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5 Steps to Standing for Something GreaterBlogLeadership

5 Steps to Standing for Something Greater – Part I: Clean Up Your Act

by Ron Potter

People do not like to be put in boxes, and just as important, people do not like to be in the dark, outside the door where company values and vision are shaped. People are less energized and tend to drift when they are unsure of how they should be operating within an organization. People need to see their leaders’ commitment to values, and they want a part in helping to shape their organization’s core values and vision.

So how do you show this? There are five steps to helping your company and your team stand for something greater.

Clean up your act

It is difficult to convince others to stand for something greater if your own life and values are mediocre. Make no mistake: Regardless of what you hear from assorted voices, your personal moral standards are inseparably linked to long-term leadership success.

I once worked with a vice president of a large company who appeared very successful but did not adhere to high personal standards. He was very good at what he did and had a magnificent reputation. He had also successfully navigated through some tough spots for the company.

This V.P. liked to call himself “a player.” Essentially, being a player meant that he messed around outside of marriage. He did not see this as wrong (pride talking) and told us it would not affect his people or the quality of the job they were doing (pride again). In his arrogance he thought he could keep his two worlds—work and extramarital cheating—separate.

Twenty-four months later, the vice president’s inability to control his pride and lust cost him everything, including his job. His clever scheme fell apart. His self-focus swallowed him up.

It’s fun to be a leader, flattering to have influence, and invigorating to have a room full of people cheering your every word. It is a powerful boost to set a direction for the troops and then draw them out to march toward the goal. However, nothing will spoil this pretty picture more quickly than a willful, proud attitude.

Author and speaker Joyce Meyer writes,

How can you tell you have a problem with pride? Examine yourself. If you have an opinion about everything, you have a problem with pride. If you are judgmental, you have a problem with pride. If you can’t stand to be corrected, you have a problem with pride. If you rebel against authority, if you want to take all the credit and glory to yourself, if you say “I” too often, then you have a problem with pride.

Pride can cause an uncontrolled will, which is fatal in a leader’s life.

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BlogLeadership

Do Executives have Over Developed Executive Brains?

by Ron Potter

Probably yes, but that’s likely to be a problem if there isn’t balance.

Some brain scientist will speak of the five brains:

  • Reptilian – Identifying and responding to threats
  • Limbic – Emotions, relationships
  • Neocortex – Makes meaning out of experiences and memories
  • Heart – Understands how we’re reacting physically and chemically to interaction
  • Executive – Translates information into decisions and future direction

Our modern world seems to celebrate and elevate Executive brain function. Big Data and computer analysis give modern executives more instant information than any leaders in history. CEO’s are hired and fired based on their decision making and vision reputations.

But, every time I’ve been hired to help grow and develop executive teams, only a small portion of the issue is related to the executive function of the brain. Most of my work is spent with emotions, relationships, experiences (and the memory of those experiences) and interactions. Relationships. Trust!

You must be competent at your job to be trustworthy. Steven Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) talked of Trustworthiness requiring both character and competence. Competence tends to be correlated with the brains Executive function. Character and style, how you relate to people are much more complex and the results of the four other brains working well.

One of the great transitions points in career development is moving from manager to leader. Your worth and value to the company are often measured by your competence and Executive brain function right up to and through being a manager. But, when you first step into that leadership role, the style: relationship, motivation, collaboration suddenly become much more valuable.

Leaders maintain the competency. But at the leadership level, that’s simply the price of admission. If you’re not competent you’ll be exposed soon enough. But the best leaders start early at understanding and developing the first four brains so that when they have that opportunity to become leaders, they perform well. In fact, those people who are often identified as “high potential” are the ones with balanced brain functions.

Yes, executives have highly developed executive brains. But that’s only one fifth of the issue. They also have four other brains working well.

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BlogLeadership

Golf Lessons

by Ron Potter

This summer each of my grandsons wanted to spend time on the driving range with me learning the golf swing. That was great fun. Even though I’m not a professional golf coach and only an average golfer, my coaching at the range made a huge difference in their performance. Each seemed to grow from the experience.
That started me thinking about the coaching aspect of leading a team of people. Let me paint two possible scenarios:

1-on-1 Meeting after the event

I could have let each grandson hit golf balls for an hour, made notes and observations, then returned to the house for a good 1-on-1 evaluation. It might have gone something like this:
Me: I noticed right from the start that you had too many moving parts.
GS: What does that mean?
Me: Your feet were shifting. Your knees were moving too wide. Your arms were flopping all over the place.
GS: So, what should I do about it?
Me: Well, let’s start with your feet. We’ll get those stable first then work on the rest.
GS: Great, can we go back out now and test it?
Me: No, we’ll be having supper soon. Maybe we can try it again over the weekend.

Coaching During the Event

Me: (After about the third swing). Try keeping your feet still.
GS: (New swing with still feet but same result). That didn’t help!
Me: But it was a much better swing. Try it again.
GS: Wow, that helped a lot. (He hit several more balls with much better results)
Me: Now that you’ve got your feet still, try twisting your waist instead of swaying.
GS: Show me. (I demonstrated a few swings myself then had him swing a few times until he got the feel for it)
GS: (He hits a few balls that now go straighter and longer). Man, this is great!

Expected Results

Which approach worked better? It’s obvious. The second approach is much more effective than the first. And, it didn’t make any difference of the skill level between grandsons. The individual instruction may have been different but the process was the same.

Development Process

How are you developing your people? Are you saving your notes and observations for your formal 1-on-1 review time?

1-on-1 Meeting after the event

You: Back in March, you made a statement that shut down Carla. That prevented you from accomplishing your goal.
Them: What was my statement and how did you know Carla reacted?
You: Your statement was something about lack of planning and I could just tell that Carla took it personally.
Them: So, what should I do about it?
You: Well, let’s start with your ability to read reactions then we’ll move on to the next steps.
Them: Great, can we work on it now?
Me: Maybe we can try it again at our next meeting in a couple of weeks.

Coaching Immediately after the Event

You: When you made that statement about lack of planning, Carla took it personally and shut down.
Them: Wow, I didn’t notice that. What did you see?
You: First she crossed her arms. Then she pulled some papers from her briefcase and began working on them. She never re-engaged in your discussion.
Them: What should I have done differently?
You: Keep eye contact with people in the room. If you’re losing the focus of Carla or others, you’ve probably made a statement they don’t agree with. Express the fact that you may have misinterpreted some results and ask that everyone share their beliefs and assumptions about what happened.
Them: We have another meeting tomorrow. Would you help me notice if I’ve lost people so I can try this process?

Expected Results

Which approach do you think would work better?
Coaching requires immediate feedback. Don’t wait for your 1-on-1 meetings. Take the time (it takes both time and courage) to develop your people in the moment. You’ll get better results and they’ll appreciate the time and courage it took to care for them.

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BlogLeadership

Poke in the Eye with a Sharp Stick

by Ron Potter

How much does your point of view affect the conversation?

Joshua Spodek, author of Leadership Step by Step was about to interview me for a podcast episode on his website. Or so I thought.

Josh and I had spoken a few times and I had recently read his book. Josh is good at putting together his own podcast on his website and I wanted to learn. But after a few minutes into our conversation with Josh asking me what I wanted to talk about and me asking him about how he would like to conduct the interview, we both realized we had made different assumptions. Josh thought I wanted to learn by conducting an interview with him. I assumed he would conduct an interview with me and I would learn from the experience.

But, those misaligned assumptions left both of us thinking about where this thing was going and what was wrong with the other person. When we both realized what was happening we had a good laugh and even told some stories of previous experiences of misaligned assumptions. It ended well because both of us had a desire for it to work and both appreciated the value that the other person brought to the conversations. Business meetings don’t always go that well.

The assumptions we start with shape our understanding of the conversation.

What’s the point of your point of view?

  • Defend your position?
  • Win the argument?
  • Gain power over the other person (your victim)?

Or

  • Learn?
  • Listen?
  • Share your assumptions so that we can build a new outlook together?

When you finally realize that your assumptions are just that, assumptions, you then have a fighting chance for something good to emerge.

Each person is so unique in their background, experience, education, learning method and any number of variables, you should naturally assume each person will have a different assumption on a given topic. All of them valid.

The validity of assumptions is a complicated topic and is tied up in the complexity of assumptions. What makes an assumption valid for you?

  • Facts, logic?
  • A good feel for correctness?
  • Conceptually valid?
  • Promotes good will?
  • Maintains relationships?

All these reasons are valid. But only one may be valid for you. That’s OK unless you begin to assume that your judgment of validity is the only valid approach. Then you’re dead wrong. All assumptions are valid for the person who holds them. Our job as leaders and team members is to listen to and understand the diversity of assumptions and then build a team view that will create team commitment.

If the point of your assumptions isn’t to build toward a joint, collaborative team assumption and commitment, then you’re just poking people in the eye with a sharp stick.

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BlogLeadership

3 Ways to Develop Dynamic Change in Others

by Ron Potter

Is there a surefire, can’t-fail approach to mentoring effectively in an organizational setting? Probably not. But that should not come as a surprise because, after all, we are talking about relationships between people. However, here are some ideas, principles, and goals that will help illumine your path to a satisfying and successful mentoring experience.

1.Be an encourager

Encouragement is one of the mentor’s most powerful tools for leading another person to higher levels of personal growth. The Greek word for encouragement means “coming alongside.” This means helping another person by being right there, offering whatever assistance is required.

All of us need encouragement—a word from somebody who believes in us, stands by us, and reassures us. Encouragement renews our courage, refreshes our spirits, and rekindles our hope. Encouragement goes beyond appreciation to affirmation; we appreciate what a person does, but we affirm who a person is. Affirmation does not insist on a particular level of performance, and it is not earned.

Based on our observation, we do offer one caution related to the issue of encouragement: Many leaders themselves appear to have a low need for personal affirmation and approval and therefore have difficulty understanding the need to encourage and affirm others. If this describes you, you will need to train yourself to give what may feel like over-encouragement to others.

2.Be patient

Mentoring requires a good amount of patience from both parties. The endurance factor is quite important when the person with whom a mentor is working reacts with what might be considered a silly response (in words or actions). It takes patience to watch someone grow and develop into a better person. It takes patience to see missteps and not immediately go in and either change the behavior or solve the problem.

3. Be trustworthy

As a mentor you must exhibit integrity. The person you are mentoring will be open and vulnerable only after watching you live a consistently ethical life. Trustworthiness means being reliable, faithful, and unfailing. Trustworthy leaders are honest and transparent, committed, dedicated, and keep promises and confidences. They also have the moral courage to do the right thing and to stand up for what they believe even when it is difficult to do so.

The opportunity to mentor exists in every setting where people need to draw on one another’s talents to accomplish a goal.

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BlogLeadership

Worn Out Leaders

by Ron Potter

This was a high-powered team successfully leading a highly valued company. But you’d never know it by their faces. I could see the rings around the blood-shot eyes, hair turning prematurely gray, gray ashen color in their faces. Yet here I was, a smile on my face, full of energy, ready to help them become better leaders. When I looked at those faces I knew this day wasn’t going to turn out well but I didn’t know what else to do. So off I went, talking about leadership models.

Even though they were game to learn, it didn’t take long before one of them said, “Ron, we can’t focus on your leadership model until you can save our lives. We’re spending so many hours working we’re ruining our lives, our families, and our health. Help!

All those wonderful PowerPoint slides I had prepared for this retreat now looked useless and meaningless. This team needed help far beyond what I had prepared for. We needed to talk.

The projector was turned off, the laptop was closed, the phones shut down. What was going on? One person began to talk. He spoke of the excitement, motivation, and dedication he had for the company and its purpose. Others nodded in agreement. But…. he had missed several of his children’s events, hadn’t had an evening meal at home with his family in weeks, didn’t remember the last Saturday he took off or when he had taken his last vacation. He was dying.

I listened to several other stories that were each different but were all the same. They had to get off this treadmill. They were destroying the lives their work and accomplishments were meant to enhance. What could we do?

I remembered Steven Covey’s book Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. Habit three was “Put first things first.” Figure out where your time is going and plot it on the 2X2 grid of Urgent and Important. The four quadrants then become:

  1. Important and Urgent
  2. Important and not-Urgent
  3. Not Important but Urgent
  4. Not Important and Not Urgent

His observation was that all successful people did indeed work on Quadrant 1, Important and Urgent, but the highly successful people then worked on Quadrant 2 rather than being lured into Quadrant 3, Not Important but Urgent.

Over the next few weeks I had this team record where all their time was being spent (they were averaging over 70 hours per week). After helping each other identify which Quadrant their time had fallen into, the horrible truth was that only about 20% fell into Quadrant 1 and about 80% fell into Quadrant 3. One leader, nearly in tears, said: “Did I spend nearly 60 hours last week working on unimportant items?” Yes.

How do good people fall into this trap?

I recently saw the Covey Time Management Quadrants identified as the Eisenhower Box. Covey may have also credited Eisenhower but the Eisenhower Box added an important element. What should be done with each Quadrant?

  1. Important and Urgent – DO, Do it Now
  2. Important and not-Urgent – DECIDE, Schedule it
  3. Not Important but Urgent – DELEGATE, Pass it on
  4. Not Important and Not Urgent – DELETE, Eliminate it

I think the reason most people get into this overworked state is they treat Quadrant 3 (Delegate) like it’s Quadrant 1 (Do it). Instead of delegating it, their ego gets in the way. It’s faster to do it themselves than teach someone else to do it (or some similar excuse). They don’t trust others to do it as well (usually called perfectionism). And the excuses go on and on.

Get out of Quadrant 3 (Urgent but Not Important). It’s killing you. It’s killing your family. It’s killing your relationships. It’s killing your company.

 

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BlogLeadership

The Sweet Rewards of Humility

by Ron Potter

Humility is costly, but there are incredible and often surprising rewards for leaders who recognize their own personal strengths and limitations while seeing and encouraging the greatness in others. Sometimes the ramifications of this timeless insight bring a smile.

Imagine a traditional, buttoned-down, classy department store with the expected crew of nicely dressed, decorous department managers and floor workers. In the midst of this stable setting appears a freewheeling bohemian hippie throwback with an attitude!

While consulting with a large department store chain, we encountered such a situation with a particular store employee. The management team just did not respect this guy because he did not fit the mold of the “perfect” floor salesperson. He dressed way too casually (did he even own a tie?). He wore his hair very long. His humor was caustic. He talked too loudly and joked too much. The only thing standing between him and a pink slip was the small matter of performance. He was positively brilliant at what he did!

His specialty was the children’s clothing department where the kids (and moms) loved him. To them, he was a funny, warm, and highly entertaining friend, a trusted advisor in selecting the best things to wear. Because the customers understood this man’s intentions—he loved meeting kids on their level and serving them—his countercultural appearance and behavior didn’t matter much. As long as his creative approach and personality accomplished the mission, he deserved to be a hero of management, not a personnel headache.

This man definitely was a diamond in the rough.

Sure, this example may be a bit extreme, but it illustrates the principle beautifully: A humble leader, who is not too full of self, has the capacity and good sense to allow others to sparkle and make a difference.

Many times a humble leader discovers strengths in his or her coworkers that even they have failed to detect.They relish the idea of helping people find their unique niche. They enjoy moving people along to bigger and better things. They celebrate the victories and provide encouragement when their people are discouraged or fearful of moving ahead.

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BlogLeadership

“Free-will” Doesn’t Exist

by Ron Potter

This was a statement recently posted by Benjamin Hardy.

I didn’t agree. I believe in free-will, not predestination. People who take a very dependent approach to life don’t believe in free-will. They don’t believe their efforts can make a difference. They feel helpless because others will overrule them. They live a very sad life. Exercise your free-will. You’ll be happier!

But, as I read further I began to see what he was saying.   There is a price to pay for the choices you make. That I agree with. There is always a price to pay. Even when you choose not to choose, there is a price to pay.

Time to Pay the Piper

Often the price to pay is some pain and suffering. If you’ve read many of my posts you’ve noticed my reference to Dr. Scott Peck’s book The Road Less Traveled. He explains that the root of mental illness is the avoidance of pain and suffering. Choosing not to pay the price at the moment (pain and suffering) will lead to some form of mental illness. The word that comes to mind most often is dysfunctional. We have a very dysfunctional team, company, environment… fill in the blank.

Dysfunction Junction

Why is it dysfunctional? Did someone decide there should be a dysfunctional team? Was that the desire, to work in a dysfunctional environment? Not consciously, but somewhere, the decision was made not to deal with a difficult issue. Therefore, with the decision made to avoid the pain and suffering in the moment, the consequence is a dysfunctional environment.

Time is a big cost issue when it comes to decisions.

Do I decide to help my employee learn a new process or take less time and do it myself?
Consequence: You will always need to do it yourself.

Do I decide to get the team on board before moving ahead or let them know the direction we will take?
Consequence: No buy-in. No engagement. Failed decision.

Do I decide to take the time for good deliberation or make a quick decision?
Consequence: People don’t believe in the decision and will continuing to support other directions.

Developing employees, getting buy-in, facing the dilemma of decisions all take time. Not paying the cost of time in the moment causes negative results. But those negative results may not become evident immediately. Later there is no visible cause and effect. People will say “It’s just dysfunctional.” No, that was the consequence of a decision you made.

There is no free-will. Every choice has a cost. And a consequence.

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BlogLeadership

Would a good Spy make a good Leader?

by Ron Potter

Yes, this sounds like another post I wrote recently but with a twist. Read on.

I love spy novels! One of the abilities that the good spy’s (at least the ones in novels) have is the ability to read micro expressions. Is the other person telling the truth or not?

This is not a novelist fantasy. There seems to be an actual science behind the idea of micro expressions. Following is the official definition:

Micro expressions are the rapid movements of facial muscles which show underlying emotions.

There are seven universal micro expressions:

  • Disgust
  • Anger
  • Fear
  • Sadness
  • Happiness
  • Surprise, and
  • Contempt

In my last Monday post, Dr. Hank Weisinger talks about using your own micro expressions to make a better decision. Can you also use them to become a better leader?

There is a great difference between managing and leading. Managing, at its best is:

  • guiding,
  • teaching,
  • instructing

Its purpose is to get things done in the most efficient way possible. Our corporations couldn’t survive without good management.

Leading is different. Leading is aligning peoples’ passions and personal growth ambitions with the company goals. If you’re good at seeing micro expressions, you can become a better leader.

One of my more painful moments in my work is watching good managers try to lead by managing more. The leader/manager ignores the expression of contempt that crosses the others face. Sometimes they seem to be unaware. Most of the time they’re taught or encouraged by their manager/leader to ignore it and keep managing. They believe that good leadership is driving people to work harder.

Good leaders help people tap into their own passion to achieve alignment with team goals. Good leaders pick up on the fear, sadness or happiness that crosses the person’s face. If they’re seeing anything but happiness, they’re asking questions and listening. When goals align with passions, happiness is obvious.

Good spy’s notice things that others miss. Good leaders see things that managers don’t. Moving beyond a good manager to a good leader is difficult. Micro expressions may help.

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BlogLeadership

You’re About to Get Fired

by Ron Potter

Clients have asked me to deliver that message. I’m often seen as the last chance to correct a leadership issue that has derailed a leader. On one hand, they see me as an investment in trying to save the leader. On the other hand, they’re hiring me to deliver the message that wasn’t heard: “Either change or lose your job.”

A few times I’ve had the opportunity to look back over several performance reviews. I’ve found it fascinating that the issue is always there, in writing, in past reviews. Why wasn’t the message heard?

“Why hasn’t anyone told me this before?” This is the response that I always hear. They just heard from me that they may lose their job and they’re shocked. “Nobody ever told them before!” When I point out that I see the issue in their performance reviews they still seemed shocked. “Yes, it’s there, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Bill Benjamin with IHHP speaks to this issue in a course called “Difficult Conversations” as part of “the Performing Under Pressure series”.

Here is a distinct pattern we see over and over again in the leadership development training programs we run: when leaders face a difficult conversation, a feedback conversation or a performance review, most cover 85, 90 or 92% of the content of what they want to say in the conversation, but a funny thing happens when they get to the more difficult part of the conversation, what we call the Last 8%. When they hit this part of the conversation—where there are consequences to what they are saying—they start to notice that the other person is becoming more anxious and (because emotions are infectious) they themselves become more anxious.

It is at this stage when many, out of anxiety, avoid the last 8% of the conversation and never tell the other person the entire feedback they have for them. The conversation ends and both individuals leave thinking they had the full conversation. Of course, they never did.

Yet neither fully comprehends it. First, the person on the receiving end can’t read the leaders mind and so walks away thinking they had the full conversation. The leader thinks they talked about most of what they wanted to talk about and deludes themselves into thinking they had the full conversation.

That description of the missing 8% explained a lot. The leader would always say to me, “Of course I talked to them about the issue. I made it very clear they needed to correct this.” The receiver would always say to me, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before? Why didn’t they make it clear to me?”

The last 8%. Are you finishing your conversations? Are you pushing through to the end? Does the other person understand? Just because you said it doesn’t mean you communicated it. Did the other person hear you? Do they understand the gravity of the situation?

By not finishing the feedback you may be avoiding pain and suffering at the moment. But the future pain and suffering far outweigh avoidance. Avoidance of pain and suffering leads to mental illness. That’s what Dr. Scott Peck taught us in his book The Road Less Traveled.

Don’t avoid. Persevere.

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BlogLeadership

Anyway Build

by Ron Potter

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

Including your reputation. I was once fired by a client because he believed I was dishonest and had lied. I was devastated. I spent several weeks wondering if I had been a fraud. Had all the building of a consulting business and reputation been a fraud? The title of the book I had written was Trust Me. Had I been fooling myself along with others?

After several weeks of soul searching my actions and memory, I just couldn’t come up with anything I had done to deserve the label so I decided to keep moving toward the future but I knew I was doing so feeling much more vulnerable that I had in the past. It took a while but I began to get my footing back and I continued to move forward. However, this client was a member of a very large global company and my reputation had certainly been dented.

A few years later, this client reached out to me and let me know that he had been misinformed and even deceived in believing that I had done something dishonorable. He has continued to hire me as a trusted consultant for many years since. I feel very fortunate for how this story turned out in my life but it could have easily been left unresolved and unfortunately, there are often lasting consequences.

It’s critically important that we are self-aware and self-reflective, constantly judging our actions. But sometimes our reputations and future are damaged through unrelated or untrue events. Don’t stop building. When you stop growing you wither very rapidly. Grow. Build. It gives us life.

Headline from a wonderful little book titled Anyway by Kent Keith

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BlogLeadership

How to put your audience asleep in one easy step

by Ron Potter

Over the last few weeks with different clients from different industries I’ve suffered through similar and equally bad presentations. The presenters themselves were not bad or boring. Quite the contrary, they were highly competent and enthusiastic about their topic. But they all made one fatal flaw. They used Docuslides instead of presentation slides.

Docuslides are documents but they’re thrown up on the screen for a presentation. You’ve all seen them. They usually include some form of the following:

  • Title
  • Sub-Title
  • Four to six boxes with headings and either four bullet items each or a full paragraph of information.
  • Or worse, the four to six boxes are down the left side of the slide with a chart on the right side with all the same words arranged into some sort of graph or icon.
  • Plus, all of the bullet items or paragraphs are down to 12 point font or less to fit everything in.

Document! Handout. Pamphlets. Anything but slides.

I’m not the best presenter in the world, Steve Jobs may hold that title. But I do spend my days attempting to get concepts and ideas across to my audience of corporate leaders in a way that is remembered after they walk out of our session. When I’m at my best I follow three simple steps for slide preparation.

Step One

Capture all of my thoughts and ideas onto as many slides as it takes. Put some organization to the slides as I create them but the main point is to capture all of my thoughts in as many words at it takes. These slides are a little rougher in format but they look similar to the docuslides that I often see.

Step Two

Eliminate 90% of the words. Boil down what I’m trying to say to a few, very clear descriptive words. I should be able to put these in a fairly large font (24 point) and it shouldn’t clutter the slide.

Step Three

Move the words currently on the page to the note section of the slide (which the viewer never sees) and replace the few words with a single word, icon, image or short video. Something that makes a clear visual image of your main point. Large font, easy to see from the back of the room. No doubt about what the word or image is. When half the audience has gotten out of their seats and are standing along the side of the conference room so they can get close enough to the screen to read the words, you know you’ve completely failed as a world class presenter.

I remember reading a quote from a Silicon Valley investor that went something like this: If you cannot describe what you do in ten words or less, I’m not investing, I’m not interested, I’m not buying. When you’re in front of an audience with a slide presentation, you’re selling. It may be an idea or presenting your case for a decision but you’re selling and you need your audience to buy. If you can’t do it in ten words or less, they’re not going to buy.

Get rid of the docuslides. Get better at presenting. Leadership is selling; ideas, beliefs, visions, directions. Work at presenting with as few words as possible.

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