Why do you think that leaders hide from funding their vision?
And how can those leaders lean into funding their vision?
I think the first to the first part of your question.
It's sometimes difficult to communicate that vision or why leaders sort of hide from that
is there's a chance that the vision may not become reality.
And by the very nature of it, you're casting something into the future.
And often it requires effort outside of your own to make it happen.
You usually need the help of others.
And anyone who has been successful has heard the sentiment in one form or another of
holding yourself up by your own bootstraps and making it happen.
And some people take that to heart and say, you know what, if I can't do it, then it's
not going to be able to happen.
And so they take that on as an internal sentiment and figure that life must happen
through their own sheer will and forget to ask for help.
Life is a team game, so nobody wins or loses on their own.
It's always a team effort.
So I think that's the first part of why leaders often hide is because if it doesn't come
into existence, the things that they have seen in the past, it makes them question
everything that has been done up until this point.
They were successful in one regard and then they reach a stopping point and they say,
well, maybe this can happen or maybe the things that I did in the past were.
You know, or for not potentially.
And so running across some brick wall, so to speak, makes them question.
Okay, do I, do I even communicate this?
Because it may not happen.
And if it doesn't happen, what does that mean about me?
So there's an internal struggle that thing happens sometimes, and that's what
causes the hiding of it to the second part.
Are you question?
Sorry.
That's the second part of the answer.
How do leaders lean into funding their vision?
Yeah, I think much of it is the, is the communication part of it.
It's not being afraid to ask for help, not being afraid to say, I need help,
which is often as a leader or I don't know is the other thing a leader will
often avoid saying, because as a leader, your job is to have the answers.
And it's not necessary that you have them on command.
I mean, if it's, if you do, that's great, but often it's the resource
one is to get the answer.
So it's not necessarily that you have it, but you know where to find it
and can get it back to that person.
It may not necessarily need to come from you directly, but as a leader,
you become the conduit for that.
So leaning into funding their vision, I would say is tapping
into the resourcefulness.
So if you get, if you have the knowledge of the information, fantastic.
If you don't leaning on the help of others, getting the expertise of others,
bringing folks in who can execute aspects of that vision funding or otherwise.
And really asking for that help, getting the right folks in place to help
to execute what that vision might be.
And beginning from that standpoint, because if we, we don't do that, then
we have the most precious resource that can be wasted, which is time.
And we all have a finite time on the earth.
So we might as well spend most of that time realizing whatever vision that
we do have and much of that requires that we get help from others.
You're right.
What, when you talked about the hiding part of the vision, when people are scared.
Have you ever been in places where you thought you were scared or you, you hid
from funding your vision in a way that would be learning experience for all of us?
Yeah, there was, I would say definitely early in my career, where I was
a big dream of, I mean, this was something small in terms of just
being able to travel a lot.
I didn't think it was possible because I had the constraint of, well, I
don't have enough money, I don't have enough money saved.
I can't, I can't go to a particular place.
When I was confronted with that, where I met some folks who didn't have that
constraint, they, they were like, I don't know, I don't know what I'm doing.
I don't know what I'm doing.
Folks who didn't have that constraint, they, their currency wasn't the money
in their account, the currency was the relationships that they had.
So they had friends in other places where they didn't have to spend the
money to stay at a particular place.
They may have traded some, could have been expertise or they just had a friend
that wasn't able to help them stay somewhere.
So instead of them spending, you know, $3,000 on a trip, they could spend half
of that because they now have a friendship with someone.
And so the, the thoughts that I have about, wow, if I'm going to stay halfway
across the world, I better have enough money to fund it.
Well, somebody just disproved that for me by saying, well, you could do that.
But then why not just ask someone, Hey, I'm going to this place.
Can you give me some recommendations?
And all of a sudden they say, Oh, you're going to be here.
Hey, I have a second home or you can stay on my couch or I have a spare bedroom.
And so a vision, which is on a very low level for me, I'm
on a very low level for me.
Was, which was being able to travel and see other cultures and experience
how other people live and what their day to day challenges may be like, just
to understand how similar we are in, in different regions and different parts
of the world, how there's a thread that.
That we all have, which is wanting to improve our own situations and want
a better life for ourselves and our family.
I mean, just a very short, small example for me, really open my eyes and say,
it's more than just again, to the last question, you know, instead of just
pulling my own self up by my bootstraps and getting enough money in my account
and not needing to depend on anyone.
It was a false notion.
A lot of it was instead you can trade value that you have or the value
that someone else has.
So someone may perceive something in me or in you that is super valuable
that they will say, yeah, you don't need this money to, to stay here.
I'll pay for your plane ticket.
I mean, speakers do this all the time.
They have a certain level of expertise that allows them to have people so
interested in paying for their presence and their words and their stories.
That it allows them to, to travel all across the States or in the world.
So it was more than that in that short lesson, it was more than just doing
whatever I could, it was what value does someone else have or sorry, what value
do I have to someone else that would allow the opportunities that I'm
seeking be made into reality?
Thank you for sharing that.
That goes to directly my next question for you, Michael.
What tips do you have for entrepreneurs and leaders?
One thing I would say, and this is a lesson that I, I'm reminded of all
the time, there's just a start somewhere.
The, the notion that much of us are taught in school is you must be able to prepare
and get everything exactly right in order to succeed.
I mean, that's sort of how our school system is set up.
50% is failing at school or in the entrepreneurship around 50%
can be a massive success.
And much of us get, gets stifled because we may not have all the
answers before we move forward.
And it's actually the sheer moving forward, which is the most important
part, because as a leader, you're never going to have all of the answers at once.
You may have some of them may have 50, 60, 70% of what you need.
And it's not going to be easy.
And if you let that hinder your progress, then you may not ever reach where you need
to go or someone who has 20% and says, you know, that's all I need.
And they move forward there.
They take the opportunity that was supposed to be yours.
So getting started, I would say is the first piece.
The second piece is whatever gifts or talents you may have maximize those as much as possible.
And then things that you may not be as strong at or things that you may not
be interested in, in working on, again, finding that help that can
accelerate that progress for you.
So I think those are the two big pieces.
One, just get started.
Two is getting a team around you that can, can really work quickly
and accelerate that progress.
Again, no, no one wins alone.
And the quicker we have that lesson realized, the quicker we can realize the things
that we actually want to see in the world.
What has the team done for you?
Like what has your team done for you in accelerating your growth?
Wow.
And so many different things.
It shows me perspectives that I hadn't thought of showed me, I mean,
different opportunities that may not have even been a success.
I mean, different opportunities that may not have even been thought of.
So one example, I was thinking of targeting a specific market or specific type of, of
leadership or group to speak to.
And I was thinking much with blinders on just from my own experience.
And what my team showed me was actually, if you just tweak what you say or tweak who
you're speaking to or tweak, you know, certain folks that you may want to have
conversations with, they may resonate much more with what you're saying.
And it would be potentially with less effort.
So I would say the key for me was it helped me to amplify things that I was doing for
the same or even less effort.
And it was because they had a different perspective than I had because of course,
there are different experiences and skill sets.
And that is a huge gain because again, going back to, we talked about earlier,
shortening that timeframe to what you want to realize often comes from the varying
perspectives of people who don't have that same experience you do.
Don't have the same upbringing or schooling.
And that's to me an asset rather than a liability because the world is changing so
fast, right?
In the digital age, there's so many different things that one could consider and it's,
you don't have the time to look at all of it.
So if you can bring someone in or get someone's perspective who has some of that,
that can truly accelerate progress.
What would you say to someone who was like a solo entrepreneur and want to be an
entrepreneur going that route and he wants a team or she wants a team and they can
afford a team because mind or whatever, whatever they think in their head, I don't
know. What would you say to them?
Well, there's value outside of dollars or any sort of paper currency that you
operate in.
You know, there's the partnership route where somebody has a skill set that you
can exchange or something that's valuable to them that you can exchange.
So partnerships, I would say, is a pathway to getting some of that help if you don't
have the dollars per se at the time.
I would say just be creative. Relationships go a very long way in bridging the gap
between what you have now, where you want to get when you don't have what you think
is the barrier or the blocker.
And I've been reminded that again, many times it's partnerships, your ability to
to enroll people, pitching obviously is a skill for any any leader, entrepreneur,
solopreneur or otherwise.
So being able to do that, you know, is a way to be creative.
So being able to communicate your idea and looking at ways that you can exchange
value in the form of a partnership or otherwise, that may help relieve some of
that tension or that blocker that one thinks that they may have.
And I mean, there's obviously routes that people have taken where they get virtual
assistance or part time folks.
So there's ways that you can think about it.
But being creative and thinking about exchange rather than just paying for
someone or having someone on salary, if it's not necessarily time to do that, so
be it.
But there may be other options.
And so don't be stifled by that.
Use the creativity that you have as a leader and think about ways that you can
add value to someone else that doesn't necessarily require you paying them.
And then think about what they can they can do in exchange.
So think about again, what what's happening over there, same thing they do with their
customers or their team, thinking about what's valuable for them and what you're
going to return.
But thinking of that other person first.
Thank you for sharing that.
I want to add to that a little bit.
I think too many of our entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, most of them who are not
going to last, most of them would fail, have this notion of controlling their
company.
I want to be the controlling asset, the controlling manager, and they can't let
go.
And that that that blind spots.
Does not help them.
In the future, because.
At this stage, you need the growth, you need a lot more than you need.
And if you find the right leader.
And the right people who are willing to help you when you have nothing or next to
nothing, you have nothing to offer.
Great leaders are great examples.
And I know people in leadership space myself will be like my they might take a
49 percent cut from one company or the other right now.
And it does not stop them in the future to give maybe 20 percent back or 30
percent back.
They're like, hey, I'm not doing what I thought I would be doing for the company.
Maybe my role is not as important anymore.
I think we have built what we're supposed to build.
Maybe it'll be best interest if you take this 20 percent and invest in this, this,
this, that.
I think that happens a lot more than people don't realize.
And it's very, very helpful for the entrepreneur or solo to get out of their
mentality to let go of the control of the company, which is, I think, very helpful
for them.
So thank you for sharing that, Michael.
I have maybe one thing to what you just said.
I think it's helpful that you expanding on that example is what game are you
playing?
Is it a short term game or long term game?
The goal in business is to play for as long as possible.
And so if you're thinking just in that quarter or that six months or even that
year versus what you want to see over the next 10, 20 years, that could, that
could put you in a, in a situation that you may not find as, as favorable.
And thinking about taking another example, think of folks who may be
homesteading or folks who want to have their own garden or their own animals
and, and, and create their own food.
Think about how cumbersome that is to do that all on your own, to grow
vegetables or fruits or milk cows or goats, how much work that it takes for
one person to do that versus you have, you know, all the other folks in the
community that are doing things for you.
So somebody may take care of the garden.
Some other people may take care of the animals, right.
Growing grain, et cetera.
It's much easier from a day to day standpoint to have a group around you
that is working in their brilliance versus you thinking you have to do all of that.
So control, I mean, sure as a leader, you want to have some, some influence
on the direction of where things are going.
But if you have, if you're gripping too hard on the reins, so to speak, then
that, that hinders progress more than it, it's not going to be a good thing.
Then it, it propels progress.
Yep.
You're right.
Um, thank you for sharing that.
I, if you want an entrepreneur, the goal should be essentially to stay in
business 10 years, 20 years on the road, or to be able to sell it without you.
To be able to sell with equity that you can take without, um, like someone does
not want to buy your own job per se.
So I think that's a very well set.
Michael, did you want to, as a, as a leader, you want to create assets, right?
Yep.
I mean, the real estate business has taught us that income follows
asset creation, a valuable asset.
And to your point, if you want to sell the business at some point and have more
flexibility in the time that you spend, or you just want to have an easier time
doing the work, if you continue to stay in it, it's about the creation of valuable
assets and that requires the thought process of long-term instead of just
saying, I have this process or this system or this tool, it's about what those
things can create for you that can stand on its own without you being there for
a given period of time.
Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned into vision pros live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to
move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun.
We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show and thank you for giving us
your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.