Vision: How to Inspire Your Performance

Any high performer, whether in the leadership world or not, knows they reach a point where they have to make a commitment move to inspire their performance to the next level. My good friend and fellow speaker Stewart Kennedy tells the story of a rock climber who has seemingly climbed as high as he could. He has reached a point where the next hand hold is just out of reach. To go higher he has to literally let go of where he is and leap for the next hand hold.

This is a great example of the first step out of four high performers must make to inspire their personal performance - they must take a risk. It is also a metaphor for step two, which is aiming for something. I have found myself in a similar predicament as of late. I have been growing our speaking business and doing great work, but I feel like it is time to aim for something new, something more challenging, and something higher. As high performers, we have to have something to aim for. A project or idea or proposition that truly inspires us.

Step three is to leverage our relationships to get there. We all know life is a team sport. Things get done through people, not systems or emails or silos. If you are struggling to reach a higher level, start tapping people who are at or near that level already. Learn from them. Lean on them. Help them (if you can.) If the relationship is authentic, they will learn, lean and help back.

The final step is to examine where your energies are directed. Energy is one of those unique resources that is not finite like time or money. Energy comes from the weirdest and sometimes most unexpected sources. If you need to go to the next level, you will need to redirect your energies to new places and you will need to create energy from new sources. This is not easy, but it is attainable. The toughest thing about energy in the context of reaching higher is how much it takes to get there. As a high performer, you are more than likely on auto-pilot in a number of areas. This auto-pilot has to be disengaged and you must take over the wheel again.

It is exhausting, but if you are fully committed to taking the risk, if your "something" is worth the aim and if the relationships are leveraged properly, you will be creating more energy than you expend.

Be rare. Go higher. Someone in your immediate circle and an infinite number of people in new circles need you to go there. They will be inspired to do the same. And that is what Personal Leadership Insight is all about. Inspiring others through your inspiring work.

Vision: Three Giant Jumps Every Great Student Leader Takes

Everyone knows great student leaders live life differently than the average Joe. However, not everyone knows how they do it. The three giant jumps is about a few of those differences. These are three very large leaps highly-effective student leaders make in their personal and social development that allow them to make a difference in their world and the world around them.

Before we look at the jumps, let's examine the structure.

Each jump has three elements:

1. The starting place
2. The ending place
3. The leap from one to the other.

All three are critical components of that particular leadership lesson. However, the leap itself is where the magic lives. It is rather simple to recognize the importance of each starting and ending point. How a great student leader makes each jump is the secret ingredient. The "how" is a moving target because it is different for each person, but our purpose here is to kick out into the open a few guiding dynamics for any student desiring to be a great leader.


Jump 1 - Self to Self-Aware

Our first starting place is all about authenticity and trust. Being ok with being you. Not putting a front on for people or being one person in one situation and another person in another. Mastering the "self" starting point is the foundation for trust - the core component of effective and healthy leadership. Every good student leader is comfortable in their own skin.

The ending point is being very self-aware. Recognizing your strengths and your weaknesses. Understanding your personality, behavior patterns, emotional triggers, learning style, core talents, etc. If you are going to be successful, you have to first know who "you" is.

The giant jump in the middle requires tools for examination, disciplining your attention to keep looking, asking, examining and a routine of repeating certain processes each year. This is one reason why involvement in student organizations is so beneficial. Most of these organizations host annual leadership conferences and provide other leadership development opportunities where you have the chance to learn about yourself, challenge yourself and expand your understanding of yourself.

Jump 2 - MySpace to YourSpace

Our second starting place is about the power of being a highly-specialized success agent that owns a "brand" or a MySpace. This doesn't mean you actually have to have a MySpace page, that is just the metaphor. It does mean you have spent time building a reputation that people trust, recognize and know. Every good student leader is branded with personal success.

The ending point is living in YourSpace and supercharging your agent status by being service-minded. It is amazing how many people could jump straight into a leader status just by getting this one thing right - by getting out of their own little world and put their focus on helping others.. Pretty self-explanatory. It involves thinking about how your behavior will impact those around you before you do it. Thinking about the ripples in the pond before you throw the stone, so to speak.

The giant jump in the middle takes Emotional Maturity. This one trait is so important it is one of the Ten PLI Essentials. It is challenging to master, but worth the effort. The best definition of maturity I have ever heard is "when a person thinks more of other's welfare than they do of their own."


Jump 3 - Cause to Because

Our final starting place takes us into the real world and is about how real value is created by student leaders. The cause in this case could be any project, mission, event, etc. that engages your talents, skills and experience. Every good student leader has a purpose for their leadership.

The ending point is all about understanding. Why is your cause important? What difference does it make in the world? What is your role in the cause and how do you bring value to the table?

The giant jump in the middle is an exercise in perspective and connections. Great student leaders have connected the dots between their actions and the actions of their peers and the impact those actions make in the world. They not only see the how (what do I do next as a leader), but they also see the why (what is the real change my next action will create).

Vision: Just Lucky I Guess

People who think success is just a matter of luck are less likely to enjoy job and life satisfaction. The reason is because the control has been taken out of their hands. If success and failure are just based on pure happenstance, then there is no real reason to work harder or more efficiently or more productively. There is no reason to set goals and work to achieve them. And when you extract purpose and direction and motivation from any equation (let alone work), what you have left is very less than satisfying. When the risk and mystery is gone (either success is or is not in the cards for me), then the game is boring and completely disengaging.

At the same time, any successful person will tell you a part of their success is based on lucky situations or turn of events. I believe this to be true to the extent they had to do something either intentionally or unintentionally to be in the right place at the right time to reap the benefits of those "lucky turn of events."

To extract more satisfaction from our work life (whether that be professional work, school work, hobby work or personal relationships work), we need to...

1. Believe fortune smiles on the diligent in labor.
2. Be thankful when it does.
3. Keep an optimistic vision set on a future full of risk and uncertainty
4. Do whatever we can today to create our own "luck" tomorrow

Vision: The Two Time Zones

Expert leaders constantly live in two time zones.

TZ Now. What is happening in front of me right now and how can I create the most value for this situation?

TZ Later. Where will I most be needed in a month from now and what is one thing I can do today to move closer to creating value for that situation?

Vision: How Rhythm Produces Authentic Vision

 

(1) Turn on your radio or iPod. Find some good music. Now listen as you read.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the most popular American Poet in the 19th century, wrote, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”

Music performs a number of remarkable feats on the human body. It boosts the immune system, regulates stress-related hormones, stimulates digestion and affects respiration. Rhythm is at the heart of music. However, the power of rhythm is not only found in song. 

 

Your vision of the future creates your life’s rhythm.

 

Your vision defines your connection between you and the people, places, and things around you. Do they have purpose? Are they taking you closer or further away from your vision?

(2) Back to the song. Listen intently to it. Is it familiar or new? If it is familiar, where does it take you in your life? What memories are being recalled? Does the song make you want to dance, reflect, go to sleep or just listen?

(3) Now, change the channel. With a new song comes a totally different set of experiences. You are now in a different place with a different song and a new mood.

(4) Again, change the channel.  Only this time, keep looking until you find one you really like. This song, above all the others before, is exactly what you need right now. Your feet are tapping and it makes you feel good. The song has changed your entire energy level. You have found your rhythm. The song has connected with you. It is this type of energizing connection an authentic vision should be creating in your life today. If its not, change the channel. Develop a vision that energizes you, makes you hopeful and creates a positive, purpose-filled rhythm in your life.

 

“Rhythm is a movement marked by the regular recurrence or natural flow of related elements.”

 

This definition of rhythm highlights the primary dynamic of an authentic vision. The key word is movement.  It denotes a lack of sameness, an absence of apathy and a physical action producing a change. An authentic vision creates the magic of inertia in your life. It drives you to purposeful action. And you have to act upon your vision for it to have any relevance or impact on your life.  Effort is the bridge between potential and achievement.

 

An authentic vision leads to authentic action.

 

With authentic vision, your life becomes unique and your purpose is easily recognizable by you and others - just like a great song where the rhythm is a reflection of what the artist, songwriter and listener are all about.  Work hard to find your authentic vision and it will continually move you and your actions to reach a genuine rhythm of meaning and greatness.

Vision: Believing is Seeing

Entry level leaders operate from a "seeing is believing" standpoint when dealing with others. They have to have things proved to them first and always. Expert Leaders operate from a "believing is seeing" standpoint. They have a genuine faith in the goodness of others. They believe in a person's potential to perform and that belief spurs on and actually encourages the performance to happen.

When it comes to building trust with others, owning an intelligent optimism for other's future is an incredibly important concept and reaps huge rewards for you and them.

Masterful Communication: A Better Brainstorm

You may be called from time to time to either lead and/or be involved in a group decision making process. These meetings can be effective or ineffective based on the process used. I was called to lead a group of 200 educators and staff members through the process of creating a new vision statement for the school district. We followed this technique and, had we at least 30 more minutes, we could have finished with a final product.

FYI: I didn't tell the group this before we started so as to not hinder creativity, but the best vision statements are short, simple, concrete and visual. They don't include everything we want to do in the future. They only include the most critical element(s) of a new future.

1. Break the big group of 200 into mixed (different roles, responsibilities, etc.) smaller groups of 8-10.

2. Have each group pick one of these four discussion areas: What is our greatest strength? What is our greatest challenges? What words should be included in the statement? Where could the vision statement be used? (Your questions may be different based on the type and nature of your final product.)

3. Give each group an easel pad sheet, a marker and 40-50 stickers. The poster paper and marker are used to capture ideas. Each group picks a discussion leader/scribe. This person numbers the ideas, labels the sheet (which discussion area), and signs their name on the bottom. The scribe should write very legibly.

4. Each group has exactly five minutes to discuss ideas. Do not judge ideas. This first round is about quantity. KEY POINT: the discussion leader/scribe cannot make judgements or throw out ideas - they only write. This is because they could have too much influence and power over the group discussion. They can encourage, ask for clarity and ask questions to get ideas flowing (not judgmental questions though.)

5. After five minutes each group gets a different group's discussion sheet. The new sheet has to be on one of the other three discussion areas. Their task is to add a few new ideas to the list, but mainly to go back through the previous ideas and make them more C.V.S. - Concrete, Visual and Simple. Round two is about quality.

6. After the five minutes is up, each group hangs up their poster of ideas. Each person then grabs three to five stickers and everyone walks around the room and puts a sticker next to an idea that THEY THINK SHOULD BE IN THE VISION STATEMENT. This is a critical step. Only vote on ideas that you think should make the cut.

7. After this step, we ran out of time. However, the next step would have been to take the most popular ideas, have each team get a new easel pad sheet and write down just those (preferably less than 10) and discuss pros and cons. The main output goal here is for each team to whittle the ideas down to their version of a great vision statement.

8. At this point, each team gets one last poster paper and writes their final first draft of their vision statement. These are hung up. Everyone gets ONE STICKER and votes on their favorite one.

9. You can do two things here. Take the winning vote as is or take the best parts of the top two or three and collectively make a final one. This really all depends on how the final ideas are structured.

10. This is a very thorough and quick process for taking a number of ideas, filtering them down and creating a collaborative piece.

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Vision: Are you a CLEAR Leader?

C - Commitment... Are you fully committed to your leadership positions? Do you believe in "Emersion Leadership" or part-time leadership?

L - Learn... What do you need to be learning to be a better leader? What did learn today and how will you apply it tomorrow? Study Remarkable Leadership to learn about how and why learning is a leader's most important task.

E - Expectations... Are you clear with your expectations of others? Are you clear on what others expect of you?

A - Act Daily with Integrity... What is the condition of your character? Are your actions in alignment with your beliefs? Study True North to learn more.

R - Revolutionize... What are you making significantly better today? You can improve something "small" today and it will have a huge impact tomorrow.

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Vision: If it is Starting Your Own Venture...

YouTube - The Art of the Start

General: Grant Me Leadership...

God grant me...


Vision to see opportunity.

Integrity to be what I say.


Innovativeness to create value.

Wise Judgment to choose right.


Service mindedness to be significant.

Processed Goals to live purposefully.


Emotional Maturity to act with control and grace.

Skill Assessment to engage my strength.


Fostered Relationships to experience the richness of life.

Masterful Communication to bring clarity into an unclear world.

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Vision: Quotes

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
Japanese Proverb

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
Peter Drucker

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”
Ralph Lauren

“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”
John Scully

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.”
T.E. Lawrence

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Integrity: The 5 C's of Leadership Effectiveness

Personal Leadership Insight is a framework for leadership development. One or more of the ten PLI Essentials is an area of development need for all leaders. However, PLI is not a framework for leadership effectiveness. That is why we have the 5 C's...

Clarity

Spend time chasing ambiguity out of your life. Get clear on your strengths, your areas of weakness, your mission in life, your organization's purpose, etc.

Commitment

Trust is at the heart of a leader's effectivness. Everytime you give your word, keep it. (Especially to yourself.)

Change

Like the old saying goes, "When you're green, you're growing. When you're ripe, you rot!"

Commune

Life and leadership are team sports. Strategy, execution, competency, etc. are important, but all are secondary to the human side of leadership.

Create

The only test of leadership that matters is the answer to this question, "What value are you bringing to the table today?"

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Vision: A 12-Year Inspiration

The next time you doubt your ability to create the future you want, watch this clip to remind you of the immaculate capabilities of the human design (and then try not to cry when you realize, like me, that you will never be as talented as this girl...)

A 12-Year Inspiration

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General: Understanding the Pitfalls of Missing Links

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The Personal Leadership Insight Blog is built around our ten PLI Essentials. As you peruse through the posts, you will find each post discusses one of the ten. For deeper study into each Essential, click on an Essential in the PLI Tags list in the right-hand sidebar.

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Vision: Long-Term Context

Here is a simple conversational tool that will help you think and act with more vision. When you talk with people, talk in long terms. Ask yourself this question… when was the last time you spoke with someone about something that wouldn’t occur or come to fruition for at least two years? Have conversations like this more often. This will encourage forward thinking from others and put many of your seemingly mundane daily conversations into a broader context.

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Vision: Used Car = New Vision

My wife and I just bought a new car. Well, new to us, but used to the world. The experience has reminded me of the oddity of seeing things that you never saw before even though you knew they were always there. Upon purchasing the aforementioned vehicle, we now see them all the time and I don't recall seeing even one on the road before.

This same dynamic happens with the Vision PLI Essential. It is amazing how, once you set your sights on accomplishing something and you actively begin pursuing it, people, resources and opportunities begin popping up to support you in your quest. This dynamic only works up to a certain size of vision. History shows us that the larger and more robust the vision, the less support you will find from others.

These realities remind us that whether you own a "2001 model vision" that is common place or a "2010 model futurstic vision" that is strange to people, believe in your vision and gladly accept any supportive words you receive (and remember to return the favor).

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Vision: Walt Disney

There are 10 PLI Essentials to effective leadership. Today we look at Vision...




Walt Disney modeled his Visionary insight….
The guiding principles in Walt Disney’s business philosophy were dream, believe, dare and do. His ability to do all four while staying clearly focused allowed him to blaze a trail in the animation and entertainment industries. Because of his immense dedication to his vision of how entertainment in America should and could be, Disney persevered after his first two companies failed. His purposeful enthusiasm and faith in his future fueled his drive to perfect the art of animation and today the wildly successful Walt Disney Company owns five vacation resorts, eleven theme parks, and eight motion picture studios.

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