Posts

Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M12 — Belief

Reflecting on my childhood today, got me thinking about today’s post. I grew up in Southern California, about 15 minutes away from Disneyland. Talk about an undertaking that required an undeniable belief in one’s dreams!

If you’re not familiar with Walt Disney’s story, and how he built his empire, I recommend you do some reading. The man clearly had a dream — several of them, in fact — and he didn’t let much stand in his way of reaching his goals and bringing his dreams to reality. Disney dropped out of high school, spent some time in France with the Red Cross, returned to the States and sought employment as a newspaper artist. That didn’t work, so he went to work for an art studio, where he met one of his first partners. Their endeavor didn’t last long, however, as Disney was not a good money manager; their studio went bankrupt. Undeterred, he moved to a studio in Hollywood, where he went into cartooning, animation, and story-telling.

Blessed with creativity and imagination, Disney dabbled in a lot of different things before deciding to build a theme park for children. He developed the idea in the late 1940’s, and the park eventually opened in 1955, and as you are surely aware, the Disney empire continues to grow and expand to this day.

Along the way, he faced and overcame numerous obstacles and challenges; faced with the same hardships, many people would likely have given up. Walt Disney had big dreams, however, and a firm belief in his ability to bring his dreams to fruition. For a long list of his accomplishments, you can look any number of places: Wikipedia, The Walt Disney Company, his biography, etc…

The point is, belief will fuel your results.

What results have you achieved because you believed in yourself and your abilities as a leader?

Write it down…

What have I accomplished?

How did my beliefs fuel those accomplishments?

What would I like to accomplish in my future?

How do my current beliefs support those dreams?

What do I need to believe — that I don’t believe today — in order to achieve success in this area?

/by

Intentional Leadership — D4, W3, M12 — Belief

Have you refined your mission statement to a point you are ready to say it’s final? This doesn’t mean you never revisit or revise it, but are you satisfied with it as a guide for your next 6, 12, 18 months? Perhaps even longer…?

If so, let’s make it real and visible — a daily reminder.

Print it out in whatever format you prefer (just words, something visual, big, small…). Frame it, if that works for you. Put it in a place you will see it daily, to remind yourself of what you are striving to accomplish.

Now, just to be sure you are really ready to move forward, get your journal out and spend some time writing about the obstacles you are likely to face in pursuit of your mission, and how you will address them.*

 

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact.

/by

Intentional Leadership — D4, W2, M12 — Belief

Get out your journal and spend some time reflecting on what’s happening as you demonstrate new behaviors in support of your new belief. *

What was easy?

What was difficult?

What surprised you?

What resistance did you encounter (either internally or from others)?

What have you discovered about yourself through this process?

How are you thinking differently about how your beliefs affect your vision?

Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that assures the successful outcome of any venture.     ~William James

By the way, for those of you who observe this holiday, Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you, my faithful readers, who give me a reason to be here daily, sharing my thoughts, beliefs, lessons learned, and hopefully, making a positive difference in your lives.

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact.

/by