A great little book which I read many years ago and picked up again just today is The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson (2003). It is a fictional story of a character who is on a quest to discover and obtain their dream. The book deals with obstacles, challenges, and bullies that will get in the way of someone searching for their dream, and how each of these difficulties can actually be the very things that take a dreamer to their destination. It’s a modern-day parable and has many great points which all of us in leadership need to remember.
One of the quotes which I particularly like is, “You [dreamers] feel like you’re walking around in a room where the ceiling is six inches too low!” Isn’t that a wonderful image? Imagine having to function in an office which always feels too short, or live in a home in which you constantly feel closed in and bump your head on anything hung from the ceiling. Ouch! My point is that leaders generally are people brimming with imagination and the keen ability to see things not as they are, but as they could be. For them, the ceiling is always too low, and the room is always too small. Leaders, at least this one, walks into a room, or looks at a project, or views the results from an event and says to himself, “We could’ve really done a better job. This could’ve been bigger. We could’ve had a bigger impact.” For many of us, the ceiling is always “six inches too low!”
Does this sound familiar to you? It sure rings a bell with me. I want to be the kind of leader that dreams beyond the limitation of a short ceiling and encourages the people I lead to do the same. Most of you know that I produce a large event during the Christmas holidays each year. Last year, as I was getting all the team leaders going, I announced some pretty ambitious goals which I felt we could accomplish. One of these was an attendance goal of 5000 people in the seats. I felt this was a great goal, not only because it stretched us beyond what would be easy ( I hate easy), but because it was cool, and a big round number. (Here’s a little side note about me – I love big round numbers!) Anyway, one of my team members spoke up and said, “Why 5000?” They weren’t being negative, they just wanted to know how I came up with it, and they knew that we were already attracting more people to this event than any of the previous years. They might also have been thinking; “Isn’t it big enough yet?” My answer rolled off my tongue easily because this event is all about our mission of delivering the important message of what Christmas is truly about. So for me, having more people in the seats means that our mission has a greater impact. The answer I gave to my team member was, “The more people in the seats, the more people who hear the message.”
I guess we could be satisfied with a less ambitious goal, because it still would’ve been a new record-setting attendance number, but quite frankly, that ceiling is too low for me. When I look into our auditorium, I can dream of every seat being full, many, many times over. The book The Dream Giver is a great tool for developing our dreaming abilities. It will take you through the process of learning how to deal with challenges and will encourage you to reach higher and higher. As leaders, I believe it is our privilege and responsibility to break out of our often self-inflicted limits of a ceiling that is six inches too low. Let’s start building high rises with vaulted ceilings with our people and our dreams! I’m sure you will enjoy this book. Below is a way for you to easily get a copy.
Keep dreaming and lead well.
Here’s how to get the book:
I have made arrangements for this book to be easily available to you. Below is a link which will take you to a website from which you can order this book, as well as many other books on leadership. In addition, there are a wide range of leadership materials on many topics and in various mediums which you may want to check out. Some are individual resources, and some are subscriptions. Not all of it may be something for which you are personally looking or even interested in, but as I spent some time looking through the vast resources available, I found that some were quite interesting and helpful.
The link is www.life-training-home.com/39977106
Once on the home page, use the PRODUCTS pull down, then go to the Products button, then scroll down to “Shop for Individual Products.” There you will see hundreds of books on leadership, including The Dream Giver. In order to order the book or other materials, you’ll have to register as a customer. I will vouch for them as I have received the products I have ordered without any problems, and the prices are competitive with other leadership materials. Enjoy.