Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Who Should Read This Book
The Lay of the Land
    The Problem
    The Empire
    The People
    The Solution
The Pillars of the Empire
    I Vision
    II Leadership
    III Organization
    IV Mobility
    V Competitiveness
    VI Persuasion
    VII Strategy
    VIII Brilliance
    IX Morale
    X Unite!
Making It Work
    Your Field Manual

Foreword

I first met Christopher Duncan more than ten years ago when I interviewed him for a senior-level position at a large software company. I had already decided before the interviewing process that I would be interested only in someone with a predefined skill set and level of experience. When I saw Christopher’s resume, I immediately recognized that, although he didn’t possess these prerequisites, there was something that intrigued me enough to at least meet with him for a few minutes. I was so sure that he wouldn’t be what I needed that I arranged the time of our meeting to start about half an hour before lunch. Three hours into our interview, my supervisor poked his head in the door and asked if I was going to hire the man or just keep him locked up all day.

This anecdote leads me to the first thing I learned about Christopher: he has a keen ability to convince others of something--even something that they might at first be diametrically opposed to--while at the same time doing it in such a tactful manner that the person thinks it was their idea to begin with. With regards to the interview, I had been rather adamant regarding the prerequisites that the successful candidate must possess. I came out of my meeting with Christopher fully believing that I had stumbled upon a revolutionary hiring concept: that, of course, talent trumps skill and experience! It was so obvious to me now, and I had figured it out on my own.

It wasn't until a few years later that I realized that Christopher's intention all along had been to get me to realize this. Now, he could have come in with both guns blazing, told me how my process was flawed and that any idiot could see that he was right for the company. My response would have been to yell "Next!" and that would have been the end of it. Just two more business people unable to get over their differing views and parting ways as a result. However, his approach was to answer my queries and pose his own questions in a quid pro quo conversation that ultimately resulted in us combining our strengths such that we both benefited.

My point to all this is that people wander in and out of our professional lives with varying levels of success. Sometimes the success seems to go so much against the odds that we chalk it up to luck or call it a fluke. However, at some point when someone seems to continually enjoy success, even the most doubting person has to step back and ask, "Is this person really lucky at being good or really good at being lucky?" After watching Christopher walk into firestorm after firestorm and end up being carried out on the shoulders of the CEOs and CTOs as the savior of product after product--and in one case, even an entire small company-- I began to realize that, in his case, it was definitely the latter.

I then began to converse in earnest with Christopher about just what makes one person--or one company--successful as opposed to another. Was there some magic formula to the seeming randomness associated with this thing we call success? What he explained to me, and what you'll learn throughout this book, shocked me. It shocked me because, just like our initial interview, it seems so obvious once it's been explained and understood. If you want to see it for yourself, just look around you. Look at the captains of industry, the leaders of Fortune 500 companies, the manager of the team that always seems to hit the deadline and win the accolades of the company. Look at these individuals and what do you see? Differences! The first similarity is the obvious dissimilarity between them all. They come from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. They have different political and religious views. They're of different races and genders. The list goes on. However, look a little deeper than the superficial and you will discover the one common trait that all successful people share. They're not afraid to break the rules and try the unconventional to succeed. It's as simple as that.

At one time or another, every one of these successful people had to make a choice: do I go with everyone else on this or do I break from the norm, take a chance, and reap the rewards if my ideas are as successful as I know they will be? Most people take the easy route and, if they get a little lucky, enjoy a moderately successful life. However, by virtue of the fact that you're holding this book, you've already proven that your exterior is not made of wool and people don't count you when they can't sleep.

That just leaves one obvious question. If these concepts and techniques are so great, why isn't everyone using them? To answer that, let's look at "everyone." According to the United States Small Business Administration, nine out of ten companies fail during the first five years. That's four-paws up. Bankrupt. When you start talking about how many of the remaining companies actually thrive and excel in their industry, the numbers are even bleaker. The simple fact is that most companies barely make it from year to year despite what they tell their employees and stockholders. The obvious point is that, when you follow the rules of the masses, how can you expect to rise above the masses?

This is exactly why--seemingly out of nowhere--a previously unknown comes to the forefront of a given industry and makes a name for both himself and his company. Read between the lines of the interviews with these people and you'll find out that they didn't possess any magical skill above the fact that they saw very clearly that coloring within the lines wasn't getting them or their company where they wanted to go. So they changed the rules. They stopped thinking about how their predecessor did things, and they decided to forge new trails. In short, they employed much of what you'll discover in these pages.

I don't want to go into any more detail than that because Christopher is the master at presenting this material in exactly the right order and pace. Besides nobody likes the guy that ruins the movie by telling you the ending. However, I will tell you what Christopher's unparalleled knowledge in the area of business and career management has personally done for me. Before I met Christopher I was the definition of a "moderate success" that I spoke of earlier. Don't get me wrong. I made good money and had a secure job. However, like many of you, I knew deep down that there was something better just around the corner . . . something that would allow me to use many of my ideas that I felt were basically being neglected.

That's when, at Christopher's urging, I personally started using many of the techniques you'll discover throughout this book. Tangible results? In recent years, I've helped build a Web site that sold for over $3 million, been the team lead on three award-winning software applications and enjoyed success as a best-selling author with ten books to my credit. In picking up this book, you've taken the first step toward your own success stories. Now let's see what you can accomplish. I have a feeling you'll surprise even yourself.

Acknowledgments

A book seems like a very simple thing when you pick it up. It presents the illusion that the author, and the author alone, is speaking to you. Of course, in reality, the process is quite complex, and it takes the talents of countless people to bring an idea to life. In fact, it's hard to appreciate just how many people until you try to name them all.

That was my original goal, but eventually I came to understand why the credits at the end of a movie go on for such a long time. It takes a lot of very cool, very talented folks to make it happen. Some of the jobs are obvious and some aren't, but, without each person contributing their expertise, this book simply wouldn't exist. If I tried to list every one of them individually, I'd doubtless leave someone out, which to me would be a crime. And so, my first and most heartfelt thanks go to all of my friends at Apress, who worked tirelessly, in good spirit, and moved mountains you'll never hear about. You guys rock. Every last one of you. The picture on the dust jacket was yet another last-minute adventure due to the insanities of my schedule. However, once again, people make all the difference. JuDeane and Chan Garrett, my friends at Chan Garrett Photography, are my favorite photographers. (They're in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw if you happen to be in the neighborhood.) Not only did they do their normal excellent work, they always seem to make me feel comfortable and right at home. Thanks, guys. It's always fun working with you.

I also had help with the companion CD in a couple of areas. Although I composed and sequenced a great deal of the background music, on the tracks where you hear a live bass player it's the talented fingers of my old friend Jeff Patnaude. Digital music is a powerful tool, but sometimes there's just no substitute for the real thing. It's nice to have friends who are also great players. The wings and beer are on me next time, man. Thanks for hanging out and making music with me.

Who Should Read This Book

If you work for a living, or plan on doing so at some point in the future, this book is full of the things they didn't teach you in school. It doesn't matter if you're a high-level executive of a rich and powerful international corporation or you're the guy who happens to cook the fries when I order a burger. The information and techniques we're going to cover in the following pages speak directly to you both. If that seems a little strange to you, that's exactly the point.

People are used to drawing distinct lines between workers and management. This may look tidy on an organizational chart, but the effect it has both on company profits and on the people who do the work is devastating. Trying to separate business and productivity concepts into the two categories is guaranteed to divide your company's workforce. And that's a really bad idea. Ever hear the phrase divide and conquer? Your competition is hoping that you haven't.

What's the Problem?

Whether you're a worker or a manager, stop for just a moment and think like a consumer. Every day, you see the results of these divided and dysfunctional companies. Here are just a few of the countless examples that you probably see every day.

You call customer service in a major corporation and are greeted by unmotivated workers who have neither the training nor the authority to solve your problem. All they can do is pass you around to other departments while you spend enough time on hold to memorize every word in all the bad music they're playing for you.

You get the wrong food, cold at that, along with overwhelming apathy from the people who serve you at your favorite taco joint. Your meal is a mess, and they couldn't be less concerned about it. You complain to the shift supervisor only to discover that they're not that thrilled to be helping you, either. The only person who seems motivated to ensure that your meal is a pleasant experience is you.

You spend hundreds of dollars on software. The installation corrupts your system. After you fight your way through that battle, you find that the program is even less stable than the people who wrote it. You call tech support. They tell you an upgrade is coming out "real soon now." You pay for the upgrade when it arrives, and the cycle repeats itself.

You go to your local retail store, buy a product from a well-known manufacturer, get it home, and find that it doesn't work. You take it back and exchange it for another unit. This one works, but only for a week. Once more, you return it for a new unit. This time, it keeps functioning but little cosmetic pieces break or fall off. You give up and just live with it, all the while wondering if the company you bought it from has ever heard of quality control.

In each of these cases, what are you tempted to do as a consumer? Probably the same thing the rest of us do: you simply quit doing business with that company. Do you at least call the company and tell them why you stopped doing business with it or buying its products? Neither does anybody else. What you probably will do, however, is tell all of your friends, and maybe even a few strangers on the street, what a terrible experience you had with this company. You might even go so far as to suggest that they avoid this company at all cost.

Why Should You Care?

You will likely be familiar with stories such as these, but you may not have made the connection just yet as to how this affects your company, your career, and your personal life. Consider this. All of these scenarios are the result of internal company problems. If, because of these problems, customers silently turn away and start dealing with your competitors--and I can assure you that they do just that every day without your knowledge--what effect do you think this will have on overall company profits?

Those of you in management will probably be quick to grasp the obvious implications. However, if you're just a regular working-class person, you may not really care whether the company makes a profit or not. Before you become too comfortable, however, you need to think about just exactly what does happen when company income and profits suffer. That's right: people start losing their jobs. Maybe even you. Layoffs, downsizing, rightsizing . . . pick whatever euphemism you're most comfortable with, but, at the end of the day, when a company suffers financial decline, people get fired. Of course, fired is an ugly term, which is precisely why I used it. When people lose their jobs, there's nothing pretty about it. And if your company doesn't get its act together, it could very easily happen to you. Unfortunately, this is a fate all too frequently suffered by workers and management alike.

Even if you're one of the lucky ones who survive the bloodbath when your company has to start cutting costs, your life won't be that much better. Who do you think gets to pick up the slack and do all the work of the people who just got the axe? That's right: you do. Your workload will double. Your pay won't.

This is not a dark and gloomy book. On the contrary, it's a book that shows you how to prosper when you thought there was no hope. However, it's imperative that you understand, right here and now, that-- whether worker or manager--you're all in the same boat. And that boat is often an extremely bureaucratic and ineffective company that is just a couple of boneheaded management decisions and a few careless fry cooks away from dumping you into the cold waters of corporate distress. The sooner you realize that your personal fate is tied inextricably to that of your company, no matter how large the company or how disconnected you may feel from the people at the top, the sooner you have a fighting chance to steer clear of the rocks and keep your ship from going straight to the bottom.

Furthermore, you must understand one very critical, fundamental point: regardless of whether you're wearing a five-thousand dollar suit or a pair of jeans and sneakers, you're all in this together. United you stand. Divided you fall. That's a very old phrase, but, like most such things, it's still around because it's true. Ignore this at your peril.

How Will This Book Help You?

So, is this a management book that will help the people who are running the company devise more-effective corporate strategies, or is it a book to help workers improve their careers, make more money, and have an increasingly satisfying job?

It's both. It has to be.

But how, you may ask, can a book be about giving the workers more and yet enabling the company to increase profits? That's a very valid question, and the answer lies in an equation that would surely make your old algebra teacher twitch: 1 plus 1 is greater than 2.

This is something that the greatest conquerors in world history have always known. You don't build huge and long-lasting empires with only a handful of clever generals. They would spend all their time planning, and nobody would actually get up from the table to do anything. You can't do it with a large mass of people, either. They'd spend more time squabbling with each other than they would acquiring new territory. No, the way the great empires have been established throughout human history has been through the efforts of visionary leaders who understood that they could prevail only when united, workers and leaders together.

The old business model has a myth, as old as commerce itself, that divides people into two groups: management and those being managed. These lines separate your people, and a divided people cannot endure forever. In the pages that follow, we're going to erase these lines, as well as the boundaries between all other tribes in your company. That doesn't mean that managers will lose their authority or that workers will declare freedom and anarchy. Both scenarios are impractical and unprofitable for all concerned.

Instead, you'll see that every manager is also a worker, learn how every worker can lead by example, and realize how building alliances and a spirit of unity across all boundaries leads to higher morale, higher profits, and bigger paychecks. Along the way, we'll explore practical, down-to-earth approaches to problem solving and productivity, techniques that make sense to people who have to do real work in the real world. Instead of mindless platitudes, you'll be shown how to take timehonored principles and apply them to the work that you do on a day-to-day basis. And you won't be given simple answers; you'll be taught to think for yourself and how to arrive at a plan that works when faced with your daily reality of politics, maneuvering, ambition, incompetence, and short-term thinking.

No matter what your position in the company, you will have a clear path to a better career and a better life. That's because rich and powerful empires have the most rewards to share with their people. By the time we're through, your managers will be superior and inspirational leaders, your workers will be motivated to pursue brilliance, and you will all come to realize a simple but crucial truth. Alone, you are weak and vulnerable. Together, you are invincible.

The Pillars of the Empire

I Vision
Employ long-term thinking and build a long-lasting empire.

Nobody wants to look for a new job every year because his previous company went out of business. And nobody builds a business with a desire to see it fail. In both cases, people are looking for results and benefits that stand the test of time. One would think that, because of this, everyone would have their eyes on the big picture and be thinking in terms of the long-range plans and vision of their enterprise.

However, as anyone who has held a job for more than a month can attest, this is rarely the case. From the highest executive positions to the everyday production tasks of the average workers, people succumb to short-term thinking. They become focused exclusively on the issues of the day, and in the process are so busy putting out the fire at their feet that they don't realize the company itself is burning down. This becomes apparent only later, when the entire structure collapses and they find themselves once again in search of a job. They were successful in solving today's problems, but they failed to prepare for a secure tomorrow. The latter is a much more costly mistake.

The only way to ensure long-term benefits, security, and prosperity is through long-term thinking. In other words, you must plan, live, and work with vision, and you must integrate the efforts and minute details of each day into this grand scheme. Only thus will you guarantee that the prosperity you enjoy today will still be there for you tomorrow.

Vision is not the exclusive domain of the highly paid business executive. Each person, at every level of the empire, is capable of broader thinking. Indeed, every individual must make vision a high priority and a part of their daily tasks. If you are a leader, it is your duty to see the direction of the company and mold your efforts to support it. You are also charged with conveying this purpose to your people in a way that is realistic and meaningful to them so that they, too, may contribute to the greater good. If you are a worker, to you falls the task of making this vision a reality. In every action you take, you must keep one eye on what you're doing and the other on where it's taking your company. With leaders and workers joined together in a harmonious effort to build a better tomorrow, the results will be many times greater than your individual efforts, and you will all enjoy the fruits of your labors.

Contrary to what some may think, living with purpose and vision is not a difficult task. It merely takes a dedicated decision to make it a priority in your daily life. Once you've done that, it's often as simple as putting one foot after the other.

Picture the End Result in Fine Detail.

No matter what your task, regardless of how large or small the goal you wish to achieve, you simply cannot succeed in your efforts unless you know exactly what the finished result should look like. You must have a very firm and detailed understanding of what you're looking to accomplish before you take your first step. If you're an artist, how can you possibly paint a picture of a tree if you don't know exactly what a tree looks like? If you think you already know, let's test that assumption with a handful of pertinent questions.

What does the bark look like? What's the texture? What's the shape of the leaf? Exactly what shade of green? How do the branches grow? Is it rigid, or is it flexible enough to sway in the breeze? Know what a tree looks like now? Great. What does it look like in the fall? Didn't think about that, did you? How about spring? Does it bear fruit? Does it flower? How does it seed? What about winter and summer? Each season brings a specific set of circumstances. Your tree will react in harmony with this.

Got a tree for all seasons now? Wonderful. But exactly where does it grow? What are the exact specifications of the climate? Have you considered the precise temperature range, acceptable humidity, annual rainfall, and highest winds that it can tolerate?

So now you know all there is to know about a tree, right? Well, not quite. You still don't have the complete picture. How does it interact with its environment? What animals does it attract? Does it have natural predators? Does it rise above the forest and get adequate sunlight, or do others overshadow it? What plants stifle its growth? With what plants does it have a symbiotic relationship?

You may contend that an artist with easel and paintbrush doesn't have to know all of these things to paint a tree, and this is true. However, what if you were involved in preparations for a new orchard? You would not only have to offer a rendition of what that orchard would ultimately look like, you'd better understand all the other issues involved, or you'll have a very dead bunch of trees before long. On the bright side, you can at least use them for paper, which you'll doubtless need because printing your résumé will quickly become a priority.

The important thing to glean from our exercise with the trees is to realize just how poorly lacking our concept of a tree is without making a concerted effort to fully visualize one. If someone asked you yesterday about trees, you might have replied that you knew all about them. Now, however, with just the briefest of examinations, it's clear that, when you get right down to it, there's still much to learn. That's the point, and it applies consistently, no matter what it is you're interested in accomplishing. You cannot achieve a high-quality result until you have a detailed picture in your mind of just exactly what that result is.

You can apply this lesson of the visualized tree to every single goal you encounter in your company. As more people understand the value of breaking down a vision into fine detail, your efforts will be increasingly more effective, no matter what they are. Because a stronger empire benefits you personally, you should make it a point to share this insight with everyone you work with. Then, together, you will move forward and achieve great things, because you'll all know exactly what it is that you're working toward. There's tremendous power in such understanding.

You can accomplish anything in life if you're truly willing to commit your mind, body, and spirit. The very first step in bringing your vision to life, however, is knowing exactly what that vision is. Sure, this is one of those statements that sound overly simplistic until you sit down and truly think about it. Therefore, for each new task, you must consider it well before taking your very first step.

Plan Like You're Going To Live Forever.

Another aspect of short-term thinking is the tendency to make plans that look good for a finite period of time but have known difficulties that will arise after that. One would think that this would be an unacceptable approach, but very often the feeling is that the trouble of today is sufficient and that tomorrow will take care of itself. In fact, schemes are frequently concocted in the workplace with the personal benefits being the only consideration, and with an implicit underlying attitude that somebody else can deal with the consequent problems. That's not only unethical, it's just plain stupid. Why? The long-term prosperity of the individual depends upon the long-term prosperity of the empire.

You won't have to look very far in your own company to find examples of short-term thinking. In fact, you may have been in meetings during which someone proposed an obviously flawed solution to a problem at hand. If you were brave (or foolish) enough to point out that the quick fix was a long-term disaster just waiting to happen, you were probably confronted with some of the standard defenses for such tactics:

• By the time things go sour, it will be another department's problem. (Protect your tribe in the short term at another tribe's expense.)
• Perhaps by then a better solution will have arrived (denial and wishful thinking)
• We'll worry about that when the time comes (aversion)
• There is no problem (the ostrich syndrome)
• That's not your responsibility. Sit down and shut up. (They know it's a bad idea and don't want it publicized.)

These are just a few variations on a theme that's all too familiar. The common thread is that people focus, once again, on putting out the fire at their feet and actively avoid considering the long-term effects of their actions. Regardless of the reason for their avoidance of the consequences, there's one fundamental thing that is almost always overlooked. Even though it seems like they're off the hook because the long-term issues are now considered to be someone else's problem, these problems will damage the company in ways large or small. Because the prosperity of the individual ultimately depends upon the prosperity of the empire, they're actually shooting themselves in the foot; it's just a very slow bullet.

The solution to these problems is really quite simple. As is often the case, it comes down to nothing more mysterious than priorities and lines in the sand that you choose not to cross. No matter what you're trying to accomplish or what problem you're looking to solve, pretend that you're immortal and will be working for your company for the next five centuries. Assume that no matter what goes wrong, it will hurt you personally. Then move forward keeping that perspective in mind, refusing to shrug off the responsibilities that you owe to the future.

In and of itself, this perceptual trick will not solve your problems or make the perfect solution magically appear. However, what it will do is keep you working on the problem until a satisfactory approach is discovered-- which is the next best thing to magic. You'd be surprised how often sloppy solutions and ill-conceived plans are put into place for no other reason than people being in too much of a hurry to come up with a better idea.

In general, humanity is full of brilliance and inspiration. To tap into that may take extra time, but it's time well spent. Once you realize that your own future is linked to the future of the empire, you'll no longer be willing to settle for short-term solutions that guarantee long-term disasters. You'll be motivated to reach for a better plan, and, being so driven, you will almost always find one.

Once you've come to this realization, the next step is to make sure that everyone you work with understands it as well. Many people live their lives on automatic pilot and simply don't think of changing their perspective. Therefore, you must show them how the consequences of tomorrow are always of the utmost importance to them personally, and start building alliances with like-minded people.

You'll often meet resistance when you try to hold out for a better solution, being pressured instead for the quick fix. This is why you must educate as many people as you can reach. There is strength in numbers, and, when you have the support of others, you'll be in a much better position to deliver the solid, long-term solution. Better still, with each success, you will be able to gather even more people to your banner, for they will see that you were right and that they have personal and tangible rewards to join with you.

You'll never realize how truly amazing you can be until you decide to claim the consequences of the future as your personal domain. When you own the future, you own the present. As others join you in this thinking, your combined power will make you a strong-enough force to build a better tomorrow through a smarter today, no matter what resistance you encounter.

Anticipate How People Will React.

No matter how lofty your goals or how well you've mapped out the journey, you're going to depend on--and sometimes fall into conflict with--other people. It's a common scenario for people to devote days, weeks, or months to intricate strategies only to have them fall apart the first time the plan hits a snag. You'll often hear people, in the midst of their troubleshooting, muse that they simply didn't realize that this person or that department was going to react in such a way. Simply put, they didn't understand the personalities and perspectives of all the players involved, and they were consequently unprepared for resistance and adverse reactions. They never saw the trouble coming until it was too late.

Just like when playing a game of chess, you must always think several moves ahead. To do so in a productive manner, you have to be able to predict how others are going to respond. Your assumptions will never be 100% accurate, of course, but, if you make it a part of your normal thought process to consider not only the logistical aspects of any plan but also the human factor, you will be much more effective than anyone else. Your initial plans will be tailored to the individuals you'll be encountering rather than pursuing an impersonal or academic approach based on pages full of numbers, names, and departments.

Additionally, because you've taken the time to understand the nature of the people involved, you'll have contingency plans based on the various ways that you predict they may respond. Anticipating several possible reactions and having a plan for each will practically guarantee that a large portion of your planning efforts will end up in the trash can. That's okay. Don't think of the time you spent on the unused backup plans as time wasted. Instead, consider the fact that, because of the overall number of hours you spent in detailed planning, you were prepared and you succeeded. Those extra contingencies that you didn't use are just a cost of doing business successfully.

In any endeavor, people are the wild cards. No matter how brilliantly you strategize, if you fail to take this into account your plans will be disrupted time and again, leaving you spinning idly in the breeze wondering what just hit you. There's no need for that. Although it's impossible to predict with absolute certainty how any person or group of people will react, with attention and study you'll find that you're quickly able to predict and anticipate the responses of others with growing regularity. As with any other skill, you'll improve with practice. The simple fact that you've made the study of people and their reactions a priority in your planning gives you an incredible tactical advantage for one very simple reason: most people don't.

So how do you go about anticipating the way that people will respond to your ideas, proposals, initiatives, and plans? Study, and pay attention! Countless books have been written on human nature. Go to your local bookstore and read! Furthermore, don't limit your studies to human nature alone. Consider the culture in which you live. People are influenced not only by time-honored instincts, but also by local, regional, and national attitudes and norms.

While you're in the bookstore, make sure you also look at some books on human psychology, and specifically emotion. If you haven't discovered this already, it won't take much time in the business world to realize that, no matter how professional we're supposed to be in our endeavors, people still make emotional decisions. Are emotional decisions always the smartest or best? Obviously not. When you're reacting in the heat of the moment instead of acting on a well-conceived plan of action, you're extremely off balance and vulnerable. Nonetheless, a surprisingly large number of people do just this. If you understand the emotional hot buttons of the people you're dealing with, you'll have a much more accurate idea of how they will react to any situation you create. It's another advantage, and a big one at that.

You must also consider whether the reactions you encounter will be in pockets of isolated groups or if an overall snowball effect could create a larger problem than the sum of individual responses. Again, understanding the nature, motivations, and emotions of others will give you ample insight into just what sort of reactions you can expect.

Having prepared for as many contingencies as possible based on your observations of the people you're dealing with, you're in a very strong position to see that your vision not only survives but thrives. Does all this sound a bit manipulative? Good. That's exactly what it is. Business is war. I can assure you, if you don't prepare and control the battlefield to your advantage, someone else will come along and impose their own vision, and your dreams will suffer accordingly. Know who you're dealing with, how they're going to react, and be prepared for it. In this manner, you can protect your vision and continue to bring positive change to your organization.

Know The Character Of Your Leaders And Allies.

As an extension of preparing for the reactions of others, you must have a firm grasp on the character and moral makeup of the people you're dealing with. If your fate is at the mercy of your leaders, understanding their character is critical. Are they ethical? Will they reward you for your efforts? Can you trust them? You should ask yourself questions like these on a regular basis, and make sure that you're comfortable with the validity of your conclusions before trying to promote your vision. Regardless of whether you work under a noble leader or the scum of the earth, you can still succeed. Your approach, however, will obviously be very different depending on whom you're dealing with.

In addition to your leaders, what about your allies? Within any organization, you'll find like-minded individuals and groups who will support you in your endeavors. Failing to understand the quality of their character is just as fatal as not understanding your leaders because both have the power to completely disrupt your plans.

It also works the other way. If you're a leader, you must understand the nature of the people who work with you. Can you count on them to follow through? Can you trust them? Will they do the right thing, or will they instead fall apart out of preoccupation with self-interest? If you don't know the morals and ethics of the people you count on to get the job done, your vision may spiral into complete disaster.

You must also look to the future. Will the person who agrees with you today support you further down the road, or will they bolt at the first sign of opposition? Can they be bought by the competition, whether internal or external? Do they have the personal strength and conviction to hold to their course no matter how rough the waters get, or will they simply drift in whichever direction the wind is blowing? Before you can count on them and make any kind of plans based on their participation and support, you must not only know where they are today, but where they will stand on the issues tomorrow.

People also react differently to the euphoria of success and the heartbreak of failure. Will the tides of fortune alter their judgment? Do they have oversized egos? Will they become cocky and overconfident when things are going well? Are they likely to become completely pessimistic when something goes wrong? No matter how sound their judgment may be in the calm stages of planning, it could be radically different under fire. You need to consider these things before--not after--you decide to count on them.

Loyalty is another critical consideration. Some people support a vision because they truly believe in it. Their motivations are pure: the simple and admirable desire to effect positive change. Other people are simply opportunistic. If your worldview suits their ambitions today, then they will serve as your staunchest supporters. However, when the tides change and they see better opportunities in another camp, they may abandon you with no warning whatsoever and even turn against you. So how do you protect yourself? Sometimes the best way to see the future is to look into the past.

How did they treat the people they interacted with before they met you, and how are they treating other people even now? Like many clichés, there's a certain amount of truth in the adage that a tiger doesn't change stripes. How someone treats others is quite likely how they'll treat you as well. If you see a wide gap between how they appear to you and how others view them, examine it carefully before trusting them with the care of your vision.

Be Completely Prepared Before Unveiling Your Ideas.

Many people, out of either impatience or the desire for personal attention, have a habit of talking about their plans and ideas to anyone who will listen, long before they're prepared to implement them. Although it may have been proper play when we were children to give "fair warning" in our competitive games, as an adult in the business world it's little more than political suicide. No matter what you're trying to accomplish, chances are good that there will be others within your company who are competing for the resources or control that you want for your own goal. If you give notice of your plans before you're prepared to act on them, you give the competition a chance to prepare for your tactics and beat you to the punch.

Rule number one is very simple: until you're completely prepared and ready to put your plan into action, keep your mouth shut! Discuss your vision on a need-to-know basis only. Other than stroking your own ego, no advantage can be gained by bragging about what you're going to do next week or next month. The disadvantages of premature announcement are numerous and often fatal.

Whether your vision is a large or small one, you must prepare exhaustively. Eventually, a time will come in the process when you need to act before you can move things ahead any further. You may also from time to time wish to release disinformation to throw your competitors off track, but this is once again just another form of action that's not to be taken until you're prepared to utilize the benefits that it brings. In the meantime, plan, prepare, and even drill and rehearse when possible, and make sure that you are in every way ready to strike with overwhelming firepower before anyone has even the slightest notion of what you're up to. If you keep things quiet until you're prepared to act, then, by the time any opposition to your plans can mount, you will have already achieved your victory.

If, however, you are greeted with immediate agreement and success when you do unveil your plans, you may feel that you went to all that trouble for nothing. Sometimes this will be true. But who cares? You prevailed! More often, though, your seemingly effortless success will be due to the fact that you were so thoroughly prepared for every contingency that any who might have opposed your ideas saw the futility of resistance, and therefore offered none. The greatest victory in battle is to win without a fight.

Furthermore, regardless of whether your victory is a lengthy or speedy one, all of the effort you put into preparations leaves you extremely well organized when it comes time to actually implement your plans. Many an endeavor has succeeded in the initial phases, won the support of all critical parties, and then fallen flat on its face due to a lack of adequate structure and organization in implementation. If you fail, it doesn't matter what stage of the game it happens in. You've still failed. As such, each and every bit of work that you put into the overall selling and implementation of your plan is of tremendous value. Get your act together and keep it quiet. Then, when you're ready, spring into action and seize the day.

Give People A Reason To Care About Your Vision.

This is the most common mistake made in every company, worldwide. Leaders come up with great new ideas and expect that, by simply voicing them, people will rally beneath their banner. The very best example I can give in this regard is the common practice of corporations advertising their "mission," which is usually some vague and meaningless jumble of corporate-speak. So, with all due respect to whoever comes up with these ideas, let me say this as gently as possible. Nobody cares about your mission statement.

Shocking, isn't it? Many executives who were taught in business school that you must have one of these things when you start a company have difficulty grasping why they have absolutely no real value in the day-to-day affairs of their business. Above and beyond the fact that they're usually so vague as to convey no practical information, there's one critical piece missing, and this piece determines whether a mission statement will motivate anyone. A mission statement never gives people a real, practical, and tangible reason to care about it. It's nothing more than eye candy for the bureaucratically impressionable.

No matter how honest and hardworking they may be, all who work for your company from the president down to the custodians are--you guessed it--people. They come to work each day for one and only one reason: there's something in it for them. Typically, the paycheck is first and foremost on the list, but it's not the only motivating factor. Many people are lucky enough to love what they do for a living. Consequently, other factors that fall under the broad heading of job satisfaction also come into play. Ego ranks high on the list for many. Remember, we're dealing with people here. However, regardless of what the reasons may be, the simple fact is that people are there doing work for you because you've given them a reason to do so. Take away those reasons and they will trample you underfoot as they stampede to the exits.

Of course, the mission statement is just a convenient and obvious example of a useless vision, made so because the people have no reason to care about it. A business, however, is one continual str