Search Results for: vision

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Chaos or Vision: YOU Choose!

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As expats we live in a secure compound with high walls, inside those walls we have grass, trees, flowers, beauty and order.

Many local families live in their own high walled “compounds” with their extended families.  And although I have never been behind those walls I have heard of their gardens.

Outside of all of our walls is the city we all share.  Most of the city is full of trash, partially developed buildings, blowing sand, broken sidewalks – if there are sidewalks at all; narrow streets and tiny parking lots that don’t accommodate all of the cars, and random unmatched street lights that don’t begin to illuminate the dark.

A few weeks ago I met with some local women and they encouraged me to check out a city that is 101 kilometers (62.75 miles) away.

This past weekend, my husband and I rode there on our Harley with several other couples.

Before we left one of the women commented about how much she likes the city we were driving to.  When I asked why she said, “it is just like the movies at night, it is all lit up…”

So as we drove into this neighboring city my eyes were wide open…

As I looked specifically for light sources I noticed several things:

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Have You Shared Your Vision With Your Team?

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I was a new middle manager on my first trip across the country to the Corporate Office and was seated in the Executive Boardroom for a meeting.  As we were preparing to take a short break, the CEO leaned across the table and asked me, 

“Chery, have you shared your vision with your team?”

I gulped and my mind raced…  Oh no!  I’m supposed to have one of those?  (My mind quickly visualized the formal vision statements that are printed and hung on the wall for all to see.)  As I exited the boardroom, I wandered down the hallway wondering what a vision was and how to get one FAST!

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Outside the Comfort Zone: In Hot Pursuit of the Vision!

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Change is growth.

Change is growth.

This week I realized that it has been 8 months since we agreed to turn an unwanted opportunity into an adventure.  Today as I type this the last box has just been unpacked, the pictures are hung, and we’ve taken one quick spin around the compound on the Harley – celebrating that we are finally settled!

This weekend we shopped at one of the stores that we were in, on my first day here, causing me to reflect on that day:

  • Shortly after 3 AM the anticipated call to prayer blared from a speaker.
  • Once we were up we drove on roads that have lanes painted on them, however those lanes really don’t mean anything, as drivers simply drive wherever they want, whenever they want with no driving protocol or enforcement.  
  • As a woman – driving is not a wise option for me.  (It’s not a law, but you can get arrested if you do it!)
  • I was wearing my new black “cloak of invisibility.”  (In case you wondered, it is effective – as my husband quickly discovered how difficult it was to identify his wife when everyone is wearing a cloaking device!  Since that day we have wondered how small children learn to identify their mothers in a crowd and joked that perhaps I should add a huge Harley Davidson decal to the back of my “cloak” so he can spot me in a crowd!)
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18 Reasons to have the Challenging Conversation

And an opportunity to have one! (And enjoy it!)

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For more than a decade I’ve been thinking about challenging conversations.

  • About the people that avoid them at all costs.
  • And about the people that drive over others with their opinions while refusing to listen to another point of view.

How do you usually respond?  (I’ve done both.)

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21 Reasons that it might be time for YOU to Take Action

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Have you ever:

  • Participated in conversations about the behavior of certain titled leaders?
  • Expressed frustration at situations that seem corrupt, not in line with core values or unfair?
  • Wondered why opportunities to problem solve and improve the future were not taken?

Have you ever spoken these words, “Why doesn’t “someone” do something?”  

When the change you want to see isn’t happening “out there”…