The science and psychology behind dreams are complex, certainly a bit beyond my areas of expertise. But that’s okay. I like to think that we all enjoy the mystery and the majesty of a good dream. Just as we hate the anxiety and fear of a nightmare.
I bring up dreams for a reason. For the first time in my life, I’m working for a company that has a dream.
A company with a dream
Siegfried is an entrepreneurial company, rich with ideas and thoughts, goals and objectives, and committed to our higher purpose of helping people transform themselves into better leaders to exponentially improve their lives. The company has all of these things, but for a long time, we didn’t have a dream.
Our CEO, Rob Siegfried, felt strongly that our Firm would benefit from having a dream. It would ground us in an idea that was bigger than us. Developing a dream is a strategic decision, but there is absolutely emotion behind it.
There’s power in emotion
And being emotional takes a certain degree of courage. To put yourself out there, to open yourself to the opinions of others — that can be tough. Dreamers are sometimes teased or overlooked when they should instead be celebrated and encouraged.
Eleanor Roosevelt, who served as First Lady during WWII, championed dreamers and worked tirelessly in an effort to inspire hopefulness and confidence among a dispirited American population. She said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
That’s powerful.
Siegfried’s dream is to enable people to become more irresistibly compelling and seriously relevant, one relationship at a time.
Greg Reid, the author of Footsteps of the Fearless, writes “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” So, although we’ve modified our dream and it may still change in the future, one of the most important things is that Rob had the courage to have the discussion, put pen to paper, and write it down.
Why do you need a dream?
For our Firm, having a dream sets us apart in the industry. A dream helps spell out the purpose and meaning of a company, according to entrepreneurial business thought leader Michael E. Gerber. And because we have a clear purpose and meaning, Siegfried’s employees will feel they have a clear path forward to help the company achieve its dream, but more importantly, to go after their own.
For the people I work with, Rob’s hope is that when we see the Firm putting value on having dreams and focusing energy on achieving them, we’ll feel empowered and ready to uncover our dreams and create our bigger future. Our passion for dreaming is part of our potential, and as a result, part of Siegfried’s potential. In his book The Dream Manager, Matthew Kelly writes “The future of your organization and the potential of your employees are intertwined — their destinies are linked.”
Siegfried wants to actively engage its employees and increase their potential. One of the ways they do this is by asking us to dream and then giving us the resources to develop a plan to achieve the things we want.
I encourage you all to find the courage you need to dream bigger and brighter. To find ways to make the impossible possible. To lean on the people in your life for support. To find inner strength. And most importantly, to just dream. It’s the first step to making your dreams come true, after all.
