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Five Words for Female Professionals--Third Word

    You should be feeling bolder by now.  And your mind should be clicking through specific steps you must take to make 2014 your most strategic year yet.  Though what I share in these posts this week or specifically directed at women, men can benefit from them as well.  Men tend to be more strategic than women in their thinking as evidenced by the dominance of them running Fortune 500 companies.  They have taken the bold steps to start businesses and run businesses that are largely successful and that most of the world recognizes.  With their support, more women could run large corporations as well.  Without their help, women have to understand the power we posses in the unique ways we are wired to accomplish the same successes but in our own ways.  We have to believe we can do it.  What we can see in our mind's eye will help us to trek courageously to that end.  Therefore, the third word in the "Five Words for Female Professionals" is vision.
     Being able to see vividly where we want to be by year's end or in the next two, five or ten years is where it all begins.  We have to see ourselves in a position of leadership if that's our desire.  We have to see ourselves thinner if that's what we need.  We have to see ourselves at the finish line of the marathon if that's where we want to be.  We have to see ourselves satisfied and fulfilled in all that we do if that is what will make us happy.  But we have to envision it.  All great accomplishments started with a vision.  What's yours?
     I knew that I wanted to be a professional speaker and writer from the time I was a sophomore in high school.  I went to LSU with the vision of one day becoming a news anchor on one of the big networks.  I studied broadcast journalism and did a quick stint at a local radio station in Baton Rouge, La. after graduation.  I have no regrets that I'm not on one of the networks because I still arrived at my destination.  I am a professional speaker (I get paid to speak so I guess that makes me a professional), and I have one book under my belt and two more in the works.  I am a facilitator of leadership development in corporations and organizations where I help leaders to lead authentically.  It is my passion, and I live each day to do it.  The communications skills I gained from my education and from my previous jobs that required me to be persuasive, clear and enthusiastic in my speech have all culminated to this point in my life.  I have learned so much from so many.  But it began with a vision.  And I've not achieved the fullness of that vision yet.  I still see myself leading the multitudes in self-fulfillment, love for one another, and critical thinking.  It is my ministry.  It is my hope.
     Determine your vision.  See it clearly complete with color, sound, action and hope.  Then make it part of your strategy to go forth boldly and make it a reality.  I can help you get on that path when you join me and other professional women at our new "Women's Forum on Leadership" at the Capital City Club in Columbia, SC beginning January 14, 2014.  For more information, click on the red box on my homepage at www.thesharpersolution.com.  You will be challenged and you will be changed.  Check back tomorrow for the fourth word.  Be the first to send back all five in the comments section of this blog and attend the January session for free.  Envision your success!

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