This article, is taken from my book Rough Diamonds: A collection of leadership gems from the vault. Learn more about the book and how to get your copy here.
As a kid, I grew up in North Ryde, on Cox’s Road to be exact. Across the road from our home, long before they built the new school, were apple orchards. Thousands and thousands of apple trees. In fact, orchards were everywhere in Ryde and North Ryde. It was Granny Smith country. Yes, those succulent green apples had their origins (or so I’m told) in Ryde where the Smith family still have a strong heritage, and no doubt Granny reigned supreme.
Maybe you’re not into Granny Smith apples, maybe you like those frothy Delicious apples, or those crispy, bright-skinned Jonathans. Maybe you’re not even into apples at all. But here’s the point. Even though apples come in all shapes, sizes and colours they all have one thing in common. They all have a core.
And that’s what I want to share with you today. The core of leadership. Because leaders also come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Their orchards are many: businesses, not-for-profits, schoolyards, communities. Anywhere there’s a need to get something done through people.
So, what’s the core of leadership?
Well, having read literally thousands of books on the subject (big deal), worked with literally hundreds of thousands of leaders over the years (getting closer), and led my own small business for almost 25 years (now we’re talking), I can tell you unequivocally what it is.
It’s having a Vision of Greatness (VOG)
It’s about improving the current position of where you’re at and focusing on where you want to be. And, as I say over and over again in our workshops, no great leader ever set out to be a great leader. They set out to achieve something of greatness. It’s when they help others to get there that we call them great leaders.
But here’s the sad part. So many of the leaders I work with have a vision for their business, their organisation or their team, yet have not even thought about one for themselves. (Particularly in terms of their own personal finances, but that’s for another day.)
Today’s your lucky day! Today we’re going to get you started on creating a Vision of Greatness for yourself. Just for you. A picture of exactly where you want to be in 12 months, 3 to 5 years or 10 years’ time. You choose your time horizon. Not only that, I’m going to give you a formula to get there.
Ready? Buckle up. Let’s go.
By the way, if I also told you that this formula really, really works, that applying it would fill your life with bucket-loads of fun, energy, happiness and abundance, would that interest you?
Don’t deviate from the formula. Because it’s the best of the best from all those books, from all those leaders I’ve worked with and from my own years of experience.
Here we go: a seven (of course) step formula.
The 7 steps to achieving your Vision of Greatness
- Write from your Vision, not to it, in a “Letter from the Future”
- Include all areas for a balanced life
- Use the senses to bring it to life
- Be fully associated with it, be in it
- Visualise it once a day, with feeling
- Only review it for 5 to 10 minutes a day
- Do the work and trust the universe
Step 1: Write from your Vision, not to it, in a “Letter from the Future”
This means you imagine you are already there. You have arrived. It’s not: “We will go to Disneyland with the family,” it’s “Here we are in Disneyland, with just four more people in front before it’s our turn to ride Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I’m almost in tears as I see the joy and excitement on my little boy’s face.” Get it? You write as if you’re actually there, you’re doing it, you’re fully present. And yes, you do write it down.
When coaching executives, I usually get them started with something like:
“It’s now 20th June 2030 (be specific). Who would have ever imagined so many great things have been achieved, so many wonderful experiences have been shared together…”
You see, if you work to your goals, for example “One day I will achieve, get, be (whatever)”, your mind will take that instruction literally—that is, “one day…”. You’ll never get there, because if you did then “one day” wouldn’t exist. Yes, I know it all sounds a bit Woo! Woo! I don’t care and neither should you. It works, and it will give you the life of your dreams.
Step 2: include all areas for a balanced life
What is the life of your dreams? Well, hopefully, it is not just a personal finance figure you wish to reach, a golf handicap, or an overseas holiday. All vital of course, but what we’re looking for here is balance.
Just like a great business, Vision needs to be more than just a number. (Come on, did you really think your people spring out of bed every morning to achieve that billion-dollar turnover you keep referring to?) Well, so will your personal Vision of Greatness cover all areas of your life. Go ahead, choose them, or to misquote Dirty Harry, “make your day”. Here are a few areas you could think about including (in no priority order):
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Career (livelihood, job, role)
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Family and friends (relationships)
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Health (fitness, energy, appearance)
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Abundance (finances, wealth creation, passive income)
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Leisure (hobbies, sport, passions)
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Community (contribution, part of something bigger than you)
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Happiness (peace of mind, fulfilment, MOJO: Moments of Joy and Ovation)
Step 3: use the senses to bring it to life
Now that we have covered all areas of your life, we need to bring your Vision Of Greatness to life. The way we do this is to add colour, texture and movement through the senses. I know you know, but a quick reminder and some examples:
VISUAL: describe the detail, the specifics: “a shiny, new, pearl duco, camel seats, BMW 120 convertible.”
AUDITORY: what sounds will you hear, who will be saying what: “the laughter of the children is so uplifting and infectious. This is such fun said Mary-Lou.”
TOUCH & FEEL: “The feel of the wet sand between my toes and foaming water lapping at my ankles.”
SMELL: “The sweet smell of the frangipanis and the taste of the salt air were just what the doctor ordered.”
The key is to have enough detail in your Vision of Greatness that it evokes emotion. It triggers feeling. Because it’s the emotion that brings your Vision of Greatness to life. It’s the emotions that engage your senses and get you to do the work. This is going to sound contradictory, but the specifics might never happen (more on this later) yet without them your Vision of Greatness just won’t come to life.
Step 4: be fully associated – be in it
The research on this is very strong. The more you are in the picture (fully associated) rather than an onlooker (disassociated) the better. What do we mean? Say, part of your Vision of Greatness is to win a swimming race.
When you visualise disassociatively, you are in the stands watching yourself touch the pool in first place. You are looking down on you.
When you are fully associated, you’re in your body, you’re there, you’re present. So you’d feel the water around you in the pool, see the black line on the bottom of the pool, and feel that one last lunge, seeing your hand touch the tiles in first place.
Step 5: visualise once a day, with feeling
You don’t have to go into the praying mantis or some other yoga pose to visualise. You can do it anywhere, anytime, just once a day. You can write the gist of your Vision of Greatness on cards (I carry a 3 x 5 card in my wallet with the essence of my Vision of Greatness). Or you can write it out in a small book (I love my baby moleskin for this). Or even on your phone’s wallpaper.
Then, as Olivia Newton-John sang (I know, I’m such a Baby Boomer) “Let’s Get Physical”. Read out your Vision of Greatness and then pump your fist, smile, click your fingers, or whatever. Cement those “good times” emotions into your whole being as your Vision of Greatness comes to life.
Step 6: only review it 5-10 minutes a day
This is not because you’re busy. We’re all busy. It’s because that’s all you need. I used to teach going over your affirmations or Vision Of Greatness morning and night, but I now believe it’s just too much. What tends to happen is it can become a bit of a chore. You can get bored or have your mind drift. And we don’t want that.
Also, what can creep in is self-doubt. Once a day, that’s all you need. So, read it over and over again for 5-10 minutes. But more than this, particularly if your Vision of Greatness is so different from your current reality, you may find that “little green gremlin” on your shoulder appears and starts talking to you:
“You can’t do that”
“You’re kidding yourself, on your salary!”
“Get real, with your looks”
“With your track record, oh come on”
Know that little voice, recognise it? Then don’t give into it. It will take 5-10 minutes before the gremlin voice comes out, so practice your Vision of Greatness for no more than that. Keep that little bugger in its cage, where it belongs.
Step 7: do the work and trust the universe
Want to know the real secret of The Secret (best-selling book, DVD on the law of attraction)? Well, quite frankly, there isn’t one. You still have to do the work. You still have to show up.
As long as you’re on the path you’ll be okay. We do this at the human enterprise all the time. We may market a particular service or product (to achieve our business Vision of Greatness) and although we may not get a huge response to that particular offer, bingo!, out of the blue, another huge opportunity comes our way. It wasn’t the way we expected to achieve our Vision at all.
But I can tell you unequivocally if we don’t market, nothing shows up. Others may call it serendipity, synchronicity, perchance, luck, coincidence. I call it “doing the work”. This is where “trust in the universe” comes in. Mike Dooley in Infinite Possibilities talks about “the cursed hows”. I like that expression. Focus on the end result, keep moving in that direction but don’t be so fanatical that there is only one way (a “cursed how”) to get there. Do the work and possibilities will show up in ways you cannot even imagine.
MARVELLOUS, INCREDIBLE, MIND BLOWING, MAGIC!
I know this may sound like “high level weirdness”, but I’m no space cadet. I’ve seen this work again and again and again. For example, we once had a partner of a well-known accounting firm present on “Success in Selling”. He was – you guessed it – their highest biller. He said virtually exactly the same thing “you might sell here, but it will come from there”, were his words. Even Lord Leverhulme, co-founder of the giant FMCG Unilever said. “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the problem is I do not know which half”.
Do the work! Do the work! Do the work!
I once knew of an executive who wanted his own helicopter. He wrote an affirmation for it: “I have my own helicopter!” Read it again and again but guess what – no helicopter. Why? Because no work. No savings, no getting his helicopter licence, no action at all.
Once more, you have to do the work. Affirmations or just reading over your Vision of Greatness and expecting something to show up is the beginning of delusion. Imagine a warm, cosy fire is all you want, but you’ll freeze your (add your own unique anatomical bits here) off if you don’t go looking for the wood, chop it and put it on the fire.
Bringing it altogether
Achieving your Vision of Greatness is like using your SATNAV. First of all, you have to get in the car and turn it on. Then you have to know where you are going. And the more specific the better. Not just the suburb but the street and building number. You or the SATNAV will also have to know your current location. Then presto, calculating route, and off you go, you’re on your way. Do you really know how to get there? No, not really, you may have a rough idea. But guess what, as long as you “turn right 100 metres ahead” and follow those instructions you’ll get there. And even if you miss a turn and go off-track, you’ll know to “make a legal U-turn”.
So, if you follow these 7 instructions, I know you’ll get there too. Perhaps you’ll take the road less travelled, but you’ll get there. Start with your Vision of Greatness, do the work and trust the universe.
Until Next time…
Find the passion.
Develop the skills.
Make the numbers.
Make a difference.
Paul Mitchell
“APAC’s most respected transformational leadership performance coach”
Paul Mitchell (@Paul_S_Mitchell) is a speaker, author, transformational leadership coach and founder of the human enterprise. Through leadership coaching, leadership development programmes, keynotes and facilitation, Paul works with organisations to build cultures where everybody leads.
