Full Steam Ahead! 2nd Edition
Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life
Ken Blanchard (Author) | Jesse Lyn Stoner (Author) | Jesse Stoner (Author)
Publication date: 04/04/2011
Bestseller over 280,000+ copies sold
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New edition of a book that has sold over 250,000 copies and been translated into twenty-one languages.
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Cowritten by legendary business author Ken Blanchard
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Shows how to create an enduring vision for a successful and fulfilling business and personal life
Vision is the vital extra ingredient for truly satisfying, long-term success. Without a vision, you'll end up reacting rather than acting, and sooner or later you'll get lost. But if you have a compelling vision, you'll be so clear about your purpose, so committed to it, and so sure about your ability to accomplish it that you'll be able to recognize obstacles, taken them into account, and press on.
Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner show how to create a vision for your organization, your team, and your own life that will unleash your power and potential and allow you to go full steam ahead! The lessons of this book are revealed through the inspirational story of two people who discover the three elements of a compelling vision: significant purpose, clear values, and a picture of the future. Along the way, Blanchard and Stoner offer numerous examples of effective visions and show exactly how to create an enduring vision vision that will guide you on a daily basis.
This new edition is thoroughly revised, with a new chapter on sustaining your vision, updated examples, more information on creating vision for teams, and a new section that includes a vision assessment and action resources.
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Overview
-
New edition of a book that has sold over 250,000 copies and been translated into twenty-one languages.
-
Cowritten by legendary business author Ken Blanchard
-
Shows how to create an enduring vision for a successful and fulfilling business and personal life
Vision is the vital extra ingredient for truly satisfying, long-term success. Without a vision, you'll end up reacting rather than acting, and sooner or later you'll get lost. But if you have a compelling vision, you'll be so clear about your purpose, so committed to it, and so sure about your ability to accomplish it that you'll be able to recognize obstacles, taken them into account, and press on.
Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner show how to create a vision for your organization, your team, and your own life that will unleash your power and potential and allow you to go full steam ahead! The lessons of this book are revealed through the inspirational story of two people who discover the three elements of a compelling vision: significant purpose, clear values, and a picture of the future. Along the way, Blanchard and Stoner offer numerous examples of effective visions and show exactly how to create an enduring vision vision that will guide you on a daily basis.
This new edition is thoroughly revised, with a new chapter on sustaining your vision, updated examples, more information on creating vision for teams, and a new section that includes a vision assessment and action resources.
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Table of Contents
Foreword by Patrick Lencion
Preface
A Proper Ending
A Real Beginning
What Is Vision, Anyway?
Element 1: Significant Purpose
Element 2: Picture of the Future
Element 3: Clear Values
Vision Defined
Blurry Vision
You Can't Get There Unless You're Here
20/20 Vision: Company, Team, and Personal Visions
Creative Tension
From Vision to Reality: The Three Hows
How It's Created
How It's Communicated
How It's Lived
Staying the Course
From Success to Significance
Creating Your Own Vision: Guidelines and Application
The Full Steam Ahead! Model
Test Your Team Vision
The Game Plan
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Services Available
Social Networking
Excerpt
A Proper Ending
I stood in disbelief as a cold wind lashed across my face. I can't believe he's gone, I thought. I couldn't imagine a world without Jim in it. Yet, here I stood at an open grave on this gloomy winter day. I looked around at those gathered with me. They appeared to be as shocked as I felt. Jim had meant so much to all of us.
As Jim's daughter Kristen read the eulogy, the familiar words comforted me, and I could almost sense his presence.
"Jim Carpenter was a loving teacher and example of simple truths, whose leadership helped him and others awaken to the presence of God in their lives. He was a caring child of God, a son, brother, spouse, father, grandfather, father-in-law, brother-in-law, godfather, uncle, cousin, friend, and business colleague, who strove to find a balance between success and significance. He was able to say no in a loving manner to people and projects that got him off purpose. He was a person of high energy who was able to see the positive in any event or situation. No matter what happened, he could find a 'learning' or a message in it. Jim valued integrity; his actions were consistent with his words; and he was a mean, lean, 185-pound, flexible golfing machine. He will be missed because wherever he went, he made the world a better place by his having been there.
A loving teacher and example of simple truths. I reflected how eloquently those words described the way Jim had lived his life. This was the essence of who he was. I smiled to myself as I thought about how the words even captured Jim's humor. He certainly loved golf, even though he had never become a "mean, lean golfing machine.
As we walked away from the cemetery, I caught up with Kristen.
"That was a lovely eulogy, I told her as I put my arm around her.
Kristen sighed and said, "Thanks, Ellie. But I didn't write it. I think Dad did. I was sitting at his desk in his study, trying to compose a eulogy, when I found this one lying in the top drawer. I thought it described him better than anything I could have written.
She paused a moment and continued, "But I don't know why he would have written it.
"I know why, I replied softly. "I was with him when he wrote it. He didn't write it for his funeral. It was his vision for his life. It guided him.
Continuing on my own as I headed toward my car, I reflected on Jim's vision. I considered how he had used the power of vision to transform the small insurance agency his father had started into a thriving, nationally recognized company. I chuckled to myself as I remembered how he had struggled at first, knowing he needed a vision but unsure how to create one. He wasn't one of the lucky people who woke up one morning with a clear vision. Yet by understanding the key elements of a vision and what was important about the process of creating, communicating, and living it, he'd been able to create a shared vision that unified and mobilized the people in his agency. Equally important, he had created a vision for his life. And I thought about how I had used those same lessons to create a vision for my life.
Then my thoughts raced back to the beginning of the journey—a journey that had transformed not only the agency but also both of us, so many years ago. It had been a different time, a different life, a different me—yet it felt as though it were only yesterday.
Back to Top ↑Endorsements
"The clearest, the most cogent statement I've ever read that gives new meaning and life to visions. Even Dilbert will get it!"
--Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administrative, University of Southern California, and author of Still Surprised
"A wonderful road map through the very important territory of vision that can move into action. A powerful, simple guide for a journey we all need to take"
--Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science
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