The Wrong Answers To The Question, "Whose Dream Are You Building?"

If you spend any amount of time in the world of Leadership Development or Entrepreneurship, you'll hear this question.

"Whose Dream Are You Building?"

It comes up in a few different contexts.

The most common one is in Entrepreneurship, especially with early Entrepreneurs who are considering starting their own Businesses.

The way that the question is imposed is somewhere between a Veiled Threat, a Motivational Hammer, and a Guilt Trip.

The idea being that if you work for someone else your entire life, "your" Dreams will never be within reach.

The longer you wait, the less likely your Dreams will be achieved!

That entire time you could have built "your" Dreams, and instead built someone else's Dream.

The question in this context is also attempting to force a specific answer.

"I want to Build MY Dream! Not someone else's!"

I understand this answer, and at one time would have said the same thing, but it's the wrong answer.

This isn't the only context this question is posed though.

From the Leadership perspective, I have also heard it posed.

When Team members question a Leader's decisions, I have heard third parties pose this question to the Leader, in slightly different words.

"Why should you listen to them if YOU are the one with the Vision? They can't see it like you do, so who should you listen to?"

It's another variation of the same question.

The response that is being forced here?

"I'm the Leader! It is my Vision! My Dream! I want to build my Vision as I see it!"

This is another one that I have seen very often, and again it is the wrong answer.

Very frequently you see this type of thinking as Organizations continue a spiraling downward trend.

There is still a third context though that a form of this question appears in.

That is between the Business Leader and their Customers.

It is unsurprising to find that Customers are not afraid to voice their opinions these days, and a number of outlets allow them to do so anonymously.

When Leaders hear some of that feedback, the question is posed more like this:

"They just don't get what we're trying to do! They don't see the big picture! Who should we listen to? The people that don't understand what we're doing, or ourselves?"

You likely can see where this line of questioning is leading.

"We know the Industry and Future better than these people! Who are they to question what we do? They have NO IDEA what they are talking about!"

However, this is again another wrong way to answer the question.

There have been many businesses who "knew" what the "next big thing" was going to be, only to see it crash and burn.

The way that most people answer all of these questions is short-sighted and will only cause more issues down the line.

So, as Leaders and Entrepreneurs, we need to look at this question a different way.

"Whose Dream Are You Building?"

The best answer comes from a Regenerative Legacy Design Approach.

Whose Dream Are You Building?

Everyone's who is involved.

Your Dream, yes, is absolutely important!

But so are the Dreams of other Leaders.

So are the Dreams of your Employees.

As are the Dreams of Clients and Customers.

Plus, we should include the Dreams of a Better World.

If you "only" Focus on "your" Dream, and you push everyone else's down, it will only create more problems.

If you are an Early Entrepreneur, and you take the wrong stance, you may put yourself in a ton of financial pain very quickly.

There's a reason the majority of Businesses Fail in the first 5 years.

As a Leader, if you only Focus on "your" Dreams, your Employees will likely ask this question, and see that the only way they can achieve their Dreams is to NOT be beside you.

A "Leader" without a Team becomes incapable of making it far in Business.

In many cases it actually becomes WORSE because these disillusioned Employees will stay in your Organization, becoming Actively Disengaged.

Yesterday I talked about how just ONE way people are Actively Disengaged has become a $1.5 Trillion Problem for Leaders.

Then, looking from the Customer's Perspective, a Business exists to SERVE their Customers.

Even "if" you actually have something that is Novel, Innovative, and will truly change the lives of others, if you treat others like their understanding is "less than" yours, they will only learn to resent you.

You can't create a truly Thriving business when customers Hate you, even if you are "Right".

If we also zoom out to the World perspective, there is more and more of a demand for Leaders to make an actual difference in the world.

People are watching.

If you fail to attend to the Dream of a Better World, then Customers and Employees will leave at the VERY first sign of an alternative that does care.

At the end of day, Your Dream DOES Matter!

As do the Dreams of ALL those you Impact.

Our Dreams become interconnected, and we only Thrive when we ALL Thrive.