Conceive

In order to lead you need to have a goal. A goal is a developed idea.  That idea has to come from somewhere. It needs to be Conceived.

This is the first step in every activity in leadership: an idea becomes a goal; which leads to a plan; that requires metrics to ensure the plan is progressing; and of course how you will celebrate when the plan is complete. Each of these starts with Conceiving it.

One of the most common forms of a developed idea is the Mission Statement. I am hoping that this will be a future topic in this blog, but I wanted to share a famous one with you today:

I shall not fear anyone on earth.
I shall fear only God.
I shall not bear ill toward anyone.
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
I shall conquer untruth by truth.
And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.
-Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Ghandhi said this everyday, setting himself up for what actions he would take. It guided him and provided clarity in what he was trying to accomplish. He practiced it everyday. But before it can be practiced, it needs to be developed. Before it is developed, it needs to be conceived.

Now, once an idea is conceived it isn’t over. Unfortunately ideas need to be flushed out, communicated, executed and finished. In fact Jack Welch from GE said:

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion”

The first step in creating a vision is conceiving it. In the following weeks, we will talk about communicating it, commanding it, and completing it.