The concept behind the power of a dream (or big opportunity) is creating a compelling picture of the future and the belief system that supports it – both individually and collectively. We don’t live in a society of rich vs. poor as much as we live in a society of dreamers vs. non-dreamers. Organizations are made up of people who long to be part of something bigger than themselves, who want to know their work is for a greater cause. Without a big dream or compelling picture of the future, people won’t give the added effort or make the needed sacrifices required to sustain success. Gaining true urgency around a compelling cause engages both the head and heart of followers.

Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be esteemed more than gold or silver.” How true. The fundamental truth is—good people do win! Good companies do win. Doing right is good business. No longer will the win/lose mentality championed by the corporate culture of the last decade be tolerated. Customers are tired of the “me first” attitude. Successful organizations and people understand this fundamental principle and take the time to develop value sets and core beliefs by which to live. Why? Because success is weighty. Success puts demands on our character. Without clearly defined values, people lose all sense of moral responsibility and they end up running Enron. They run large parts of the world, and they run it badly. I don’t mean they run them inefficiently or run them unprofitably – though many do. I mean they run them morally badly. Your customers are essentially asking two questions of you and your organization…“Can I trust you?” and “Can I trust your company?” Answer those two concerns by the values you live, and you’ve gained a customer for life. People are drawn to leaders of character. For the job of leading and managing people, this is critical because no one can find out your inconsistencies, or lack of values, better that the people you’re trying to lead.

Goal-setting is a very miss-understood and poorly used tool in business. The net result is a workforce trapped in a state of false urgency because the effort is derived from misleading notions in their mind creating misguided effort towards what we think will be effective and measurable strides towards our desired outcome. What usually comes from this is, false urgency (explained in the book, Leading Change by Dr. John Kotter). False urgency is the frantic, ramped up behavior that leaves everyone exhausted at the end of the day without advancing the ball any further down the field. It is certainly miss-guided effort. I am not talking about ethereal goals or idealistic goals such as, “I wish” or “I hope” but actual measurable goals with built-in action steps. If the big dream or big opportunity is the launching pad, the rocket is the measurable goal.

Five things occur when we set measurable goals with actions steps:
1. Goals set a fundamental structure that sets people up to win.
2. Goals allow us to exercise extreme effort. 100% effort is the necessary ingredient that allows great competitors to maximize their talent.
3. Goals move us from a position of involvement to one of commitment. Can you receive a paycheck if you’re involved? Yes you can. But you’ll never be world class.
4. Goals allow us to effectively use our full potential by generating true urgency.
5. Goals create contagious can-do attitudes. Funny, isn’t it, how we hire on aptitude and fire on attitude?

Too many potential winners are competing in life like the cross-eyed discus thrower. The cross-eyed discus thrower doesn’t score a lot of points, but he keeps the crowd awake—because he’s all over the place. Measurable goals keep us focused on important issues and tasks allowing us to be significantly more effective than the vast majority who expend wasted energy and never reach their destination.

On a legacy team there is a shared joy of the inner circle, which means it’s selective, restrictive, limited to team members only. You’ll have a hard time explaining your legacy team experience to your spouse, your neighbor, or your friend outside of work. People often say to me, “That sounds pretty exclusive,” and my response is, “Exactly!” That’s exactly what it’s supposed to be – exclusive!  Why? Because when you’re in the huddle and calling the play – it’s just you and your teammates.  You’re not huddled with a fan from the stands, an owner, a senior vice president, general manager or booster – it’s just you and your team and at that moment – it’s exclusive.

There is a false assumption that power, authority and title make the difference in leadership.  They do not.  The people who make the difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones who understand that their job is to ultimately help people win.  The truth is, you don’t win and keep clients on product or price as much as you do during, “moments of truth.”  What are “moments of truth?”  It is that moment where you have an opportunity to tell your story, to be real, transparent, dependable and authentic.  During that “moment of truth” an authentic leader’s voice becomes a megaphone that amplifies above a bad year, shareholder pressure and pressing competition.  It relaxes, liberates, empowers, and grants permission for others to be real and speak the truth.  Leading others is about winning over the head and the heart of followers.  Winning isn’t so much about talent – talent is the price of admission.  Winning is about igniting the passion in people to get the most out of their talent.  It’s not what you know, but rather what you do with what you now that makes the difference.  Ensure consistent winning results, by applying the fundamentals of winning as part of your game plan.

For too long we have been socialized and traditionalized to believe leadership is a title, a corner office, a degree or power.  It is none of these things.  Real leadership has a “softer” side to it.  I do not mean “weak.”  I am talking about courageous, visionary and authentic.  Authentic leaders are those that know how to “be real”—the ability to be honest and transparent with themselves and those they come in contact with.  Real leadership is the ability to live and lead the change that we expect in others.  That’s why real leaders never hide out in their office, they are always the visible symbol of what they want others to become.  This fundamental act is vital to winning.

Leadership really is the name of the game.  The impetus in corporate America should be focused 70% towards leadership and 30% towards management.  I am not stating leadership is good and management is bad.  I am not saying that leadership is better than management.  I am saying in organizations today, leadership needs to be taught, emphasized and focused upon to a higher degree.  The educational systems in America and Europe are predominantly geared towards management, leaving people with what I call, “managerial mindsets”.  Management is the process of keeping things the same.  It’s budgeting, staffing, controlling, smart problem solving…all good things, except it doesn’t move anybody forward.  Management’s job is to keep things the same.  That’s why most organizations are over-managed and under-led.  Leadership is a wholly different animal.  Leadership is vision and strategy, communicating vision and strategy, motivating action and getting buy-in.  Leadership’s job is moving people forward.  Management is what you know.  Leadership takes you to where you want to go.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What motivates me?
• What’s my purpose?
• How do I focus energy or how do I get people to focus their energy?
• What’s my picture of my future?
• What is it that I really do?

The power of a dream – chasing a compelling picture of your future – answers those questions.  It creates the belief that great opportunities are ahead.  It brings alive what is possible and why.  It engages the heads and hearts of followers.  It stirs our passion.  It eliminates unimportant items off our calendar.  Social psychologists say that we spend 90% of waking time gathering information and data to support two things—our past and our present, which leaves just 10% of our time to think about our future—and that’s where the magic lies.  The truth is, we don’t usually get what we want, but we most always get what we expect.  Why?  Because the ideas in our heads rule our world.  We subconsciously move towards our most dominant thoughts and belief system; that big dream, the compelling picture of our future or big opportunity can actually move us from where we presently are, to a future place of more value; where we wish to be.  Time and time again, I’ve witnessed the impact of big dreams on individuals and organizations.  Whether it’s becoming the first man on the moon, the most compassionate hospital, the most service-oriented hotel or the world’s greatest athlete, people want to be called to something bigger than themselves.

On legacy teams, lifetime friendships are formed. After years pass and the team disbands, one day you could end up eating at a restaurant and see a former teammate across the room—and because of the lifetime friendship that was formed from being legacy teammates, you have deep mutual respect and love for that person.

I was recently at the Orlando International Airport and spotted a former college teammate of mine whom I hadn’t seen in fifteen years. We were across the concourse from each other and, after making eye contact; we made a beeline toward each other and embraced. He happens to be six feet, five inches tall, weighs 270 pounds, and is black. I’m six feet, three inches tall, weigh 175 pounds, and am white, but all that didn’t matter. We were teammates at the University of Washington and legacy teammates at that.  Our past experience together created a deep mutual respect and enduring love for one another because lifetime friendships form on a legacy team.

I have heard the word “team” used hundreds if not thousands of times since leaving the NFL in 1988 and entering the corporate world. CEOs, presidents, managers, and front-line employees have all spoken the word “team” without ever really knowing how a true team behaves or what it can accomplish. I also know that you don’t leave building a team to chance, because people can form some sort of team without you. Being intentional in everything you do is critical to forming a winning team.

I have come to understand that there are essentially four types of teams. There are teams in name only, good teams, great teams, and then there are legacy teams. When I ask audiences how many have been on a great team, a number of people will raise their hands. I find that those who raised their hands evaluate a great team based on tangible criteria, such as winning a championship or having the leading scorer. But legacy teams are much more than that.

I’ve learned about legacy teams from great coaches I’ve been fortunate to play for during my 22 years of playing competitive sports. I have taught these legacy team concepts to clients and many have embraced the legacy team model and adopted it into their culture with great success. Sites of the legendary Ritz- Carlton Resorts have embraced it. Marriott has embraced it. Shell Oil and the US Navy have embraced it; and others are beginning to realize that being a team is more than just working under the banner of your company name.  I’ll explain the characteristics of legacy teams in coming blogs.