At the end of every year, I take a personal private retreat to clear my mind, take inventory of the past year and create a new vision for the new year. Knowing the power of questions, at the start of each retreat, I ask myself …
What are the 10 most important questions to ask myself in this retreat to take my business (and life) to a more meaningful, impactful and prospering level in the new year?
For 3-4 days, I spend time by the ocean simply reflecting, letting go of any goals, plans or expectations.
Overwhelmed by an overload of demands, not knowing what to respond to first?
Continually fighting for certainty, paralyzed by fear of the unknown?
Blind sighted by unforseen events that jeopardize your company’s stability and bottomline?
I’m guessing what you really want is to stop your perpetual busyness. You want to focus on the critical few. You want to navigate your company, amidst constant change, to its ultimate destination.
In my decades of working with leaders, I have found that the above are symptoms that a leader lacks the capacity to think strategically.
Building leadership courage is not as mysterious as it sounds.
The 90 second video below is worth it’s weight in gold about moving forward with courage … even amidst fear and panic. You can hear the panic and anxiety in this 4th grader (and also notice her feet).
And you may even notice your own anxiety getting triggered and wondering why she would put herself through such an ordeal. Yet, in the end, she not only overcomes her fear. Notice what she says to herself once landing at the bottom.
As a leader, what can you learn from this 4th grader?
It’s that time of the year! Most business leaders are preparing for an executive off-site to define their company’s future direction for the new year.
Yet, in my 30 years experience of working with leadership teams and companies, the terms “vision,” “mission” and “values” are THE most overused, misunderstood and abused words in the business community today.
Vision statements, mission statements and strategic plans in many companies reduce to mere academic exercises with no real value in driving an organization forward. Why? Let’s take a look.
Why Most Company Visions Get an “F”: The Big 3
Your company’s vision lacks the necessary specificity and inspiration to pull your company forward.
With the new year coming, I asked myself … what wisdom could I provide to help leaders change their game in 2014?
Most leaders’ looming questions during this time are …
• Where do we go from here?
• What can we do to get to the next level?
• What are we not being that we need to be?
• What are we not doing that we need to do?
While there are many classic leadership books that are still relevant today – like Good to Great and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – and a flooded market of other business books, I wanted to share ….
• Continually searches for an edge in personal performance?
• Gets diminishing returns from your efforts?
• Is fired up totake things to the next level, but doesn’t know how?
For a moment, put aside the stresses of your day and shift your focus from what is to what can be. It’s time to enter a world of new possibilities for yourself and your future. It’s time to play a new Leadership Game.
Imagine …
Photo Credit: David Niblack
• You could be at the top of your mental game with volition
• Instantly elevate yourself into a peak emotional and mental state within minutes
• Fuel your confidence, passion and motivation on a daily basis that moves you to action
What would that do to your leadership performance, success and results in the future?
For example, when a company is stuck or has plateaued, I often hear reasons like …
