Tag Vision

A Vision and a Plan to Achieve It are Two Different Things

Steve Keating 3 Comments

It’s interesting when I ask people about their future plans. They tell me things like “my plan is to be debt free in three years.” I respond by saying that’s a terrific vision, so what’s the plan to get there?

I often see a deer in the headlights kind of look. 

That indicates to me that most people don’t understand that merely having a vision does absolutely nothing to ensure you achieve it. A vision of your future come from dreams and the attainment of that vision comes from planning.

Almost all people believe having goals is important. Many actually have written their goals down. Few however, have any kind of a formal plan for how, and when, they will achieve those goals. They can only hope it will somehow magically happen. 

I suppose it’s possible but personally I’ve never seen hoping for magic actually lead to success. 

The development of a true plan requires a complete examination of your starting point, your “As Is” or current situation. You need to be very honest here and not sugar coat the starting point on your journey to success. If you try to fool yourself in this step every other part of your plan will be wrong. You’ll demotivate yourself before you even have a chance for success.

You also need to have a clear vision of your future. Where you are going and why you want to go there. This is the “Should Be” part of your plan. Keep in mind, this is not your goals, this is where you end up when your goals are achieved. 

Now that you have that end result in mind you need to decide what you’re willing to give up to have it. Life is a trade off. Many people think in terms of what they are willing to do to achieve their vision. They fill their plans with all the things they will do to make it happen.

But they forget they only have 1440 minutes a day. If they are busy people most of that time is already used up. If you’re going to do new things to achieve your vision then you’ll almost certainly have to let some of the things you had been doing go. Build those into your plan as well. Be realistic about the time you’re willing to commit, failing to do that will result in the failure of your plan. 

Now you can set some goals. These goals are the stepping stones on your path to success. You’ll want some short term goals, some medium term goals and some long range goals. All the goals must align, what that means is that the accomplishment of each short term goal should get you closer to one of your medium term goals. 

The accomplishment of each medium term goal should get you closer to a long range goal. The accomplishment of every goal should move you closer to your actual vision. Be careful when setting goals, if they stretch you too far you could give up on them. If they don’t stretch you far enough then you’ll likely never see that vision come to life. Be realistic!

Now the truly important part. The timetable! When will you begin? I mean exactly when will you begin? Spell this out down to the minute. Not next month or next week. The plan must say I will begin at 8:03am on Monday the 27th of June. Be precise. 

Every goal needs a precise start time and achievement date and time. I’ll begin working towards this particular goal on July 13th at 11:51am and I’ll have accomplished it by August 21st at 2:02pm. 

Your plan also must include the ultimate accomplishment date. When EXACTLY will the vision come to life. 

Imagine the motivation that comes from knowing exactly what you’re doing everyday and exactly why you’re doing it. That’s powerful. 

Now, here’s where most plans go off the rails. “Stuff” as they say happens. And that’s perfectly okay because part of your plan includes periodic reviews to adjust the time frames for the goals and maybe even adjust some of the goals. The most common mistake in planning is tossing the plan in the trash as soon as the first unplanned obstacle pops up. 

Adjust, adapt, innovate and keep moving towards your ultimate vision.

The most successful people are steadfast in the pursuit of their goals but they are flexible in that pursuit. Let the “stuff” happen, but don’t get stuck in it. 

On a another subject…I’m trying something new on Twitter. It’s called “Super Followers.” For $5 a month, that’s 17 cents a day, people can follow a part of my Twitter stream that is for subscribers only. It features short videos of me discussing leadership topics, sales tips and ideas for better overall relationships. I’m assuming there will be far fewer Super Followers than the million or so people who regularly follow me on Twitter. That will give me the opportunity to answer questions more throughly than I can on regular Twitter. Most of the answers will come in the evening cause we all have day jobs, right? Think of it as ”mentoring on demand!”

My goal with SuperFollowers is to build a better connection, one where I can perhaps help more and have a greater impact. I’m hoping it gives me a chance to mentor to a wider audience. It’s still new, we’ll see how it works. It’s a $5 dollar investment that may be the extra “push” you need to get to where you want to be. I’d be honored to be able to help get you there. 

You can find more information by clicking the Super Follow button on my Twitter profile page IN THE TWITTER APP. http://twitter.com/leadtoday Give it a try if you’re so inclined, and if you are, be sure to let me know how I’m doing and how I can be of even more help.

Leadership Execution

Steve Keating 2 Comments

There are many things that can cause a leader to fail. One of those things, and one that is not often talked about, is lack of execution.  

 

Holding a leadership position doesn’t automatically make someone more disciplined. Leaders may be superior vision casters but if they don’t have a solid plan to make that vision happen then their vision soon becomes clouded. If they do have a plan then they must also have the discipline to follow it. Many leaders don’t have the required discipline needed to execute their plan. 

 

Leaders also sometimes focus on less significant things at the expense of the things that really matter. I’ve literally seen leaders who were more concerned about what’s on the buffet table at lunch than they were about the content of a meeting. Some things matter more than others and leaders who execute well can tell the difference between the two. 

 

Another reason some leaders don’t execute well is that they don’t have the right people in the proper roles to make their vision come to life. Many leaders, perhaps even most leaders fail to realize the importance of placing people in roles where they have an opportunity to use their strengths. 

 

A large majority of people within an organization are promoted because they were good at what there were doing before the promotion. The assumption is that because there were good in one role they will be good in another role too. That may be partially true but there is more to consider. Much more.

 

Let’s say a person was a particularly skilled customer service representative. You recognize that skill and promote them to a leadership role within the customer service department. Their customer service skills may still shine but are they also good at helping other people shine as well? 

 

Your first level of execution may have been spot on. But if the people you put into leadership positions can’t help other people develop then your second level of execution is lacking. If you have potential superstar performers being “led” by people who aren’t truly leaders then your second level of execution is severely lacking. 

 

If your future top performers are not being led by your very best leaders then you’ve not only missed the boat on execution you didn’t even make it to the dock. One of two things will happen when your future top performers are being “led” by non leaders. The first one is their star will simply burn out; they stay with your organization but their potential has now been tamped down to almost nothing. The second and more likely result of potential superstars not being developed by the people above them is that they leave your organization and go on to succeed somewhere else.

 

How long do you think an organization can withstand that type of poor execution?

 

Leaders who execute well are two or three or four steps ahead of leaders who don’t. They not only consider the consequences of their decisions they consider the consequences of the consequences of the consequences. 


Successful leaders develop their plan and focus on the end goal to help themselves stay disciplined. They prioritize well and never let small things obscure the important ones. And most importantly, they grow their people on the way to success through solid execution with every level of their organization. 


See More Success

Steve Keating 3 Comments

Some people see more in a walk around the block than others see in a trip around the world. That first group of people also tend to be far more successful than the second group. 

 

The more you see the more you”ll know and the more you know the more you’ll understand. Understanding allows you to change the things you can and accept the things you can’t. 

 

The more you see the more you’ll see things that less successful people will never notice. You’ll see things from angles that most people didn’t even know existed. You’re perspective will change, sometimes frequently.

 

Seeing things from different perspectives brings them to life. It creates the curiosity needed to understand them. 

 

But here’s the thing about “seeing” more, it has very little to do with your eyes. Seeing more starts from your heart. It comes from being genuinely interested in other people and other things, even when those people are very different than you. Even when you initially believed those “things” would never be of interest to you. 

 

If you only associate with people who have similar beliefs as you, people who look like you, people who dress like you, then you will likely fall into the trap of thinking you’re always right. You could even believe you know enough that you don’t need to know anything more. 

 

You would be wrong on both counts. 

 

When you make the decision to consciously choose to “see” with your eyes, your ears, your heart, your brain, your experience and your compassion then you’ll begin to see many things differently and many more things for the very first time. 

 

You might notice people who you’ve “seen” many times but now you’ll actually see them. 

 

The more things you see, the more places you see, and the more people you see, the more success you’ll see as well. It takes a bit of practice and a lot of focus but once once you fully develop your “eyesight” it’ll be almost like you have x-ray vision. 


There will be no limit to what you can learn and that will almost certainly lead to greater success.


Why Leaders Need Vision

Steve Keating 8 Comments

Leaders don’t need 20 20 eyesight to have good vision. What they need is an imagination, an idea of what is possible, and a picture of what the future may hold. 

 

That vision should guide them and motivate them to grow and improve. It should provide hope in the tough times, particularly if their vision includes an understanding of their purpose and the purpose of their organization. 

 

A good vision can show the leader where they and their organization are headed. It will pull the leader past the inevitable roadblocks that pop up within every plan. A true vision provides focus. The vision helps answer every question that could come up. If something gets you closer to your vision you do it, if it doesn’t get you closer to your vision you don’t. Good vision provides clarity for a leader even during the foggiest of times.

 

Good vision helps a leader answer the “why” question that can otherwise place doubts in the leader’s mind. A leader with good vision always has an answer to the “why are we doing this?” and “what’s the point?” questions that can haunt leaders with lesser vision. Particularly when those questions come from naysayers. 

 

Good vision does all that and more for a leader and you know what? It can do all those things for a leader’s people and their organization too. 

 

If.

 

If the leader is effective at casting that vision upon those people and the organization. Since a leader can’t really do much alone they must be able to communicate and “sell” that vision to their people. They must reinforce that vision through their words and actions at every opportunity. 

 

People find it easier to follow a leader when they know where that leader is taking them. They find it much much easier to follow a leader when they know they are included in the vision. 

 

When a leader shares their vision with their people those people become engaged and they stay engaged. When those people buy into the vision they commit to making it happen. When all, or at least the majority of the people within an organization share the same vision that organization is nearly unstoppable. 

 

If you’re leading any type of organization today then you must, must, must develop and share your vision for your people and organization. You must share it soon and you must share it often. You truly cannot over share your vision. 


The alternative to not sharing your vision is… well, we don’t want to go there because that my friends would be a very sad story. 

Are You Really Leading?

Steve Keating Leave a comment

I’m kind of afraid that “leadership” has become something of a buzzword. The actual definition of buzzword is “a word or phrase, often an item of jargon, that is fashionable at a particular time or in a particular context.” 

If we buy that definition then “leadership” has actually been a buzzword for quite some time. I’m not sure when it changed from a meaningful word to a buzzword but my guess would be that it happened slowly over time, so slowly that many of us were slow to realize it happened. 

People, including me, have written exhaustively about the difference between managing and leading and yet most people who use the word “leader” when describing themselves still operate more as a manager than a leader. They know enough about leadership to use the buzzwords but when you watch them in action the buzz soon disappears and all your left with is words. 

One area, one critical area, where many of these would be leaders fall short is in developing and sharing their vision.

They effectively develop good strategies and operational plans (management activities) while glossing over or completely ignoring the vision. (Vision-casting is a key component of effective leadership) 

Authentic leaders understand the importance of goals and having everyone in their organization working towards those goals. A vision describes those goals in some detail and also explains how the strategies, tactics and operational plans of the organization ensure those goals are achieved. 

The best leaders endlessly clarify the vision and goals of their organization and explain how even small goals can serve to help ensure the larger goals are achieved. That process helps everyone within the organization understand their own role in helping the vision become reality. 

Here’s the thing; if you’re in a leadership role and you have no vision for the organization then where exactly are you leading your people? If you have a vision and you have not effectively shared it with the people you lead then why would they follow you? People have a need to know where they are going and what will be waiting for them when they arrive. Without that very basic information they are unlikely to actually follow.

Leadership is not just a word, it is an action, more precisely a set of actions. One of the actions is developing and sharing a common vision that comes from common goals. 

If you want to actually practice leadership rather than just talk leadership then share your goals and vision early and often. Repeat it again and again, make it a part of everyday life in your organization. 

People react to management but they respond to leadership, when it’s truly leadership. Reactive people will seldom help a manager achieve organizational goals but responsive people very often engage with their leader to accomplish great things. 

Share your vision and your people will respond. Once that happens anything and everything is possible.

Good Decisions

Steve Keating 9 Comments

The right decision made at the wrong time is a bad decision. The right time to make a decision is when you have as many facts as you can get to make it. Sometimes it will be all the facts, sometimes it will be enough facts and sometimes you’ll have to make a decision with less facts than you would want. 

But if you intend to lead then you have to make decisions period!

Once you have all the facts available, whether you believe it’s enough facts or not, you must make a decision. Deciding not to make a decision or deciding to delay a decision IS A DECISION and it is frequently the wrong decision. In fact, it’s worse than a wrong decision because a wrong decision can be fixed, a “non-decision” often cannot.

I see people all the time who have the facts required to make a decision and yet just can’t bring themselves to make it. They think and think, rethink and rethink, sleep on it and still don’t come to a decision. 

When they finally decide something it’s often too late to have the positive impact that a more timely decision would have had.

I believe one of the major causes of poor decision making is a lack of awareness of values, vision, and mission. 

When faced with a decision ask yourself how each possible decision will align with your values. Does the decision get you closer to your vision or not?  Does the choice you would make “fit” with your mission? 

Here’s the real challenge: when asked, most people can’t clearly state their values, either their personal values or the values of their organization. Most every organization has some sort of vision and or mission statement but they are no better than a slogan unless people know what they are and actually align themselves to them. A vision and mission statement should be used to guide every decision made in the organization. 

If something doesn’t get you closer to your vision then why on earth would you do it. If something is contrary to your values or the values of your organization then your choice is clear…and much easier.

When you know AND live your values every decision is easier. When you understand your mission, either in business or in life, then every decision becomes clear. 

It requires some serious reflection to truly understand your values. You will also find your values much easier to know than to live. But that’s okay, values can not only help to keep you on track, they can help you get back on track when you fall off the rails.

When you know, really know, what your true values are, when you understand your mission and have a vision for your life and business then you will find yourself not only making faster decisions, you’ll find yourself making much better decisions too.

Do You Have A Vision?

Steve Keating 16 Comments

Here’s an interesting if a bit risky experiment for you. Walk into a room full of people that you have never met and yell out “follow me” and run out of the room. See how many people follow you.

Next, walk into a room full of people who know you well, don’t say anything to anyone other then yelling the same “follow me” and then run out of the room. See how many people follow you.

I’m betting the numbers will be almost the same. The people who don’t know you may have some disparaging comments about you, then again, so may the people who know you. But the group that knows you may just shrug and wonder what you’re up to now.

Both groups however will have this in common: they are unlikely to follow you without first knowing where you’re going. Even people who know you well, they might even trust you, but to follow you they need to know where you’re going.

So now let me ask you this. As a leader, do you have a vision? For yourself, your organization and for the people you lead?

I hope your answer is yes. Let’s assume that it is. Here’s a second question. Do your people know and buy into your vision?

If you’re answer to that question is yes as well, then congratulations are in order. You’re set!

You’re also in a very small minority. The sad and challenging reality is that too many, way too many, leaders have an “idea” of where they might be going but have nothing so formal and serious as a vision statement.

If you don’t know where you’re going, or can’t articulate it to your people then why in the world would you expect them to follow you?

The good news is that you, anyone as a matter of fact, can develop an effective vision statement that shows you and those who you would lead exactly what your (and their) destination looks like.

To write a vision statement, focus on the basics of your mission statement and extrapolate; where is your organization, you, or your people going to be five years from now? What will you, your organization or your people have accomplished?

It might sound something like this for your organization:

In five years XYZ Company will be the leading provider of healthy snacks for unhealthy people. We will do this through our committed employees showing care and concern for every single customer we touch. We’ll “Wow” our customers and competitors alike and we will be a joy to do business with. We’ll work in a supportive caring environment that makes “work” fun and allows no doubt about the fact that XYZ is a great place to work and a wonderful place to do business. We will be a business where every customer is served with a smile and positive attitude.

Something like that. Make it meaningful, make it realistic, make it attainable with effort.

Once you have a vision statement you must share it with everyone. Your people, your customers, anyone who will listen. You must share it often. If you share it once it will die a quick death. The only way to keep your vision alive is to share it often.

Expect your people and anyone else you share it with to hold you accountable to it. While that can be scary it is also a great thing. Accountability will be a huge asset in your efforts to achieve your vision.

Above all, YOU must believe and commit to your vision statement. If you don’t then others won’t either. Your vision statement won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.

So, let me ask you again, do you have a vision?

If you do then tell the world. You might be amazed how many people will be willing to help you get there.