Many years ago, I had the privilege to meet the founder and former
chairman of Sony Corporation – Mr. Akio Morita. I was amongst a group of
27 handpicked graduating students who were given the opportunity to ask
him questions and find out about his success.
One of our first questions was :
“You built up this company from nothing into one of the largest and
most successfid companies in the world, how did you do it? What was the
secret?”
Mr. Morita calmly shared the following, “At Sony, we have a very
simple vision; we do not invent anything from scratch. No, no, no what
we do is watch trends, then borrow technology, take technology invented
from scratch by someone else, and then make it smaller and better,
smaller and better smaller and better we make it with more features,
miniaturise it and then market the hell out of it! Everyone from top to
bottom of Sony Corporation understands this vision. It is simple and
clearly understood.” The Bible says in Proverbs, “If there is no vision
the people perish”.
Let’s share more examples of
Leadership 101, why any leader must have a vision :
Whether you liked his politics or not, much can be Learned from the
life of former President Clinton. As a teenager, Clinton thought of
becoming a doctor or a reporter or even a musician. But after a fateful
meeting with President John F.Kennedy, while still in high school, he
made up his mind to enter politics. At that moment, a vision was born
that he would hold onto - that he would glorify in his mind over and over – for the next 30
years, until he himself was elected President at the age of 46.
What is the vision for the future of your organisation? Is it written
down? Do you often review it and think about it? Is your work organised
around goals and objectives that will ensure the vision is reached?
Mr. Morita asked us how many of us had written our goals down on
paper? Only 1 person had, and he, I am pleased to report, is now CEO of a
Fortune 500 company. Mr. Morita also encouraged us to take another
step, to share those goals with someone we trust someone who would be
willing to nudge us along. keep us focused and remind us of our goals
and to stay on track to achieve them.
Wallace D.Wattles, wrote “There is no labour from which most people shrink
as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest
work in the world.” And yet it is the “sustained and consecutive
thought” about our vision that is the first and primary labour of
achievement.
What You See,
You Can Pursue.
Many times, we get excited about an idea or business and then after a
while our focus and enthusiasm diminishes. Many times we work on our
business, but in hindsight we spend time on the wrong things.
Often, we lose focus because we can’t SEE what we’re pursuing.
We don’t have a physical or mental picture of what we desire to achieve.
One of the ways successful people stay so focused and accomplish so
much, is by having a few physical reminders about what they and their
staff are pursuing around them.
If you look at the wall and desk, of any great leader, you’ll will
find his/her personal and company mission statement, his/her company’s
annual objectives and his/her weekly priorities.
It’s all right there. He/She sees it all day. By seeing it, it helps
him/her stay focused and get things done. By seeing it, he/she minimizes
his/her wasted time by focusing on what’s important.
If we can’t SEE what we’re after, how will we know where we’re going
or what we’re looking to achieve? Put your goals in front of you so you
can SEE them often. Some do it on their personal computers, etc. Can you
see and read them daly?
“What You SEE, You Can Pursue. What you Can’t SEE, you Can’t Pursue.
VISION is SIGHT
In Leadership, one has to have a clear concise ……VISION.
It has to be WRITTEN OUT.
It has to be SEEN.
It has to be reviewed DAILY.
It has to be SHARED with people whom will help you.
There has to be FOCUS.
There must be DEDICATION and COMMITMENT.
Leadership is both personal and corporate. It starts with yourself, and
influences the entire company, and all the people around you. In
closing, “ What is your VISION ? ”, you need to ask yourself this, then
write it down, be clear, be concise, be honest. Next share it with
someone you trust, father, mother, sister, brother, best friend,
boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife; someone whom you know will commit
to helping you fulfill or moving toward accomplishing your written
vision or goals.
First you visualize , then you actualize. R.Kelly wrote the song, “ I
believe I can Fly “ and in that song the lyrics say If I can see it,
then I can do it. It begins in our minds, we must first be able to see,
to be able to visualize, then we can accomplish it. All the greatest
athletes or sportsmen have learnt this and applied it to get success,
Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali and many others. All the great
corporate leaders do exactly the same as well, Donald Trump, Richard
Branson and many others.
So now its our turn…..Picture it, See It, Visualize it…and yes…Achieve it.
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