"Time stays long enough for those who use it".  --Leonardo Da Vinci

I guess this means getting off my chair and following up on a few things. Using the time and not the excuse that "it's the holiday season". Cut yourself some slack, but don't cut the cord - yet.  It's still business as usual as far as the IRS, the bank and the credit cards are concerned.  Make the calls. You may get voice mail - more than likely you will get voice mail.  However you are getting their voice  mail -  your client isn't getting yours.  Be a leader; set yourself apart from the crowd.


From my house to yours, have a BOLD and Happy Holiday. You know the VISIONs of sugar plums are everywhere!

Do you know the difference between Management and Leadership?

Below are distinctions between management and leadership and a few features each tends to emphasize.

Leadership
1. One who leads or guides others to destinations they would not go alone.
2. Vision & Inspiration
3. Leadership of people
4. Effectiveness “doing the right things”

Management
1. One who handles, or directs
2. Control
3. Management of things, resources, schedules
4. Efficiency “doing the things right”

Most people have a higher comfort level for management tasks, and I don’t mean only the management of staff. I mean the overall, day-to-day function of managing and doing 'things'.

I also believe that most organizations are “Managed” and that few are actually well-led. This is a key reason why many businesses are unable to break away from the pack, to differentiate and to see the big success they know should be possible.

You may be limiting your own success and that of your business, not for the lack of motivation or the lack of management skills. You may be limiting your growth by the lack of a strategic vision; by not “seeing” your organization thriving and reaching new levels of performance.

It has been proven that having a strategic vision adds real power to setting directions, motivating action, and guiding the decisions you make. Why then do so many organizations shy away making the visionary process part of their normal planning? Perhaps they are uncomfortable with a process they view as a “foo-foo” or “touchy-feely”. Or, perhaps they consider strategic vision to be impractical, too intangible or based on “fantasy”.

When done with precision, a strategic vision is intensely practical, reflects your values and ideals and is based on facts. Things to consider when framing your strategic vision include:

Scale – How big do you want to be?
Scope – What business expansions / contractions do you want in the future? Products, services, industries, locations, special niche focus, etc.
Competitive Focus – Differentiation between your offering your competition. Remember your competition includes businesses that are competing for your customers’ dollars, not necessarily providing the same products and services.
Image and Relationships, A.K.A. “Brand” – How do you want others to “see” you? What image do you want to project?
Organization and Culture – What are the underlying values that will guide your organization’s behavior and reputation? To what extent do you want to consider strategic alliances with other institutions?

Right now, take a few moments to envision 12 months into the future. Your business, your service or product, your life; describe them as if you were painting a picture or telling a story. Where are the results you will have achieved 12-months from now to have made this possible? Think about where you want the scale, the scope, the competitive focus, the brand, and the culture of your organization to look like or be at the end of 2006. Create your strategic vision. It doesn't need to be lengthy or eloquently phrased pros. Just write something that gives a clear picture of what you want your organization or business to become. This will give you the direction and sense of purpose that will guide your day-to-day decisions and actions, as well as those of your employees. Leverage your future to grow your present.

Until next time – Bold Results start with a Bold Vision! Go out there and Be Bold!

(The inspiration for this article came from a 1996 speech by Ian Wilson, in June, 2000. Thank you, Ian.)

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Note to Readers: This is the ninth article I've posted to the MaineToday.com BLOG. It would be nice to hear from those of you passing through. The point of writing these articles is to provide information that will help you learn new or reinforce existing and better ways to do business with the ultimate result of reaching the greater levels of success you know are possible. Please let me know you're out there and if there are any particular issues you find challenging in your busienss.

To be a true leader in today's world you must be ready for change, adapt to change and, better yet, LEAD change.

Change is certain. Ignoring change, not being open to different views or different ways of doing things is one of business’ biggest limitations of growth.

If you want to enhance your ability to innovate, to run a more competitive organization, be a better leader, to lead change, you need to understand the Business of Paradigms. It’s imperative that you develop the ability to see with “new eyes”. Decisions you face, challenges presented, questions to be answered - you must be able and willing to see them un-filtered by your perspective – your paradigms..

PARADIGM – The definition of paradigm given in the dictionary is “Pattern or Model”. Futurist, Joel Arthur Barker, gives an expanded version of the definition that helps relate the term to business discussions easier.

A paradigm is a system of rules and regulations that does two things:
1. Some rules set limits or establish boundaries, like a football field goal line or sideline; or like the foul lines of a baseball diamond.

2. Other rules offer guidance on how to solve problems that exist inside these boundaries.

So a paradigm is, in effect, a set of rules for problem solving. And a paradigm shift is when you change from one set of rules to another. In business, the rules are changing all the time – the shift is happening all the time. Those who don't (or don’t want to) see it, will be left behind.

The Portland Press Herald series “Portland at a Crossroads” illustrates perfectly the challenges created when a paradigm shifts – and there are those who lead the change sitting side by side with those who don’t want things to change. Sticking your head in the sand is the most unproductive, dangerous thing you can do because change happens - the future is coming whether you want it to or not.

As an example of a business paradigm shift consider the watch industry. For centuries, the Swiss owned the watch industry. In fact, in the late 60's the Swiss had a 65% share of the global watch market and over an 80% share of the global profit.

How then, within only 10 years did the Swiss market share fall to less 10% market share? What happened? The watch paradigm shifted. The quartz watch happened.

Quartz watches didn’t have the sophisticated watch movements, there were no bearings, no main springs, and no moving parts. The Swiss watch manufacturers did not “SEE” quartz watches as competitors – quart watches weren’t “SEEN’ as watches but as fashion accessories.

So, who developed the quartz watch? …The Swiss…

Swiss design-engineers created the quartz watch and presented it to the Swiss watch manufacturers – who turned the engineers away. They were so blind to the “quartz” possibility that they didn’t even patent the idea. Later that year at the global Watch congress, the Swiss research engineers displayed their quartz creation.

A little, unknown Japanese company named Seiko, happened by, saw the design…and the rest is history. Within 10 years – The Swiss had gone from owning the market, to not even being a player. Seiko went from nowhere – to being a leader in the global watch market.

Change is inevitable and today changes come faster and faster. Whether it’s your competition, your marketplace or the community in which you live – change is happening. It’s not going to stop so sitting around and complaining that you liked things the “way they used to be” will only prove to be your downfall.

What's next? For you - For your business – For the Greater Portland area? Who knows. What I can tell you though, is that almost without exception, all new inventions, new concepts, the next BIG THING, they are all conceived "on the fringe". If you want to be ready for the future; if you want to stay ahead of the competition and lead the way, be open to seeing with new eyes. Watch what’s happening on the fringe of your industry and in the world. That’s where the future is born, on the fringe. Be careful when you dismiss that next "crazy" idea.

On Tuesday, December 6, I'm holding a free workshop I call "Visionaries - Making It Happen". It's at the Portland Harbor Hotel and the space is limited, but use this link if you would like more information. The workshop covers a number of areas that typically hold people back from achieving the results they want, one of the most critical of which is self-limiting paradigms.

If you are reading this after December 6 and would like information on any upcoming workshops and seminars, please check my website at www.BoldVisionConsulting.com

Until next time – Bold Results start with a Bold Vision! Go out there and Be Bold!