Start 2015 With Your Vision In Mind: When You See Possibility, You Find Success

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

Seeing possibility and finding vision means being open to surprising opportunities. To succeed with this practice, we have to consider the idea that sometimes success comes to us instead of us having to create it for ourselves.

Essentially, if your firm has decided to make its talent a priority and use that as a competitive advantage, then your as a leader must lead with intention. How do you do that? You become clear about your vision, then make sure that everyone is aligned that vision. Explain the strategy clearly for your firm, and help individual leaders create their own unique visions or goals for themselves and their team. The last step is to support and motivate them to deliver on their vision by honing in on skills like time management, planning, and so forth.

The goal is that the individual leaders are so energized and motivated by what’s in it for them and their team that they will align their strategy to move toward that achievement, and that specific achievement falls under the vision of your firm.

So when it comes to creating that initial vision, the one that drives the rest of the individual leaders in a firm, it’s important to open yourself up to possibility.

Seeing possibility looks like:

You’re in the shower and suddenly the answer to your toughest question flashes into your mind
You’re driving along the freeway and suddenly the solution to a sticky problem becomes instantly obvious
You’re thinking about an old friend and suddenly the phone rings. It’s him.

Now, imagine your vision of your life as a leader appears in the same way:

You want a specific opportunity, and suddenly that opportunity arrives.
You need a certain kind of mentor, and suddenly that mentor shows up.
You want to make a certain kind of impact, and suddenly you realize you do.

Every time something like this happens, you are experiencing the rewards of seeing possibility.

Keeping your vision in mind, ask yourself these questions:

What’s going your way?
What’s not going your way?
What do your answers suggest about what to do next?

First, name a situation in which you need some kind of answer or idea. Next, rephrase the issue into the form of a question. What do you need to know? Then, take two long and slow breaths, letting the air clear your mind. Breathe and clear your mind. After a few minutes of breathing, sit quietly and ask the question again. What ideas did you get?

When you open yourself up to possibility, to the potentiality of your vision, success comes to us instead of us having to create it for ourselves. Keep your eyes open, and be ready to act when your good fortune shows up. Because when you have a clear vision for your firm, and individual leaders within it have goals that align with that vision, you’ll find sustainable success.