Sunday, January 26, 2014

Are you in pursuit of your dreams?

Are you someone that wakes up each day wondering, what if?  What if I haven't made the right decision? What if I'm not going in the right direction?  What if I haven't provided the right guidance to my kids?  The what ifs can mount up and weigh you down to the point that you stagnate, and you cause those around you to shut down as well.  Take a look at this movie clip….




Jon Gordon, in his book "The Energy Bus" referred to those who suck the positive energy out of a room as "Energy Vamps".  Energy Vamps have a hard time of seeing the forest through the trees and are reluctant to see that new directions can be taken and fostered through positive energy.

One of the things that this clip represents to me is that no matter how old you are, never give up on your dreams.  If you are not where you want to be today, are you going to allow others to remain there.  The great thing dreams is that you decide how you get there.  All your present situation allows for is to create a foundation for future growth.  When a person is reluctant to grow, they stagnate.  When they stagnate as a leader, everything around them becomes stagnant and future progress for the organization  is stifled.

As a leader, not just in the workplace, but in your personal and volunteer worlds as well, if you are not willing to be part of the solution.  You have to first make sure that your vision is alignment with the organizations vision and then do everything you can to achieve those goals.

Too frequently, when we see people leave an organization, there are probably clues that they checked out long before their security ceased working.  When that person leaves, they join a new organization with a renewed energy.  Why as leaders do we have a such a hard time harnessing that energy and enthusiasm?  Instead we allow those individuals to just leave.

I challenge others, as I am challenging myself to figure out what their dreams and aspirations are first, and then begin to work with those around you to see where they are?  Have they checked out?  Do they present a sense of hopelessness of future success like Will Smith's character does in the above clip?

This is my first post in almost a month.  I have spent a lot of this past month working on recapturing the energy that has allowed for opportunities to present themselves for me in my career.  There is still much introspective work to be done on my part, but the process has been underway since the beginning of the year.  What I do know, is that you never know who you have had a positive impact on.

"Don't let anyone ever tell you, you can't do something". - Will Smith from the Pursuit of Happiness