Friday, March 14, 2008

Happy Columbus Day!

last night I had an opportunity to hear Cameron Herold (www.backpocketcoo.com) speak to a group of business people -owners, entrepreneurs and presidents and it was excellent! The focus of what he shared came down to the importance of vision, culture & people, communication and environment. Everything he covered and every point he made was spot on - I loved it!
What was interesting to me, sitting at my table, being somewhat familiar with the group was what I could sense all around me - resistance so thick you could cut it with a knife. Here was an expert offering advice to entrepreneurs who supposedly wanted to grow their business and they resisted - why?
Most of the time people have a tendency to listen and apply what they want to hear and agree with - "give less vacation to your people, don't worry about the company image and what the environment in your office is, yell at your help if you feel like it, don't wind down and relax on Friday afternoon, stay aloof from your employees...." would I assume have encountered far less resistance.
Leaders that have a clear or not so clear vision for their business are more likely to succeed than those who don't - bottom line! After Christopher Columbus had been laughed out of every court in Europe it was finally a fellow visionary, Queen Isabella that helped him get there.Interestingly his vision was off because he did not as we know find India but America. Point being that he executed a vision and got results. Having a vision for 3 years out was an excellent suggestion. Don't worry about the "How will I get there?". Perhaps you will get laughed at - so what! Who knows maybe you will end up somewhere other than you expected, like America.

No comments: