the Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly

Dreaming of flipping burgers? Maybe you dream of hanging off the back of a garbage truck the rest of your life. No matter where you end up after high school or a lay-off or a bankrupt business-- flipping burgers, picking up garbage, waiting tables, delivering pizzas-- for those of you not in your dream job these are just stops on the way to acheiving your dreams.

The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly is a 2007 parable about a janitorial company that wanted to help their employees gain a sense of value about themselves while cleaning toilets. They achieved this by realizing that most of their employees weren't planning to clean toilets the rest of their lives and so they became interested in what it was their employees were dreaming about. In the parable, the janitorial company hired a dream manager to help employees articulate their dreams and develop plans to help them acheive them. Some of those dreams were accomplished while they worked at the company and some of them meant overtime preparing their employees for employment somewhere else.

Have you ever worked for a company that had your real dreams at heart? Or was the Dream Manager Program destined to fall by the wayside of every other management program to accomplish a company's bottom line. Kelly's story reminded me of my employer's IDP program, the Individual Development Plan. We were to write down our one year, 3-5 year, and 10 year goals and the tasks we needed to start doing to accomplish them. Our manager's would agree to help us anyway they could. Whether it meant time off, company resources, or other programs they could reasonably provide it was included when they signed off on our plan. But the program like most management programs came and went. Some individuals' goals were acheived, mostly by promotions they dreamed of, and these were spotlighted to justify the success of the program. However, the bottom line is that from the company's perspective the IDP only worked if it was career development within the employer's realm.

In the Dream Manager's Initiative, at Kelly's "dream company," employees' dreams were not limited in scope to that which they could acheive within the company. Resources were not limited by what the company or the employee could come up with. Everyone became aware of the dreams of co-workers and pooled their resources and seemingly impossible dreams were acheived.

The Dream Manager is an excellent read to inspire you to see what might happen if dreams are uncovered in the people around you: your co-workers, your employees, your spouses, your children, your neighbors, and your friends. At the back of the book, Kelly lays out a plan to start you dreaming and to reach out and begin dreaming with others. He shows how the Dream Initiative could be used in fast food, in schools, and in families.

Top Six Dreamer's To Do List

1. Write down 100 dreams you have or have had.
2. Identify a timeframe for each dream of less than a year, one to five years, or greater than 5 years.
3. Write down what you can do over the next 3 to 6 months to accomplish each dream in the allotted timeframe.
4. Start a Dream Team by inviting 8 people (your children, co-workers, spouses, friends, familiy, neighbors) to write down their 100 dreams.
5. Meet with your Dream Team to talk about dreams. Allow enough time to share each dream of each member, identify their timeframes, and decide the 3-6 month tasks.
6. Brainstorm the resources in your group or that your group knows that would help each member acheive their 3-6 month tasks.

Kelly's book the Dream Manager will inspire you to see what can happen when we unleash our dreams. A dream affects everyone around us and every aspect of our lives. When you are pursuing a dream, your passion is evident to those you encounter. When you encourage others to pursue a dream, you energize their hopes and their passion for living. Small dreams are bridges to big dreams that lead us onward to the endless possibilities and opportunities to share our God-given unique talents and gifts with each other.

Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen Love is Letting Go of Fear by Gerald Jampolsky

Patty said...
Kim,
I haven't read "Take a Peak at the E-Myth Revisited", but you asked me to review YOUR BEST LIFE NOW by Joel Osteen. I think it is an awesome book of encouragement and positivity. He makes you believe that your dreams can come true and helps you think the best of yourself. "As a man thinketh, so he is". I forget from where that quote comes, but I do believe in the power of our thoughts and our words. Joel has a portion about that. I think if we are feeling bad about ourselves or something, we need to lift ourselves out of that feeling into a positive one.



Another book LOVE IS LETTING GO OF FEAR by Jerry Jampolsky says that we have a choice about our feelings. My favorite way for lifting myself up is counting my blessings, which Joel addresses in Chapter Two of YBLN. He also says we must let go of the past and live in the present moment. In another part, he mentions gaining strength through adversity. Our greatest learning comes from our mistakes and disappointments. I also like the chapter on giving. Jampolsky, whom I mentioned earlier, says that to give and to receive is the same thing. With that perspective, it is much easier for me to give.

November 6, 2007 8:08 AM

The E-Myth Revisted by Michael E. Gerber

When your inner entrepreneur, manager, and technician duke it out—who usually wins? According to Michael Gerber, the problem with most start up businesses is that usually the same inner personality wins out to the detriment of the others. All three traits are necessary to build a business and I would propose all three are necessary to build any dream as well. The entrepreneur is the visionary—the dreamer. The manager is the strategic planner-- the organizer. The technician is the implementer --- the doer.

Michael Gerber’s, 1995 book, The E-Myth Revisited, exposes the myth that our entrepreneur personalities are the part of us that strikes out on the adventure of owning our own business. Gerber claims it’s usually a competent technician who figures if he can do it for this guy why not do it for him self. Chapter by chapter unveiling the e-myth the imbalance is exposed, the technican can't do by himself afterall-— it takes all three inner personalities to work together to develop a new business.

Step by step Gerber takes us through a developmental process that far surpasses all the business planning material you have ever reviewed. The difference--- this business plan has a chance of actually working, turning your business or your idea for a business into a money-making machine. But the good news is—it's not about the money—it is about the dream. Seeing your dream come true while building a business that people will love to be a part of—your customers will love it, your employees will love it, and you will love it too!

I am extremely excited by the business strategy that we have developed at R4C Ranch from the steps explained in The E-Myth Revisted. I have had my dream in my head for many years and couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get anyone as excited about it as me. Frustrated by my inability to communicate my ideas I was often discouraged by what felt like a “pipe dream” slipping farther from reach. After creating my Organizational Strategy I finally had a tangible replica on paper of the enterprise previously trapped in my head. "I get it, Michael, and finally so do everyone I show my Organizational Strategy to."

TOP SIX “Dreamer’s” TO DO LIST
1. Determine who is your inner boss—your entrepreneur, your manager, or your technician.
2. Develop your less dominate inner personalities by stepping out of your comfort zone.
3. Read The E-Myth Revisited and change your view of your business or job and the way you see your dream.
4. Take some time to contemplate and write out your primary aim--- your life’s story.
5. Share your primary aim with your Dream Team and plan to close the gap a little every day.
6. Begin your business/dream development program by designing your strategic objective and begin designing your strategic plan.

Dreamers--- I highly recommend putting The E-Myth Revisited on your reading list -- for the small business owner it’s a must-read NOW. It will change the way you manage whatever you have to manage—your job, your home, your dream. The systems you’ll develop are applicable to any life management you do and we all must do it. I used to think routine meant the end to my spontaneous nature—what fun is that? But systems management plans are fruit growing routines that free up time for guilt-free, stress-free spontaneous time to live our dreams.

never eat alone by Keith Ferrazzi

Mid-way into the last half of this building-powerful-networks training, I discovered Keith Ferrazzi was not a democrat afterall. Possibly the many references to the Clintons threw me off. I may have to go back and read the first half of his book over again for a new perspective. Keith Ferrazzi, a name I'd love to hear pronounced, leads us in practical instruction about "building a lifelong community of colleagues, contacts, friends, and mentors" in his 2005 book, never eat alone. Claiming that all power is derived from relationships, Ferrazzi's instructions are clear: be purposeful about who you want to meet, strategize the relationships you'll need to meet them, and know what you can offer them when you do. What they can offer you isn't the point . . . yet.

As I read the book I waivered between knowing Ferrazzi was only telling blantant truth and the whole scheme seeming a little devious. The plans he gave for pursuing and rubbing shoulders with powerful people felt somewhat shrewd. However, I was delighted by the motivation I found to reach out of my little cubicle and interact with people. The entire time I was reading Ferrazzi's book I found myself calling--instead of emailing, inviting-- instead of eating alone, offering to help-- instead of finding excuses, and considering the needs of others before my own. In every conversation, I have been asking myself, how can I help this person say what they need to say or share what's in their heart? How can I listen more? I have since been more tuned in to hearing the other person's dream in their words and allowing it to come out in what they share. I started concentrating on what I could offer as a resource, a connection, or my time to help them take one step toward that dream. In return, I have been blessed by the joy that being part of their dreams has brought me.

TOP SIX Dreamer's To Do List:

1. Don't do it alone-- see if someone wants to join you. "Invite"
2. Introduce yourself to strangers-- and learn one thing about them (in addition to their name).
3. Keep track of the people you meet in a journal. (Where you met them, what you learned about them, how to contact them).
4. Know your mission (know what you want people to remember you for and share your passions)
5. Reconnect periodically with your people list (see #3) by email or a phone call or by invitation to something that might interest them.
6. Be Interesting by sharing well thought out content, "your content," and not keeping your passions and big ideas to yourself.

Although the cover of never eat alone states, "one relationship at a time," I didn't really catch that as key in the book. Counting friends on one hand, the idea of networking can be overwhelming. Being somewhat of a recluse, I felt bombarded by the relationship advice. Ferrazzi had me not only inviting someone to eat the meal with me but starting up conversations with powerful people at conferences that I would normally try to sneak in without being noticed and hide in my hotel room after the key speakers were done talking. I loved the challenge of getting out and interacting with people whether I knew them or not. Which by the way, reaching out made me realize I had many more friends than I could count on two hands!

For any of you "do it yourselfers" this is a great read to help you connect the missing links in your Dream Ranch Journey-- relationships. You absolutely can't do it alone and Ferrazzi is correct it takes connections to really make powerful things happen. You won't be afraid to dream the big dreams when you develop a supportive network of powerful people, who come to find out-- didn't get there alone either.

Take a Peak at The E-Myth Revisited

I know I promised a review of the current read but I got a little sidetracked after my book order from Amazon arrived yesterday and I had to take a peak. I wanted to share with you what I found.

I found myself on page 24 of Michael Gerber's, The E-Myth Revisited--

"Every strong entrepreneurial personality has an extraordinary need for control. Living as he does in the visionary world of the future, he needs control of people and events in the present so that he can concentrate on his dreams."

So that explains it-- explains my control freak tendencies-- and finally an explanation for my daily frustrations with people (whom I dearly love) that makes sense!! Yippee! ..."As a result [the entrepreneurial personality] often finds himself rapidly outdistancing others. The farther ahead he is, the greater [his] efforts required to pull his cohorts along."

Have you ever been told to --slow down-- you're thinking too fast? As Gerber puts it, "This then becomes the entrepreneurial worldview: a world made up of both an overabundance of opportunities and dragging feet." Exactly why I have such a hard time delegating, I just don't want to wait because I know the next great idea will come along and capture my attention and I might miss the opportunity to pursue it waiting on the input from others on the last great idea.

If you're not an Entrepreneur Personality and you are saying to yourself--"Well that explains that crazy sister of mine but I'm not like that," Gerber also discusses the Managerial Personality and the Technician (the doer) -- maybe one of those descriptions will dominate your worldview. This is definitely going to be a great read. Have you read it yet? What did you think? Is it a Dream Ranch Journey keeper?