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Selling Your Vision When You’re Not in Charge

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I once worked for a boss who lacked vision. I should say he lacked a single vision because he changed direction frequently. The team never knew what flavor-of-the-month program was coming next. It was frustrating! Ever the activator, I was determined to build momentum in my department even if my division was stuck in neutral. I would bring my boss requests, complete with the necessary supporting information. Invariably, he would ask me to rerun the numbers. When I came back, he would want it rerun again, and again. By the time he approved it, the opportunity was lost, and he would blame me for missing it. Infuriating as that was, it taught me important lessons about an invaluable leadership skill: selling your vision when you’re not in charge. Whether your company has a strong vision or not, as a leader you should have a vision for your own area of responsibility. At some point, you’ll have to sell that vision up the line, to a director, C-level officer, or even the board of direc...
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Be a Hell Yes to Life

By Leo Babauta So often, we reject the experience in front of us. It’s usually out of habit, from not wanting this particular experience, not liking the discomfort or uncertainty … or really not liking the fact that we aren’t going to get what we want. We reject the experience in front of us: Not liking the way other people are acting (totally justified, they’re idiots!) Getting mad at ourselves for messing up again (you dumbass, why are you always doing that??) Shutting ourselves off to the uncertainty of whatever is going on, by distracting ourselves (ugh, I just can’t) Complaining about other people, often just in our heads (I don’t know why they have to be that way!) Shutting down, wanting to exit, when things get hard (I can’t take this anymore, why does she always have to complain??) Avoiding the discomfort or fear of something difficult (umm, that’s too hard, I’m going to tackle email!) This rejection of our experience is why we so often get frustrated with other p...
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How One Business Owner is Successfully Using Vision Today

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As a leader, you’re eager to develop a vision for your business. You’ve got a copy of The Vision Driven Leader , and you’re ready to dig in. But how do you put this all together? Is it difficult to create a Vision Script? What can you expect by way of results?
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How to Make Your Vision a Reality

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As a leader, you have a clear vision for the future. But the busyness of life always pulls your attention back to business as usual. You make occasional bursts of effort toward the vision, but there’s no real progress. It’s frustrating to watch your dream for the future collecting cobwebs.
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Being and Time: An Interesting Book You Probably Shouldn’t Read

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I just spent the last two months doing a deep dive trying to understand Martin Heidegger’s seminal work, Being and Time . You probably shouldn’t read it. It’s also one of the most interesting and thought-provoking books I’ve read in the last decade. This post is my attempt to reconcile those two beliefs. The reasons not to read Being and Time are obvious. The book is only half-finished. Of what was written, the second division is so muddled, that even after taking a companion class with dozens of hours of lectures, I still have no idea how to make sense of it. Also, Heidegger was a Nazi . It’s not clear how much Heidegger’s politics influence his writing. Especially around 1927 when this book was published. Still, there’s an undeniable ick factor. However, even if you do separate Heidegger’s politics from his philosophy, he may have bigger problems. Philosopher Philippe Lemoine describes Heidegger, half-jokingly, as “The only man about whom one can truly say that being a Nazi was...
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The No. 1 Mistake Leaders Make in Crisis

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During a crisis, leaders tend to hyperfocus on managing the threat and neglect long-range thinking. That’s a mistake because vision is critical both for evaluating short-term decisions and for creating a better future. The coronavirus pandemic has been a major disruption to the world economy. Some believe it will dwarf the effects of the 2008 recession, with fallout rivaling even that of the Great Depression.  With many businesses shuttered and others struggling to survive, some leaders are thinking only in tactical terms. They’re concerned with week-to-week survival, not long term vision.  “ Vision is critical both for evaluating short-term decisions and for creating a better future. —MICHAEL HYATT That’s understandable, but it’s a mistake. The ability to survive any crisis begins with a vision for what’s possible. That’s true no matter how great the crisis. As I wrote in The Vision-Driven Leader , “If the vision is compelling enough, people wil...
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We’re All Monastics Now

By Leo Babauta My Zen teacher Susan recently told a group of her students at the end of a Zen meditation retreat, “We’re all monastics now.” In this global pandemic, we’re in an era of isolation, retreat. We’re also in an era of heightened uncertainty. This can be a terrible thing, and drive us to loneliness and distraction … or it can be a time of practice, reflection, and deepening. We can choose to see ourselves as monks deepening into the stillness of a monastery. It’s our choice. If you’re staying home these days, it can be a time of endless Internet distractions … or you can open to the opportunity to use the beautiful solitude for meditation, reading, writing, contemplation, journaling. It can be a time of practice. If you’re feeling the anxiety of the moment, it can be a time of near breakdown and freneticism … or it can be a moment to slow down and be still. Practice mindfully with whatever feelings are coming up. You can go to the latest memes and viral videos (which...
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