One of our very first customers back in the mid-1990’s was Cashman Cadillac.
A family owned luxury automobile dealer that was run by Tim Cashman. He ran a tight ship and one that was highly engaged before engaged was a thing. They were successful and highly respected in the community and by customers.
But Tim had a dream and a vision. He wanted to have the world’s largest Harley Davidson dealer that would become a destination of sorts. Motorcycles, clothing, accessories, repair and evening dining. From Cadillacs to Harleys. Do you suppose people gave him a little grief about his vision?
Tim converted his vision to action. Not overnight and not alone and not without input and assistance from others. He took on a partner in the venture. He ceded control of the Cadillac operations to a trusted leader. He listened. He learned about the Harley product.
That pre-work then turned into buying land, building a magnificent building, partnering with the manufacturer, hiring team members with shared vision and eventually opening his visionary location.
Effective leaders like Tim are able to not only have a vision but to turn it into action and result. Perhaps not perfect and not as quickly as desired but the action and the end result came and came spectacularly.
I would make the case, to some people chagrin, that visions are cheap. The real value comes when input is sought, planning occurs and the visions become real.
As a leader, you can turn your visions into reality by:
- Documenting what you see and sense. This is a huge reason many visions never see fruition. Write down, in any form, what you want to do.
- Begin slowly to bring others into the vision. Seek input, ideas and guidance from a small circle of trusted people.
- Note the largest milestones and actions. Avoid getting into the weeds and minutiae as those will change a hundred times over. There is time to deal with the details and now is not it.