Well, we’ve dug so deep on vision this month that sometimes, I think I’m going cross-eyed. If you haven’t picked it up, I can’t recommend it enough: Michael Hyatt’s book, “The Vision Driven Leader,” is changing the game for our entire mastermind group!
I want to talk to you today about some rabbit holes we can go down if we aren’t careful with vision casting. I’m talking now to entrepreneurs like me, who wrestle with the detail-oriented stuff. If you’re not used to thinking big, you may feel tempted to start thinking about “how” you’ll make your vision come true. It gets even worse if you’re trying to paint a picture for the “least pressing” parts.
Let me explain what I mean, when I talk about “pressing.” In another one of my favorite books, “Fix This Next” by my friend Mike Michalowicz, he talks about how entrepreneurs’ biggest problem is that they don’t know what their biggest problem is.
It sounds kind of funny to say. Read it again: entrepreneurs’ biggest problem is that they don’t know what their biggest problem is. After many years as a small business coach and a leader of online mastermind groups, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run across this.
So when it comes to vision, we have to project ourselves into the future and imagine an “end state” for our organizations. I say “end state,” even though that’s an awkward way to say it. I don’t need to tell you - your business will look different in three years. It’ll look different in five years. And in ten years. The question is, at each of those intervals, how do you want it to look?
Iron Sharpens Iron, our mastermind groups online, look very different from how they did in 2015. I don’t have time to go into it now, but you ought to see what we’re planning for 2025. It’ll blow your mind!
Speaking of that, now is a good time to get in. Our groups for men and women are accepting applications for our advanced, improved onboarding process that’s going to become unlike anything you experience in the world of masterminds.
Why This, Now?
Here’s the easy part, if you’re a startup or new in business. Ninety-nine percent of the time, you have a “sales and marketing” problem. Not enough people know who you are, or that you exist. More revenue from more sources is the simple solution for most businesses.
But you might be well past that point and mumbling, “Big A! I don’t have a marketing problem. My problem is my team isn’t performing like I want them to, and I have no idea why.” I hear you, and I can promise you this - we are working through vision for businesses of all stages right now! This isn’t one more blog telling you stuff you already know.
In fact, if I was going to lay down any hard-and-fast rules in talking about this, I’d say the only rule is that there are no rules. If we’re honest, you know that big corporations can have cash flow and sales problems just like startups can. You remember a few weeks back where we talked about Kodak?
Some startups don’t have the marketing/sales problem, either. They’re fighting to keep up with demand, and they need to hire people as soon as they can. But like my friend Zach Lush likes to say, you want to “Hire slow and fire fast.” That creates another set of problems, if you don’t have a vision for your team.
I’m telling you this because in his book, Michael Hyatt identified the four key areas where leaders need to create vision. You’re going to fall under one of them, more or less, and whichever one is your biggest problem is where you need to focus the most energy, right now.
A business mastermind like Iron Sharpens Iron is essential for you to hang tough and see your vision come to life. We’re seeing lives change on a daily basis right now because of all the hard work our members put in. Why shouldn’t you be part of this? Click here to apply to become part of one of our groups.
Now You See It ... Then You Don’t
You’re going to focus on the most important category from the following list:
- Team
- Sales & Marketing
- Product or Service
- Impact and Legacy
But hold your horses just a minute! If you didn’t get tripped up by not knowing which part of your vision to focus on, there’s another danger that comes once you solve that problem. Just because you know for sure whether to focus on your team, sales & marketing, impact or products … doesn’t mean you choose one and ignore the rest!
What I mean is that you’ve still got to write and cast vision for the other categories. You just don’t need to go “full throttle” on them like you do with the most pressing part.
Our masterminds online recently unplugged, and flew into various states to be together in-person. Man, if you could hear the stories. They get me so fired up! But the reason I’m bringing this up is that many of them went deep on our vision project, “Come As You Will Be In 2023.” Some of them spent hours on each other’s visions, sharpening and being sharpened.
If you want my advice, you need to deploy your business coach or mastermind a thousand miles deep, into the top priority of your vision. If it’s a sales and marketing problem up front, then that’s where you bring the most firepower. Put your vision in front of them, and invite them to read, analyze and ask you anything about it. Especially if your group has systems and processes experts … those guys won’t give you an inch!
Don’t hide the rest of it, though. Let your personal board of directors or advisors see what else you’re up to. We value transparency in Iron Sharpens Iron, and not just for ethical reasons. We’re also capable of making “bad decisions about good things” when we don’t think them through. Let your brain trust do what they do … they’ll bring strength to stuff you struggle with alone.
And if you’re not properly equipped with an online mastermind group to help you walk this out, I challenge you to apply for one of our groups with Iron Sharpens Iron. We do this all day, every day. You shouldn’t have to figure this out alone!
