I believe we are fortunate to have the opportunity to work in such a challenging industry with new products, new regulations and new innovations being introduced all the time. It’s often hard to carve out the time for strategic thinking, but I promise if you set aside just a few hours your return on investment will be considerable. The end of the year is a perfect time to reflect on your business successes and the not so successful undertakings. Don’t short change yourself and your company; commit the time to create a vision of what your new year is going to look like.
    Start with some probing questions about the past year:

• What did you accomplish last year?
• What did you want to accomplish that you did not accomplish? (Do you still want to do this?)
• What did you say you would do that you did not do? (Do you still want to do this?)
• What were the biggest challenges faced?
• What were the three greatest lessons you learned last year?

   Now that you have the creative juices flowing, ask yourself some probing questions about what you want to change or accomplish in 2005.

• What new technologies or innovations can help your business improve or grow?
• What can you do better this year?
• How can you use the lessons you learned to enhance your operation?
• What are you going to do to stay ahead of your competition?
• What are the three most important things you need to accomplish in 2005?
• And most importantly what is your overall business vision for 2005?

    Those ISOs that have a compelling business vision that is clearly communicated to the entire company are able to sustain change more effectively than those without a vision. If you’re running your business without a vision you’re like a ship without a rudder. Your vision statement should include words that invoke emotions that paint a clear picture of your primary mission. This vision will guide your sales team, office staff, partners, vendors and those who work with you on a consistent basis.

Action Assignment

    Create a draft of your Business Vision; clearly define what your business will be like one year from today. How many sales people or staff will it take to achieve your vision? What will your gross revenues look like? Net Profits? And who will support and keep you – the leader of the organization accountable? Creating a business vision alone will not guarantee success. You must get a “buy-in” from your whole organization. Commit yourself to living and breathing your business vision. Read your business vision during sales meetings, staff meetings and post your vision statement for all to see. Even a single agent must be able to provide leadership and vision to those they interact with on a regular basis. The key to realizing your business vision is leadership. If you’re in a larger organization leadership requires the desire to learn, self-manage and the capacity to move the team toward a clear purpose. Leadership is a verb, not a noun. Leadership is action, not a position. Leadership is defined by what we do, not the role we are playing. It’s living from an attitude of “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” True leaders influence the opinions and actions of those employees in their organization.

Action Assignment

    Do a self-critique of your leadership. What do you need to start doing, stop doing and continue doing? Ask 4-6 close associates to provide honest feedback about your style of leadership. Create a leadership action plan and review every six months. Vision and leadership are two of the most important qualities you can leverage to achieve success. Use them consistently and wisely and you will surpass your goals year over year. Have a great 2005!