It was once insinuated that I may have stolen teddy bears. Me… Steal… Incredibly unlikely.

I haven’t thought about this for years, but this week the memory was triggered and suddenly it was 20 years ago.

I was a new physio graduate, working in a children’s ward of a rural hospital that serviced a community that didn’t have much. I arrived at work one morning – teddy bears in a bag, dance in my step and firecrackers in my chest!

The look on the kids’ faces as I handed them out will be with me forever.

It was a great day, until it wasn’t.

Roughly an hour later I was called to the CEO of the hospital’s office.

I had contravened hospital protocol by bringing what could potentially have been stolen goods, to potentially store them on hospital property, thereby potentially exposing the hospital and its management to severe consequences.

Note for interest – this same hospital and CEO were exposed a few years later for major corruption.

I am not opposed to policies and procedures, I know they are important.

A quick google search gives you things like they…

1. Ensure legal and regulatory compliance
2. Maintain consistency
3. Manage risks
4. Etc
5. Etc

In summary – procedures and policies are created to maintain and sustain, but here’s my question.

At what point do we get so caught up in following the rulebook that we miss the chance to write a whole new story?

You see sometimes cutting off the bottom, cuts off the top too – resulting in my kryptonite – mediocrity.

All this thinking has resulted in more questions than answers…

1. Why do policies seem to hold more gravitas than vision? Is it because the vision is just a pie in the sky statement that was written to tick a box, or is it something that every person in the company or institution can repeat in their sleep. Perhaps it’s because there is no vision at all.
2. Why do policies only seem to stop good things? There are countless examples wherever you look of how rules are bent, broken, changed or circumvented completely to allow the wrong things to happen.
3. How the **** do you not lose hope?

It goes back to vision. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (proverbs 29:18).

In his book “Start with Why” Simon Sinek says “Stop looking for a course of action and instead become obsessed with understanding the cause of action.”

You need a vision. A strong one, one you can see, smell, taste and believe can be achieved. Then you need to write it in a clear and concise way, so that everyone involved can repeat it verbatim!

It becomes your call to arms, your rally cry, your WHY.

This will change everything…

• If people with something to offer are clear about their why they will have the strength to stay the course. When resistance threatens they will continue. They’ll never take no for an answer

• If institutions are clear on their vision they will immediately recognise when an opportunity appears, and instead of hammering it with policy and the “this looks great BUT…. “ bulls**t, there will be genuine excitement and the discussions will start.

So why is this important? Because it applies to everyone.

If you work for a company – Have your directors shared the future they are building?

If you lead a group of any kind – Do they know the big why?

For your own life – Have you stopped to imagine what your future could hold and actively chosen the details?

When the vision is clear you will never let excuses, situations or policies get in the way. In fact you may even use them to fuel the mission.

I have helped many businesses figure out and write their vision statement and I have seen the power it has. This is not a nice to have, it’s the core foundation on which a strong brand is built, it’s step zero!

As Bob Proctor says, “if you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand”.

If this sounds like something you need, let me know. It’s a great process, and the focus and clarity it gives is like rocket fuel.

I have opened bookings for May, you can get more info by clicking here.

Happy Wednesday, til next week,