders do that by ‘living the present’ with intent.
Intent opens the door to many powerful things:
- high self-motivation
- high self-confidence
- high self-esteem
- better ability to attract and connect with other talented people
- better ability to lead other people
The Power of Intent nurtures Good Habits when the leader (1) has clear Vision of the end point and (2) shares that clear Vision repeatedly with those who follow.
The Power of Intent can only be maximized when the leader has a clear Vision of the end point.
Footnote:
- "Success is Clearly in View" - The Leader's vision must be vivid and shared. That’s the title of the 2nd workshop in our 6-workshop Leaders’ Academy series.
by Rick Baker
On Feb 1, 2011
"Success is Clearly in View" - The Leader's vision must be vivid and shared*.
During my parents’ lifetime, a leader said,
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”
That leader had a vision of freedom for his country; not just freedom from foreign rule but freedom in the broadest sense of the word.
This leader inspired the people of his country with quotes such as,
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
This leader’s motto was:
“Simple Living, High Thinking”
This leader lived a life of peace and demanded the same from his followers. He encouraged non-violent civil disobedience from foreign authority he believed was unnecessary and unjust. He asked his people to refrain from retaliating when they were attacked with physical force.
His people rallied and followed his Vision and his guidance.
He lived to see his country of 300,000,000 people freed from foreign rule.
This leader was Mahatma Gandhi.
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Now, that is a summary of the amazing achievement of a 20th Century leader.
The historical record confirms the details of a leader who, with Vision, set the global standard for peaceful human relations, and freed an entire nation.
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Now, such an extreme example of pacifistic leadership is unusual.
Regardless, we can benefit from understanding the following about Mahatma Gandhi:
- He had a Vision – freeing the 300,000,000 people of his country
- He clearly communicated that Vision – his people knew exactly what he envisioned
- He led by example – his peaceful demonstrations and his hunger strikes setting examples for all
Footnote:
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