What compels you to act?
What makes it impossible for you to do anything other than obey a compelling internal urge to get up and go?
It is always a feeling that you MUST…..
But what generates that irresistible feeling?
It is always a vision!
So, is it possible to create such visions at will?
And, if so, can anyone create such visions – even you?
Let me tell you a story so that you can see how it is done.
There was once a young man who was very ambitious. He desired position and wealth. But he was frustrated by his lack of progress. He just couldn’t find a way to achieve his heart’s desires.
One day he met an older man who asked him: “What do you want in life?”
“That’s easy,” replied the young man, “I want to be a director of my employer’s company and to earn a lot of money.”
“So, what will you give your employer to persuade them to promote you to the position you desire?”
“I already give them eight hours a day of my time and all the know-how I have,” said the young man.
“Yes, but so does everyone else they employ. What extra do you bring to the party?”
“I don’t understand what you’re getting at. Surely they have employed me to do my job to the best of my ability.”
“Yes,” replied the old man with a smile, “and because you do your job well they have no incentive to move you on. They are happy to keep you where you are, doing a good job for them.”
“Oh, I see. I am keeping myself stuck in the same place by doing my job well.” The young man frowned. “What should I do to help myself climb the corporate ladder?”
“What is your employer’s vision for their company? How do they want their employees, their suppliers and their customers to see them?”
“I don’t know, no-one has ever told me.”
“Well then, what do you think it should be? What do you think are the strengths of the company?”
The young man thought hard for a minute or two. “I would say that we are very efficient at producing and distributing our products.”
“Is that all?”
“No, we are also at the cutting edge of product innovation. We invest a lot in R&D.”
“Is that it?”
“No, we also offer exceptional customer service; both our order taking and customer complaints services are well above the industry average.”
The old man waited to see if there was anything more to come. When the silence had stretched to a few minutes he summarised: “So your company is a very efficient producer of cutting edge products and offers outstanding customer service. Is that correct?”
“Yes, I would say so.”
“Now then, put yourself in the shoes of a typical customer and tell me how that looks to you. Describe the picture to me.”
After another long, thoughtful pause the young man said: “I see a clean, well run factory turning out best-in-class products that speed their way to me, on time.”
“Good,” said the old man with a smile. “Now, could you please make that vision come alive. Make it really bright and full of colours. Have lashings of sunshine pouring down on it. See people moving purposefully about as they do their jobs. See the products being shipped. See the happy customers smiling when their products are delivered. Hear the sounds of the factory running at full speed. See the R&D men designing and testing new products. See the customer service team answering their phones; hear them carrying out customer satisfaction surveys. Feel the energy throughout the organisation, see the colours, hear the sounds of the energy generated, feel the vibrations.”
He waited for a while for the young man to add the sights, sounds and feelings to his vision.
Then he said: “Now, if that is the corporate vision; what is your vision of what you will do to help make that corporate vision a reality? What extra can you do in your job to demonstrate that you are working to enhance the corporate vision? I want you to see yourself behaving in ways that will make your job an essential part of that corporate vision. I want the people above you to be able to see the part you are playing in making their vision a living reality.”
“So tell me what you see yourself doing that makes you a valuable part of the company team. What excites you about your job? What excites you about the next job up the corporate ladder? How do you see yourself doing that next job?”
The young man became more and more animated as he started to see and describe his vision of the role he could play in helping the corporate vision become even stronger.
That was the day his career started to take off. It was not long before the people above him took notice and marked him out as a man for the future. Colleagues noticed and started to treat him with more respect. Customers also noticed and started to ask for him by name because they knew that he would help them.
From that day the young man did well.
You too can create visions for whatever you are doing. Just build the pictures in your mind’s eye. Then colour them up, add in sounds and invest them with feeling. Never stop, keep adding detail until your vision becomes so compelling that you must act to make it a reality.
I hope you enjoyed this story and that you have learned the lessons about the power of visions and how to create them.
Visions are an integral part of success. Athletes use visions to help them perform more precisely and to encourage themselves to succeed. Artists use visions to help them create great works. Business people use visions to create great enterprises. Speakers use visions to engage their audiences. Martin Luther King famously used his vision, “I have a dream…” to change civil rights laws in the USA.
You can use visions to transform your company, your organisation and your career. With the aid of powerful visions you can become a truly transformational leader.
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