Effective leaders have a clear vision for the future of their enterprise. Effective leaders know where they intend to go.

The often-quoted phrase from Proverbs: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Without vision, there are no standards, laws, or guidelines from which to organize collective efforts and build a good business for the future.

This is Habit #2 in Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Begin with the end in mind.

Surrounded by constant distractions of the modern world, a clear end picture is vital to your long-term success. With a clear end picture—a compelling vision of the future—you have a powerful way of filtering out the noise and focusing your attention on what’s most important. With a clear end picture, you can quickly evaluate ideas and make decisions to grow your business and support your career.

Most people resist the notion of crafting a vision statement because it requires sacrifice and focus. I don’t want to be restricted, they might say.

Ultimately, if you don’t determine a clear direction, you’re subject to the whims of others—and of your competitors. And gravity, as it is, naturally pulls you down to the lowest common denominator.

All great businesses were defined in advance by a clear vision of the future. From that end picture, they rose like the Phoenix out of the ashes of competitive industry to market leader position. Amazon.com’s vision is “to be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” We can observe this vision in progress as their market capitalization has grown to $60 billion and rising.

Cult Brand IKEA’s vision is to “create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.” Simple, but obviously effective.

What’s your vision for the future of your enterprise?

Creativity doesn’t happen through brute force. When you try to force the creative process, you usually move backwards. Yet, you can’t remain passive either.

Learn to dance with the creative process. Listen to the music and trust you will find a way.

Above all else, learn to be patient. This will be the most difficult task for many of us because we tend to want immediate gratification. We demand results now—and may skip steps to get “there” quicker.

The creative process is an elegant dance with no true beginning or end. The beauty and magic of life is in the dance itself—unbridled and always changing.

When we learn to embrace each moment of the dance as if it was our first, we open up to an incredible new world. Only then do we possess the power to create what we want and have a whole lot of fun in the process.

In The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav had this to say about the dance: “This is another characteristic of a Master. Whatever he does, he does with the enthusiasm of doing it for the first time. This is the source of his unlimited energy. Every lesson that he teaches (or learns) is a first lesson. Every dance that he dances, he dances for the first time. It is always new, personal and alive.”

Uninhibited, passionate and playful, we dance onward, reveling in each step, each note and each fluid movement. Our dance partners are faith and intuition; our dance floor is Planet Earth, and the dance itself is our own true creation.

Are you ready to dance?

Listening is a skill. Over time, skilled listeners have the edge in business and have an easier time in personal relationships.

Effective listening leads to understanding. Understanding deepens your connections with others, and builds trust and respect. Those who don’t listen well remain ignorant to their shortcomings and miss opportunities.

Active listening is difficult; it requires us to focus on the needs and thoughts of others instead of ourselves. Active listening also requires seeing and feeling, not just hearing. It’s important to make solid eye contact while the other person is talking. It’s helpful to try to feel what the other person is saying.

To listen more effectively:

• Suspend judgment while someone is talking. Seek to understand, not judge.
• Avoid getting defensive. The ego often feels attacked without cause. If you’re focused on being defensive, you’re not listening well.
• Send nonverbal cues that you’re paying attention. Nod your head. Lean in. Make facial expressions. Maintain eye contact.
• Watch the talker intently. Notice nonverbal cues like facial expressions, gestures and other movements.
• Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to appear unknowledgeable. Your outcome is to understand, not to guard your image.
• Stay present. Don’t jump ahead. Avoid thinking about what you’re going to say while the other person is still talking.
• Listen to what’s not said. Hone in on the emotional state of those talking. Tune into the overall context of the dialogue. Seek deeper understanding.

Listening is also an art. Effective listening takes empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings with another. Although our business personas tend to shy aware from feelings and emotions, the fact is that we have them. Emotions often trump logic in decision making IF and WHEN our feelings are not addressed in advance.

If you lack empathy, you must at least cultivate compassion and realize that a real human being is talking to you. Plato said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” If you did nothing else but kept this thought in mind, you’ll notice a shift in your perspective and your ability to connect and understand others.

Effective communication is critical for success in any field, especially in business where your ability to listen, understand, connect and share ideas is paramount to everyday productivity.

But effective communication isn’t easy. It requires patience, courage, awareness, empathy and thoughtfulness, but most of all, kindness.

Learn what motivates people and how human beings are wired and you can become a master communicator. Human beings have an animal heritage; the animal is programmed to survive. As a self-protective mechanism, the animal within us gets defensive easily. We want to feel safe and secure, and if we feel challenged, we’ll likely to challenge back in some way.

But attacks often backfire. A subordinate might do what you command in the moment, but over time, open communication and trust erodes, leaving a dysfunctional organization in its wake.

Avoid directing negativity at others whenever possible. Criticizing or condemning others is an easy way to sever open communication. It also guarantees you’ll lose influence.  Remember, if you set up the conditions for your colleague to get defensive, you both lose.

Don’t cut down other people’s ideas. Respect the opinions of others—even if you don’t agree. Without respect, there’s no trust. Without trust, there’s no effective communication and influence. Statements like “You’re wrong,” or “You don’t know what you’re talking about” will not help you win friends and influence people.

When you need to provide constructive criticism, talk about your own mistakes first, or call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly. Whenever possible, let the other person catch his own mistakes by asking thoughtful questions that will help expose the error.

Ultimately, to communicate effectively you have to be kind—not a pushover or narcissistically sensitive, just kind and respectful to your fellow co-worker.

There’s another benefit to kindness: It leads to a much more enjoyable workday!

Your life won’t change if you don’t check tomorrow’s weather, your stock quotes, or the daily news.

Nothing will happen if you don’t stay current with celebrity gossip or if you don’t know the latest casualty on American Idol.

The world—what the East calls Maya—is in a constant state of change. Nothing is permanent. Everything is transitory.

Our mind’s obsession with acquiring the latest bits of data keeps us locked in a world of dreams.

You can break free. You can stop projecting meaning into the meaningless. You can take a stand and consciously choose what’s most important to you. Your time is precious; be sure you invest in it wisely.

With this renewed awareness, you may discover that gazing at a flower holds greater long-term benefits than staring at daily stock quotes or the nightly news.

Etiquette is not a set of rigid rules of dos and don’ts. Etiquette provides a basic guideline of how a group of people behavior together. The drive behind etiquette is politeness and respect for those around us.

Etiquette requires awareness of others and discernment to determine an appropriate course of action. We also need a degree of flexibility and compassion as everyone is bound to make mistakes and act in ignorance on occasion (or all the time).

A lack of email etiquette denotes a lack of professionalism so an ignorance to email etiquette is no excuse. Here are a few basic guidelines:

• Use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. Sending sloppy emails make it more difficult for the recipient to read them. (Emails written on Blackberrys and iPhones, however, are given more latitude.)
• Respond to emails promptly. Every corporate culture is different, but try to respond within 6 to 24 hours, depending on the context. (Expecting people to respond to email in a few hours is insane. If you’re culture is driven by meetings, which most are, responding to email within a few hours is not a reasonable request.)
• Think before you forward. Forwarding an email that was addressed exclusively to you may be inappropriate. But when you draft an email, always assume it will be forwarded—so be careful what you write.
• Don’t use ALL CAPS and funky fonts. All capitals means you’re shouting. Funky fonts are difficult to read and look unprofessional.
• Be concise. Respect the recipient’s time. Thoughtfully formulate your ideas so the recipients can quickly read them and reply accordingly.
• Know when to use the ‘Reply to All’ and ‘CC’ fields. When you send an email, chances are the recipient will read it. Evaluate who needs to receive the message and who doesn’t. Many executives reply to all and copy too many people on their emails.
• Make your questions easy to read. If you have multiple questions in your email, make it convenient for the recipient to review each question and respond accordingly. Bullets and numbers are helpful if you have more than two questions.
• Answer all questions. When responding to an email, do your best to respond to all questions in order to minimize email exchanges.

Most rules of email etiquette come down to respecting the recipient’s time, eliminating confusion and reducing the number of emails. The few extra minutes these guidelines take reduces the inefficient time lost as a consequence of negligent email practices.

Most people are having a tough time. Life can be extremely complicated, difficult, and painful. Yet you have the ability to be a beacon of hope, if only for a moment.

Plato said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” If you did nothing else but kept this thought in mind in your dealings with others, you’ll notice a shift in your perspective and behavior.

In our daily interaction with people, especially in business, we tend to take the ME stance. It’s all about ME. What’s in it for ME? What are you offering ME? In this narcissistic mindset, we’re unable to act with true compassion and empathy. I’m not suggesting that all your interactions should be solely focused on the needs of others. It’s just important to have an awareness of others, not only ourselves.

How often do we operate in an unconscious, self-serving mode, thinking that life is revolving around us? For years I’ve practiced a compassion exercise I found in The New Three Minute Meditator. Most of us treat servers like cashiers, waiters, bank tellers, and gas station attendants as if they were automatons. Every time you are in front of a server or anyone else, realize they have a life too. Try to imagine everything they have to deal with on an average day. Look right into his or her eyes, acknowledging them as a human being and give a warm “thank you.” You will transform their day—and yours.

We all have the ability to make a person laugh while they’re having a tough day. Even when you pass a random person on the sidewalk, shoot him a smile. Did you ever notice how contagious a smile can be? Ever look at a stranger smiling and find yourself doing the same?

This focus on giving to others will have a dramatic effect on how you communicate; it will have an even greater effect on how you feel.

Without a drive to contribute, you will never be able to connect completely with anyone or become a person of positive influence. Honor every human being you meet as a gifted individual who is here to serve a purpose.

I leave you today with inspiring instructions from Og Mandino: “Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.”

Happiness is not found in a paycheck, your income statement, balance sheet, growth rate, or anything else involving money.

Happiness isn’t in your title, position, associations or affiliations. It’s not in your car, your house, your electronics or your gadgets. Happiness is not even found in your relationships.

If you’re not happy right now, no material success will bring you happiness. If you don’t believe this, you may have to accumulate a fortune to find out for yourself.

Happiness is found in only one place: Within yourself.

Certain external events may trigger the experience of happiness, but the source of your joy and happiness is always within you. Knowing this fact can lead to freedom.

You don’t have to be at the effect of the world around you. Connect with a sense of joy within yourself and know it is accessible at all times and under all conditions.

Locating happiness within generally takes practice. Instead of practicing to be happy, practice letting go of the negative emotions that prohibit your experience of happiness. As psychiatrist David R. Hawkins says, “The sun is always shining. You need only remove the clouds.”

Happiness is your natural condition. When you transcend negative emotions, happiness presents itself.

There is a phrase in the English language so deadly it contains a force powerful enough to eradicate all constructive thinking. This phrase kills new ideas before they have an opportunity to give birth.

Three life-draining words: I don’t know.

We tend to say it subconsciously, not realizing the full impact on our decision-making ability. “I don’t know” shuts down our mind’s creative and intuitive processes.

I’m not suggesting that you pretend to know something that you don’t. I’m referring to internally driven questions that do not require outside information to answer, like, What career path do I want to take? Should I write that book? Do I really want to start that business? What do I want to be when I grow up? Or even What do I want for dinner?

When you respond, I don’t know, you send a message to your brain that says, Don’t even bother spending time exerting energy trying to figure it out—it can’t be done. In a moment of helplessness, the idea generation process ends.

The fact is, you do know. The answer is within you. You possess the internal references and experiences to decide what it is you want—to decide what serves the greater good, to the best of your ability. The inner teacher is within all of us.

Why do we frequently turn off our brains? The answer is simple: Thinking is hard. Most people don’t like to think unless it’s absolutely necessary. Thomas Edison noted, “There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking.”

As much as we don’t like thinking, we also often avoid listening to our intuition. The Inner Teacher, as it is often called, is a powerful untapped resource for most of us. Combined with hard thinking, the Inner Teacher provides a clear path to discovery.

Next time someone asks you an internally driven question, and you feel I don’t know creep up, say to yourself, Hmmm, what if I did know the answer? When you make this “question reversal” in a playful frame of mind, you delve into the unconscious to pull out an answer that may surprise you.

Adopt the belief that you really do know the answer. When you do, you’ll find yourself saying that devious little phrase much less frequently.

Be conscious of this concept over the next few days, using the question reversal strategy as often as you can. I’d love to hear about your experiences.

A bulletin found in a local trail guide said, “Watch for snakes. This state park has a population of snakes of many varieties including Rattlers. If you encounter a snake, give it the right of way.”

I found myself repeatedly thinking about that comical yet profound warning. “If you encounter a snake, give it the right of way.” Would someone actually have pondered jumping in front of a poisonous Rattlesnake? Perhaps they considered stepping on the snake, just to see what might happen.

In truth, most people provoke snakes daily in the form of venomous negative thoughts. When we encounter negative thoughts and feelings, we are presented with an important choice: Feed the negative thought energy or let it go on its way.

Many of us are conditioned to feed negative thoughts on a daily basis. We think about something unpleasant that has or hasn’t happened and replay the image repeatedly in our minds. Each time we replay this “movie,” we relive the negative experience.

For example, did you ever worry about making a financial payment? Or perhaps you almost got in a car accident? Maybe someone said something you felt was inconsiderate, inappropriate, or downright rude? Ever have a really horrible meal and feel the restaurant should pay YOU to eat there?

Do you find yourself mentally rehashing the event later on that day or even several weeks later? We step on Rattlers all the time. Each time we do, we detract from our life experience.

You don’t need to completely eliminate negative thinking (although that is a worthy objective). Just don’t allow those negative thoughts to grow. Watch the negative thoughts and feelings arise. Allow them to be there and then just let them go. It’s simple to explain, but difficult to do as it takes practice and training.

Beware of Rattlers and give them the right of way.