Create the Vision of You Inc. (Book Excerpt)

The first step toward creating a vision for You, Inc. is developing
a strategy that helps you crystallize what you really want to do,
can do, and must do to achieve your vision.

When I was a young girl,my goal was to sell more Girl Scout
cookies than anyone else in my troop.Without even knowing what the
word strategy meant, I intuitively took the time to come up with one.

For example, instead of running outside to start knocking on every
door I saw, I thought about to whom I might sell (and that the largest
families without Girl Scouts might buy the most cookies from me),
where to sell (and which high traffic locations might yield the most
sales to passersby), and how and when I might make more time to
put into selling cookies (and I put off doing my homework until after
dinner so I could sell cookies after school).My strategy paid off; I did
end up selling the most cookies.

Setting up a concrete strategy to achieve your vision is essential.
Igor Ansoff, the author of the 1965 book Corporate Strategy, is considered
the godfather of corporate strategy. He is credited with creating
the vocabulary and systems that address strategic questions such as
which strengths to make use of, how to achieve growth, and how to
manage the process. His model of strategic planning includes three
points:

1. Observing where you are (which strengths to make use of)

2. Identifying where you want to be (how to achieve growth)

3. Determining the actions that will take you there (how to
manage the process)

How do you chart your course? Here are some exercises that can
help put things in perspective. Remember, the ultimate goal is to have
a baseline that outlines your vision. This helps you evaluate how you
are doing with regard to making progress toward achieving your vision,
or to alter your goal or path based on what you learn as you move
forward.

1. Where Are You Now?

Develop an honest assessment of your current capabilities, your distinguishing
strengths, and the areas for improvement.What are your
skills and capabilities? What have you accomplished? Who are your
advocates? How have you been evaluated? What are the perceptions
others have of you? What are the areas in which you need to improve?
What patterns do you see in yourself—those you like and those you
may not like? What are your real strengths? How is your confidence?
What do you do to have fun, and what joy do you get out of your work?

2. Where Do You Want to Be?

Dream. What would you like to accomplish? In what time frame?
What capabilities do you need to have? What do you need to accomplish
and achieve? Your specific objectives and goals will lead you to
develop an appropriate strategy and to find the resources necessary to
execute it (for example, mentors, connections, and time), all of which
will be discussed in chapters that follow.

3. What Actions Will Take You
to Where You Want to Be?

How will you develop skills and capabilities? What responsibilities do
you need to have and how and when will you get them? How do you
meet people to help you achieve your goals?
Your strategy should be defined in a way that you can describe it in
thirty seconds, or the period of a proverbial elevator ride. (That’s why it’s
called an elevator speech.) For example,my strategy for Susan Butler,
Inc. is to impact zillions of women and girls and to be recognized as an
authority on mentoring and the development of women leaders.

The Secret of Visioning

The time I’ve invested over the years in thinking about what I wanted
most in my life has given me some of the greatest return.

It’s rare that sheer luck will lead you to the life that you envision.

The stories of quirks of fate that lead certain people to being “discovered”
are more legend than fact. Typically, those who make it to the top
do so with a combination of clear goals, a plan to reach them, and hard
work (with a little bit of luck thrown in).

With a specific vision in place, you can prepare yourself to be in
the right place at the right time. It takes planning and effort to be in a
position where you are the next in line for the promotion or the best
candidate for the job opening. Your vision can help you get there.
What happens when you don’t take the time to fully plan things
in advance either is (1) nothing or (2) something that is less than what
it could have been. Successful companies, as well as successful people,
never rest on their laurels. They are always aspiring to be more, to do
more, and to excel.

A top executive at Intel recently told me there are three things
she blocks out time for each day: lunch, exercise, and thinking time.
The latter is when she takes a quiet moment to think about whether
she’s on the right track to reach her goal, whether that be getting the
report done by six o’clock or getting the promotion by year’s end. Just
like the most successful executives, you need to commit to investing
the necessary time thinking and even writing out your vision for your
future.

Think about it—each of us has the same 8,760 hours to live every
year. Isn’t it worth spending at least 1% of your time deciding what you
want most and planning how to use that time? That’s just 88 hours a
year, or less than two hours a week. Pick a Friday afternoon or a weekend
morning to give yourself the luxury of “thinking time” to evaluate
where you are and where you are going, rather than leave things
to chance—or to someone else’s will!