How to Create a Common Dream

How to Create a Common Dream

 

Updated 12 8 20.  All companies are out to achieve success.  Success can be defined in different ways, but in most cases, companies define success by results. Many companies have mission statements, common dreams – or goals – that they use to motivate their workforce or to define their purpose. These statements are also often used to define success. Mission statements can be a valuable tool to help keep everyone within the company focused on the goal or purpose of a company and can be the shared, common purpose which will be the steadying reminder of the desired end result. However, are these mission statements or definitions of success really a common dream? What’s more, is there truly such a thing as a common dream?

Developing a Common Dream Together

When asked about this, Joel Peterson, Chairman of JetBlue and the Founder of Peterson Partners, responded with his take on common dreams. Joel has spent many hours speaking and writing about trust and integrity, including authoring the book “The 10 Laws of Trust.” Joel started by telling me that people have a hard time trusting something or someone if they don’t know what the goal is. “A lot of companies will actually create these mission statements…that are kind of interchangeable.” These kinds of statements aren’t really a common dream at all, according to Joel. In reality, they simply sound good. “People want to frame them and put them up on a wall.” However, “if you develop a common dream together that inspires people – which gets back to the idea that people want to be a respected member of a winning team doing something meaningful – you can develop a mission around that, and you’ll have people you can’t stop.”

Helping Others Achieve Their Dreams

Joel was also asked about the difference between a common vision and a common dream. It was pointed out that a common dream really gives a better visual of trying to make something happen that does not currently exist. Joel said that the mission at Peterson Partners is to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. Entrepreneurs have big dreams and they want to change the world. They want to do something that no one else has done before so they think very big. Therefore, “we view our role as capital providers as people who provide help to them, to help them achieve their dreams; and that becomes our dream.”

Coming Together for a Common Purpose

A common dream is not a mission statement or a company mantra placed on bulletin boards throughout an office building. A common dream is created when people or companies come together with a vision and  a common goal and then work together to achieve that mission or goal. Having a true common dream can go a long way in helping all parties involved achieve the mission, or results, they are seeking. That can be a powerful driving force on the path to the success.

We hope you enjoyed this article about how to create a common dream. If you have any questions or need expert tax or family office advice that’s refreshingly objective (we never sell investments), please contact us at Info@GROCO.com or visit www.GROCO.com. Unfortunately, we no longer give advice to other tax professionals gratis.

Posted in
Stanford University-School Of Engineering | Richard Dasher

Why Structure Is the Enemy of Innovation | Richard Dasher

  About Richard Dasher Richard Dasher has been Director of the US-Asia Technology Management Center since 1994 and served concurrently as Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Systems since 1998. He holds Consulting Professor appointments in Electrical Engineering (technology management), Asian Languages (Japanese business), and at the GSB (with the Stanford Program on Regions…

Inspiring a Sustainable Future Through Storytelling | Rita Whitney

Inspiring a Sustainable Future Through Storytelling | Rita Whitney

  About Rita Whitney Rita joined the Board in June 2010 and serves on the Mission Fulfillment Committee. She is CEO of Ravivant LLC, a Board member of United States Fencing Association (Central California Division) and Executive Director of the Stanford Fencing Association. Having grown up in New York City, Rita observed many situations where…

Wally Hawley on American Dreams

What Venture Capitalists Want | Wally Hawley

  About Wally Hawley Wally Hawley is a co-founder of InterWest Partners (1979), one of the larger venture capital partnerships in the United States, formed to make equity investments in diversified U.S. growth companies. His prior experience includes seven years as President of SHV North America Holding Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of a Netherlands…

Ray Rothrock

Venture Capital’s Role in Nuclear Science | Ray Rothrock

  About Ray Rothrock As a venture capitalist for more than two decades, Ray has assisted entrepreneurs in achieving their dreams and produced outstanding financial returns for his limited partners. He has personally discovered, created and guided more than 50 companies in the Venrock portfolio through their early stages of formation and emerging growth. Beginning…