On Monday a coworker sent the following quote to me:
Vision without action is a daydream, Action without vision is a nightmare
I’m not sure who said it or where it came from, but its certainly great advice. How many colleagues, friends, companies, leaders do we all know that either fail to act or act but fail to plan and prepare first?
I’ll admit. I’m a planner. In my personal life I love to make lists, get organized, schedule away every minute of my day…but rarely do I follow the plans I make. My problem is with sticking to the plan (the dream) and acting on it. Fortunately, when it comes to my professional life, I am dedicated and disciplined enough to follow my plans and see things through.
The real question is, can any one person/company/organization survive, thrive, and become successful without the ability to dream and act? Can an organization do it if the dreamers are at the bottom and the actors at the top?
To be successful, an organization demands strong leadership. People who dream big and have the ability to break the dream down into small attainable goals. Then those people have to be willing to get their hands dirty and help do the work it takes to meet those goals.
The hard truth is no matter how dedicated, hard working, smart, and visionary the people at the bottom are, unless they can get the “powers that be” in their organization on board, the organization has very little chance at success.
