By Bob Meyer

The following message comes from a world-renowned performer, and I believe his words apply to the barter industry as well as the business world. In short where is our vision?

Who am I referring to here? It’s Benjamin Zander, the world-renowned conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

Zander also has an extensive speaking career lecturing to companies and various organizations on leadership. He has appeared four times as a keynote speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

His book, The Art of Possibility, co-authored with his partner, psychotherapist Rosamund Zander, has been translated into 15 languages. Here are the thoughts I’d like to share with you of Mr. Zander.

“Too much of the business world uses a narrow definition of success. I used it myself for a long time. I could not focus on what I had in front of me. I could think only about what else I ought to be doing, and whether that was enough.

“Then, one day, I had an epiphany. I realized that this is all a game we’re playing. It’s called ‘the Success Game’—or, I suppose, ‘the Success-Failure Game,’ because failure follows success everywhere.

“The Success Game runs in an endless win/lose cycle—which means that the people in it live with a sense of anxiety and fear.

“So I invented a new game, called ‘I Am A Contribution,’ or ‘the Contribution Game.’ It’s easy: You wake up in the morning, convince yourself for a few minutes that you are a contribution, and you go out and contribute.

“Then you go to bed and do it again the next day. What I’ve discovered since I started the Contribution Game is that people have an endless amount of energy for it.

“Sure, goals can be energizing—when you win. But a vision is more powerful than a goal. A vision is enlivening, it’s spirit-giving, it’s the guiding force behind all great human endeavors.

“Vision is about shared energy, a sense of awe, a sense of possibility. That’s what fuels the Contribution Game—and that’s what’s behind all great performances.”

What do you think?

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Entrepreneurs & Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.