What you are about to read may be found in the Bible but
it also applies to your professional life.
Most leaders neglect to provide a statement of vision to the
people they lead and when a vision is presented it usually
lacks any vitality or inspirational value.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish” - that’s the
warning given to the King Solomon [in Proverbs 29:18].
And the prophet Habakkuk is commanded to, “Write the vision,
and make [it] plain upon tables, that he may run that reads
it, for the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at
the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait
for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry [Hab
2:2-3].”
So your vision statements must serve three important
functions:
1) Those who you lead need that vision or their efforts will
fail to achieve anything of long-lasting value;
2) Your vision must be written in clear, plain language so
that your people will be able to run with its meaning;
3) A vision refers to some appointed time in the future and
though it appears to be delayed in coming, it will
eventually become your reality.
An Element of Purposeful Action!
You need verbs. Use your statements to convey action. Your
actions must be focused on producing some effect, result or
outcome.
You could discuss it - but that will not satisfy the desires
of our human hearts. Your vision must fulfill others and not
leave them with a sense of emptiness.
You should say something that matters to others, something
that will impact their lives, something that gives them a
purpose.
Give their efforts, activities or striving a worthy reward.
An Element of Compelling Reasons!
Your leadership is the reason. Why do they want to follow
you? What “because” will your vision provide them with? How
come we need to do this thing, this project, this venture?
Your statement must give a set of compelling reasons for
taking action. These reasons must be compelling, inspiring,
critical, exciting, essential to your group.
I love those CEOs who slither up to the microphone and tell
their fellow employees that they should be motivated to
slave away so that the company can ‘increase shareholder
value’! After the speech, ask those employees about the
percentage of their ownership in that company and you find
out that the employees only own about 0.1% - not even enough
power to vote in a single director.
Increasing shareholder value is not very exciting to anyone,
including shareholders - they are motivated by the amounts
of money they actually earn - cash-in-hand, not promises of
paper profits.
An Element of Trustworthy Purposes!
Psychologists say unemployed people are usually depressed,
sullen and lethargic. It’s a scientific fact that people
living with little or no purpose are unhappy and are more
likely to think about ending their lives.
You and I are at our most effective when we are fulfilling
our purpose. Job titles are important because those
designations tell people that there is a purpose for their
work, their organization and profession.
Your title is not the only indicator of your purpose but it
does give you a sense of purpose, doesn’t it? We find it
easier to trust in and rely on the promises of a worthwhile,
noble purpose.
Your vision statements should give the group a purpose that
is worthy of their trust, loyalty and commitment.
An Element of Valuable Identity
Do your statements portray pictures of hope, future
realities or laudable objectives? What will your group
identify themselves with after they achieve your vision?
Vivid visions educate, develop and encourage people. Visions
hold up the mirror of future possibilities and enable people
to see their potential clearly defined.
You can use your visionary projections to transform the
group into a newer, better, more confident team of leaders,
innovators and mentors. Thus, visions can help you add value
to and boost the resourcefulness of your people’s best
efforts.
An Element of Principled Activities
Without principles, your vision will fade away into
nothingness - is it possible that the Bible’s Author means
the same thing?
Your vision must have a strong foundation to have any chance
at a future of success. Integrating the personal, cultural
and corporate values of your people into your vision
provides a bedrock for buy-in from all the actors.
Principles, shared beliefs, morals or ethics can also form
the underpinnings of a worthy vision. When you involve any
positive findings from our studies of philosophy, psychology
or theology you probably have the makings of a nurturing
vision.
An Element of Eternal Hope
The time is now but eternity is forever. Eternity is one big
eternal present - within it, there is no past, no future and
no in-between, there is only a now.
Your vision needs to be present at all times - to be sure
the vision may not yet be attained, but it when its goals
are achieved that visionary image will be present.
If the vision contains a crystallized hope, it will appear
to mirror the best parts of eternity - your vision will be
without any past regrets, without the fear of future doom
and it will contain one ever-present hope for better things.
An Element of Unlimited Dimensionality
Does your vision statement inspire our bodies, minds,
spirits and potentials? Have you spoken to and connected
with our physical, intellectual, spiritual or developmental
beings?
The vision that finds its way into a group’s innermost core
has the best chance of realization. Your statement must help
your audience to see their opportunities to:
- Add tangible value to their world
- Pursue newer, more challenging ideas
- Be empowered to accomplish greater things
- Grow beyond the limitations of their current state
Use the power of dimension to lengthen, deepen, heighten and
broaden the character, capability, competence and potential
of your team - they’ll be the better for it.
————————————————————
Your vivid vision statement should contain the promise of a
greater, more desirable world - if you include these 7
elements, you will see your envisioned ideas become a
glorious version of a new reality.
Thomas Jefferson included the line, “life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness” to describe his vision of an United
States of America in the Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson’s ideas certainly sparked the imaginations of many
people and his statements were eventually transformed into a
tangible reality. The best vision statements embody ideals
that are usually shared by all participants.
If you can find those ideals, if you use the 7 elements and
if you share your heart with your followers, you too will be
able to craft an enduring, yet inspirational vision.
Start writing a vision for your own personal growth and
future - then take action and put your ideals into practice
and help others to realize their dreams.
Don’t let the people perish, give them a vivid vision to run
with and prosper by and the world will beat a path to your
door!
Copyright © 2004, Mustard Seed Investments, Inc., All rights reserved
————————————————————
About the Author:
Bill Thomas produces “The Leadership Toolkit” - a web
based training program that improves your leadership skills,
energizes creativity and transforms you into a persuasive,
empowering leader. Inspire Confidence, Be Creative, Enhance
Your Leadership Influence - Get “All the Tools You Need To
Lead!”
http://www.leadership-toolkit.com/Leadership_Toolkit.html
————————————————————
Tag: leadership skills styles strategies behaviors strategy roles agenda patterns traits actions training
Since Google’s Jagger update, during 2005, the internet has become a fermenting ground for pundits advising us on how and why we are going to be penalised by Google if we continue using tried and tested techniques that previously worked well.
Most of this advice is pure mythology. So, it is time to examine these myths and discuss why they are myths.
Firstly, let us be clear about one thing: everything said about how to improve Google ranking is theory, unless Google says it themselves. The problem is that some of the theories are just plain wrong.
Myth 1) Linking from link farms will get you penalised by Google. WRONG. It may well be that it does your website absolutely no good at all, but why should Google penalise a website when, if this were the case, a competitor could add links to your site from link farms? I do not believe that Google, or any other search engine, will penalise a site because of what an unscrupulous competitor may do.
Myth 2) Involving your website in reciprocal link trading will get your website penalised by Google. WRONG. There are legitimate reasons for sites linking to each other, therefore, why would a site be penalised for what may be a perfectly legitimate link exchange? Reciprocal linking does not carry anywhere near the weight it used to do, it has been downgraded by Google, but reciprocal links will not harm your website, and in fact, maintain some value, though much reduced.
Myth 3) If sites that are considered “Bad neighbourhoods” link to your site, you will be penalised by Google. WRONG. Webmasters have absolutely no control over who links to their site. It would be unethical for Google to penalise a site due to the actions of other third party sites.
So why does this confusion exist?
Most of what I’ve said above is self explanatory, but maybe a little more comment is needed on the subject of bad neighbourhoods.
Bad neighbourhoods are websites that have been penalised or banned by Google. If you link TO a bad neighbourhood site you are, in the eyes of Google, guilty by association. And may be penalised. But, as I’ve already said, if they link to you it is out of your control; they are associating with you, not you with them.
So how do I know if a website is a bad neighbourhood? Simple, first you need to download and install the Google toolbar. As, no doubt, you are already aware, the Google toolbar shows the page rank (PR) of any website you visit. If the website you wish to link to has a PR allocated you are safe. If the PR is zero, but the indicator bar is just a white background, then you are safe. But beware; if the indicator background is grey, this means Google will not even allocate a PR=0 to this site, you are looking at a bad neighbourhood website - do not link to this site.
General Considerations.
Although links from link farms will not get you penalised, they are of no value, so why bother?
Although reciprocal links have been downgraded, they still have some value. So, link wisely to related content sites only. The importance of the site linking to you will be of more value to your site than a less important site, but personally, I do not mind linking to a related site with a PR=0, it is probably a new site that is still in the Google sandbox, and may gain a high PR at some future date.
It is a good idea to periodically check whether the sites you are linking to are still safe - avoid greyed out PR indicators.
And finally, the best advice of all, generate one way links to your website. One way links are the most important links you can have. But even these vary in importance according to the PR of the linking sites, the wise use of anchor text, and the relevance of the linking page/site.
I will have more to say on that subject in a future article.
Richard Brennan is internet marketing consultant at proSEO Zone and expert on Link Strategy techniques.
Tags: link strategies, link strategy, linking, linksCritical thinking is a process which takes place in the mind of an individual. It analyzes or evaluates information, which can either be in the form of propositions or statements provided to you as true. But you never easily believe it is true, thus you reflect on it, thoroughly examine the reasons and evidences before you formulate your own judgment about the information.
Every day, there is a lot of information that an individual may learn. For prehistoric man and animals, this information was considered firsthand. It includes the things that they see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. This firsthand information provides an access to secondhand information. Second hand information is another type of information most encountered by today’s generation.
This information is stored in your brain, and later on, being called as memories. If it is combined with cognitive framework, then it becomes a worldview. Worldview can affect every decision that you will make. Thus in different ways, it defines your personality. Take note, the information which created your worldview has an origin.
The information which you have learned is all secondhand. It came from your parents, friends, teachers, books, television, or conversation. This vast majority of data which bombarded you will give you a hard time in identifying its original source. You are then challenged by even a single piece of data in your head. So, you will vehemently argue to justify your side. But then, it will be difficult since you don’t have any idea of its original source. You will then doubt whether the information was correct or not since you have no evidence that will corroborate it. However, it is the usual way that you are going to defend any challenge on the information that you have learned. It is despite your lack of justification.
Compared to the information received by your prehistoric ancestors, information being given today is really very different. Considering the mass media, it has the power to create a virtual disharmony among the minds of many people.
Take for example some of the advertisements. It is very far from unprejudiced information yet many people are letting it to slip in their minds. Then, it will influence future decisions that will change the direction of your life. Be careful, information today is a matter of a shouting game where you immediately tend to believe. If whoever tell you a bit of information in the longest and the loudest way, you may eventually accept it as true regardless of its merit.
This approach seems to be poor. Since all the collaged information in your mind sometimes have no basis at all. So, the created viewpoint might also have a weaker foundation. No matter how important a viewpoint to a person is, where he or she based most of life’s major decisions or even just a single decision is considered to be crafted.
These explanations focus on how critical thinking happens. Critical thinkers gather the information from experience, observation, communication, or reasoning. Then by incorporating critical thinking on the acquired information, the person can extract intellectual values on the subject-matter. They study each division including accuracy, clarity, precision, thoroughness, fairness, and evidence. It is very important because it decreases the risks of believing false ideas which can result to fatal errors.
Critical thinking just responds to various situations and subjects so that connections between them could be found.
Ross Lincoln makes it quicker and easier for you to create profitable business ideas, develop your marketing strategy or start brainstorming on any topic. For a free trial of the ultimate innovation software, please visit http://www.ideacenter.com
Tags: brainstorming, business ideas, marketing strategy