Wednesday, October 7, 2009

How to Play The Game at the Top: The Power of Dreams

by Fenorris Pearson 

If you measure some of today’s top performers by yesterday’s gold standards, they simply wouldn’t measure up. Industry icons, business mavericks and game changers like Bill Gates, Walt Disney, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Rachel Ray and Michael Dell didn’t finish school or have a great education; and based on those two metrics alone, no one could have measured their full potential. By focusing only on such metrics, you might be missing the most valuable components of a person’s engine of success.

As a guest on Steve Harvey’s show, I was recently talking about success, potential and the wide gap between good grades and pure genius. Steve said something that I’ll never forget. When coming up “the hard way” he would interview for jobs or audition for various roles and, based on purely measurable qualifications – school records, his one-page resume, or whether he has movie star looks – he never quite measured up. “But what they couldn’t measure,” said Steve Harvey, “was how big my dream was…”

What a difference the power of dreams can make. As the star of The Steve Harvey Show, Steve won four NAACP Image Awards as “Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.” He also won an NAACP Image Award for his performance as host of the variety series It’s Showtime at The Apollo. In March 2001, Harvey received the ultimate honor: NAACP Image Award’s “Entertainer of the Year,” and now has a NY Times best-selling book on the market.

Now based in New York City at WBLS, his radio show is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks and airs in nearly 50 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Tampa, Miami, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Here are 4 things to remember when reaching for your dreams:

1) Always set goals. A life without goals is not a life worth living. Having goals gives you purpose and a passion to pursue that purpose. Find your passion and write it down on a piece of paper.

2) Always have a strategy to reach your goals. Having a goal means nothing without a day-to-day strategy to reach your objectives. Your strategy is your road map to success.

3) Be sure to evaluate whether or not you are executing the strategy. A strategy won’t get you to your goal if you don’t execute. Monitor your performance to be sure that your actions are consistent with your objectives.

4) Re-evaluate your goals, and be honest in your personal assessment. If you are not doing what it takes to reach your goals, you should either change your objectives or change your actions. One or the other has to give if you are being honest with yourself.

I have watched many a top performer scramble through the ranks based on immeasurable skills alone: guts, instinct, passion, promise, potential and the unrelenting power of dreams. Dreams aren’t enough, of course; there must be action to back up your inspiration. But beyond investing in education as a facet of your performance, don’t forget to invest in the power of your own dreams.

To read more about power of dreaming, please visit www.corporateclimb.net to purchase an advanced copy of How to Play The Game At the Top and receive free access to How to Play The Game At The Top 101 Course.

ABOUT FENORRIS PEARSON

Fenorris Pearson is the CEO of Global Consumer Innovation, INC (www.globalconsumerinnovation.com) and one of the youngest people ever to be a VP of two fortune 50 companies (Dell and Motorola), a feat he completed before turning age 40. An avid Philanthropist, Fenorris is currently serving on three boards: Alonzo Mourning Charities located in Miami, FL, Imagine Schools of Central Texas located in Austin, TX, and SIFE: Students In Free Enterprise. To find out more information visit www.corporateclimb.net or call (901) 413-0203.

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