Chief Visionary Officers Needed

The Business World Needs Chief Visionary Officers (CVO's) at the CEO, COO, CIO, CSO, CMO, CFO Levels by Terry Stidham

See It, Believe It, Achieve It

One of the greatest traditions in sports will commence shortly after the final horn sounds today and tomorrow and two new college basketball champions are crowned.

The tradition of cutting down the nets has its roots in the famed Indiana state high school tournament that provided the real-life story behind the movie "Hoosiers."

In 1947, as the head coach at North Carolina State, Case introduced net-cutting to college basketball. After his team won the Southern Conference title, Case wanted a souvenir. With no ladder available, the players hoisted Case onto their shoulders and he cut the net while cradled in their grasp.

Visualizing winning the NCAA championship and cutting down the net wasn't enough for former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano; he took it a step further and actually practiced it. At the first very practice at NC State he told the players that he was going to win a national championship and was going to ‘cut down the nets’ - the pinnacle of his profession. Once a year, Valvano would conduct a practice with no basketballs - nothing except scissors. His players would practice cutting down the nets.

Coach Valvano's belief and enthusiasm was contagious and his players too began to believe that they could actually go all the way and be number 1. It didn’t matter who they faced - they believed that they could win. The Wolfpack put the preparation to good use in 1983 in beating Houston for the national title in one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.

 

Leadership challenge.
Answer these questions:

• Do you have a dream and a vision for your company?
• Do you share that vision with your people?
• Do your people believe that you believe?
• Have you stopped believing in the dream that you had when you took your role?
• Have you stopped believing that you can overcome the challenges you had during the past year?
• How is your vision or lack of vision influencing your team?

What many people don't realize is that we have the power to have our subconscious minds to assist us in getting what we want. The act of visualizing your goals/dreams can make them more achievable.

Why is visualization so powerful?

As you see and feel images that portray your desired outcome, the cognitive dissonance in your brain increases. The increased discomfort sends a message to your brain that you are not giving up on this goal. The brain wants to create balance so it will change directions to figure out ways to make your success happen.

As we routinely and intentionally visualize a desired outcome, and step into the belief that it is possible, our brains increase the motivation to make it happen. We become more and more determined to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.

In addition to increased motivation, you will begin to get creative ideas that will help you to achieve your goal. You may wake up at 2 a.m. with a brilliant thought, or experience a download of pure genius while in the shower. This is because visualization prompts the brain to "wake up" to messages and resources that it previously shut out. Now that it's well aware of your goal it assists you in becoming more aware and open to finding the answers.

"Your brain wants to solve your problems.  When you are 'stuck' it simply means that your mind isn't open to the solutions.  Visualization releases this resistance and allows the brain to do its job and make you happy.

Decide Exactly What You Want

Your goal must be very clear and specific. Let's say that you want to increase profits by 20%. Don't get caught up in the "how and why," those will come to you. Simply get very clear on your goal and make it believable, yet just out of reach. As you become better at visualization you will naturally set your sights higher.

Choose a Goal that Excites You

Choose at least one goal to hold in your mind's eye as you go through your daily visualization process. How will it feel to increase profits by 20%? How will you know that you have succeeded? Capture a visual of your celebration. Take Coach V's extra step - have a mock celebration and start working like you have already succeeded.

Visualize Daily

See that image of success and allow your mind to wander with the image. Step into the feeling and power of this image; make it very real.

You may remember the Harvard Business School study where recent graduates were surveyed about their goals and then ten years later. The result of visualizing their success? Graduates who had had clear goals in mind were making two to ten times as much money as their classmates.

The old saying goes: "If you can dream it, you can do it."

To have an idea, dream or goal, and then to see how you can make it happen, helps shape your plans and defines your goals more clearly.

Many people, especially athletes and celebrities, have discovered the amazing power of visualization and have used it to enhance their careers and achieve their goals and dreams.

Actor Jim Carrey wrote a check to himself in 1987 in the sum of $10 million. He dated it Thanksgiving 1995 and added the notation, "for acting services rendered." He visualized it for years, and in 1994, he received $10 million for his role in "Dumb and Dumber."

Oprah Winfrey openly used visualization techniques on her talk show. She often talked about the power of the subconscious mind and goal-focusing techniques. Oprah said, "The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams."

Nobel Laureate Jonas Salk was asked how he went about inventing the polio vaccine. His reply: "I pictured myself as a virus or a cancer cell and tried to sense what it would be like."

One of the most well-known studies on creative visualization in sports occurred when Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their physical and mental training ratios:

• Group 1 received 100 percent physical training.
• Group 2 received 75 percent physical training and 25 percent mental training.
• Group 3 received 50 percent mental training and 50 percent physical training.
• Group 4 received 75 percent mental training with 25 percent physical training.

Group 4 had the best performance results, indicating that mental training or visualization can have significant measurable effects on biological performance.

Similarly, for many years Russian gymnasts dominated the Olympic Games. The Americans trained hard, but they couldn't compete with the nearly flawless Russians. It wasn't until many years later that the Americans and others discovered the Russians used sports psychologists to help with mental training techniques. They spent a few hours each day visualizing their routines with perfect landings, twists and jumps. Today, most top athletes use the power of visualization to perform at their peak.

People who soar refuse to sit back and wait for things to change. They visualize that they are not quitters. They will not allow circumstances to keep them down. 

Back in 1952, Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had to make two attempts before she achieved her goal. On her first try, she quit after swimming 21 1/2 miles and finishing only a half-mile from shore. The reason? It wasn't the freezing cold water, or the fear of the sharks circling around her. Or even her fatigue. She told reporters later it was because she couldn't see the shore through the fog. She had lost sight of her goal.

Two months later, she swam the channel again — this time with a clear mental picture of the shore that lay beyond the fog. She not only became the first woman to swim the channel — she beat the existing world record by two hours.

History teems with tales of experts who were convinced that the ideas, plans and projects of others could never be achieved. But then someone else came along and accomplished those dreams with a can-do attitude.

See It; Believe It, Achieve It

Dare to dream and to have a goal.  Let your mind paint the picture. Get excited about it. Share it with those around you and in your organization. Stay Focused. Make it happen.

Aristotle “First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends: wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”