Who are you?

We do resumes and CVs to market ourselves to people, but in reality we are only marketing the surface: a resume says what you are but offers little insight into who you are.  If you read my CV you would find out what I have done, what my skills are, what experience I have, what I enjoy doing, and what my expertise is; when people ask me to tell them about me I usually start off “I’m a husband and a dad, and an accountant.  I work for…” blah blah.  But all of that is ‘what’ stuff, not ‘who’ stuff; it tells you nothing about what brings my soul to life, what makes me get up – what makes me, me.  Do you do this, too, or is it just me?

My guess is you probably answer questions like that in a similar way to me – most people seem to respond that way.  Well, I had a video conference the other night and it was suggested that I let the other person have a bio before the chat.  I received an example, and set to work producing one.  It was a hard but really great exercise to do.  I’ve posted it below; why not try doing one yourself?

Personal Vision

A generation of people released to live the life they were made for; alive to the full extent of all that means, maximising and going beyond their potential.

Personal Mission Statement

To use my skills, abilities, gifts and connections to seize every moment, shaping it to the bene?t and ful?lment of the dreams of those around me; to release vision and facilitate the journey towards it for the people whose paths, whether by accident or design, intersect mine.

Strap Line

Live the life you were made for.

Mantra

Exceed expectations.

The Big Picture

Andy White is a Chartered Accountant with a proven track-record in strategic development and planning, effecting business and organisational change, and providing innovative solutions.  With a reputation of being a high-energy, high-impact, ?outside-the-lines? thinker, Andy has worked with corporations, not-for-pro?ts, charities and churches to release vision, effect change and launch strategies for sustainable success. 

His approach is grounded in over 15 years of corporate experience at organisations such as Kroll, Deloitte, Defra, and as a self-employed consultant where he helped small organisations and businesses begin to ful?ll their potential. 

Underpinning all that Andy does is an awareness that life is a journey we share, and none of us has yet reached our destination.  His passion for people, his sensitivity, and his self-awareness have led him to gain a reputation as an effective team-builder, team-player, negotiator, and motivator.

Core Values

• Live with your eyes turned outward. Every person presents an opportunity to make a difference: to serve, to love, or to whom we can simply show kindness; unless our gaze is outward, those opportunities pass by unnoticed.
• Life is about what you give, not what you get. Pro?t, or gain of any sort, whether corporate or personal, whether tangible or intangible, should always be an outcome not a motivation; when we focus on what we can get, and not on what we can give, we miss the point completely.
• Everybody matters. We are all created equal, and are all signi?cant, all have a purpose, and each of us has a story that stretches from the past, to the present and on into eternity.
• Tomorrow is another day.  We live in the present, and tomorrow will always be the product of today; when we get today right, tomorrow is a done-deal.
• Cherish what you have, but hold onto it lightly. Be glad for what you have, but don’t hold onto it so tightly that you are not ready to lay hold of what may yet still to be given to you.

So there you have it, a bit of a glimpse into who I am, rather than what I do.  Have a go at doing a bio yourself – I think you’ll enjoy the experience.

When is a vision not a vision?

When it is a mission.  I am frequently amazed at how many people fundamentally misunderstand what a vision is, trotting out a mission statement as their vision statement.  Is there a difference?  Does it really matter?  Yes and YES!!  Yes, yes, yes there is a difference, and you bet your life it matters.

Missions are tangible and achievable – they focus on what could be, while visions are much less tangible, maybe even intangible, rarely achievable, and always focus on what should be.  Missions flow out of visions, not the other way out; although, it is true to say, sometimes the pursuit of what could be opens our eyes to what should be, and a vision is birthed. 

A vision is what you get when you see through a window to a better place – a better place in business, a better place in life, a better place that is some place other than when you are.  A mission is a stage of the journey you will take towards that better place.  A vision is a fixed point of reference: a compass against which you can navigate your course, always keeping you pointing towards your destination even when you seem to be moving further away.

I know I have talked about this before, but it keeps rearing its head as being an absolutely critical topic.  For example, I have recently been working with an group with a view to a long-term business relationship .  Their ‘vision’ is, in fact, a mission: it is achievable, identifiable, measurable and totally tangible.

In a meeting I asked them what their vision was, and they trotted it out: “To be a top three…”.  “What then?”, I asked.  “What do you mean, ‘what then’?”, they responded.  “Well, what will you do when you achieve that goal?  What then?”.  Blank stares all round.  “Look”, I went on, “I want to know where you are going – what lies beyond the goal that you could achieve in a couple of years.  How do I know that you won’t pack up when you do that?  How do I know you won’t start selling flowers instead of doing what you currently do?  And how do I know that you have aspirations bigger than the here”and now – a focus on continually improving and extending as an organisation, and therefore offering me more, or better?”.  Eventually they got it and said ‘Hmmm, we need to work on that”.  “Yes, you do”, I replied.

You see, the trouble with a mission-based focus is that it is finite – it has a measurable end, and it raises the question ‘what next?’, or ‘where next?’.  It’s a fairly simple distinction, and yet it is one that is sometimes hard to grasp: a vision is always just out of reach, it is that towards which we ceaselessly strive, but at which we are unlikely to ever arrive.  If your vision is a destination easily reached, chances are it’s a mission, and if it’s not, I challenge you to look further, look higher and think bigger.

Missions take us towards our vision, and as we achieve them we gain encouragement to keep pursuing what should be.  Missions break the journey into achievable chunks, they make the overwhelming bearable.  They can sometimes move us in seemingly random directions, and it is only a vision that can bring order or purpose to those apparently chaotic or seemingly aimless legs of our journey.

When is a vision not a vision?  When you have a chance of actually achieving it.

When all about you is crumbling…

….stay focused.

The conversation went like this:  “Any business based on the principle that God sits on the board is doomed to fail, and for that reason we have decided that we can’t support you.”

Coming from a Christian, this rather blunt statement struck me as odd.  But worse than that was the fact that this person was essentially saying that my business, my vision, was doomed to come crashing down around my ears.

Aside from the immediate issues a withdrawal of previously indicated support created, I had a wider issue with which to contend – a seed of doubt.  In one single statement the foundation of my entire vision hang in the balance.  God’s presence on the board is central to my plans, and if his presence meant I was doomed to fail, I had a problem.

From time to time, every visionary leader will be faced with nay-sayers.  Sometimes we need them – they reign us in sufficiently to keep us on track, holding us back just long enough for us to get where we are going safely.  Sometimes, however, we absolutely don’t need them, and those are the times when the nay-sayer is not nay-saying to help you, he is nay-saying to derail you.  What the visionary leader needs is the ability to discern which is which.

In the situation I recounted above, once I had calmed down and regained my composure, I could see where he was coming from, and would even concede that in some circumstances he would be right. 

I know Christians who believe they can build a business on no substance other than their faith.  Sure, there is no stopping God, and he could move mountains with that kind of faith, but sometimes it’s a faith misplaced or misdirected. 

Sometimes, God requires blood, sweat and tears on our part in order for him to play his part.  Sometimes he requires common sense.  Sometimes he requires practical and ordered progress.  In my experience, those sometimes are most times. 

That is not to discount the divine and the super-natural, it is to add a sense of realism.  I would say that most initiatives built on the principle that simply by having the idea and believing amazing things will happen will not reach their potential.  Having said that, some do.  God, after all, is God, and his ways are not our ways.

But God can sit on the board without his fellow board members abdicating responsibility.  And that introduces an element of collaboration, and acceptance of the requirement for the human with an expectation of the divine.  My business is built on the principle that I will collaborate with God, and as I put in the grunt, he will pour in the favour.  But, no grunt, no favour.  I want to play my part so that he can do his.  For me, this is a joint-venture.

So, what of that statement.  Is my vision doomed to fail?  No, it isn’t.  My vision has one core aim – to see his Kingdom come, and I expect it to be hard work, I expect there to be tears (there already have been), and there may even be some blood.  His burden is light, and his yoke is easy – but just take a second to notice that there is a burden, and there is a yoke – let’s not forget that.

This nay-sayer was sent to derail me, and he could have done but for one thing – my vision is burned into my soul, and while I may travel through fog patches from time to time, I know my trajectory and I know my target.  And so I have a reference point against which to weigh comment, advice and so-called insight.

This is not a post for Christians with a vision, this is a post for any visionary leader, and the fact that I have talked about God sitting on a board is to illustrate a point, not make a point in itself.  Whether you believe in God or not, whether you are pursuing a business for profit or not, in fact whatever your motive for doing whatever it is you are doing, the principle applies: stay focused.

When the nay-sayers come, and they will, be humble, be gracious, be open, but be certain – be certain of where you have been, and certain of where you are going.  In that certainty you will soon discern between the builders and the destroyers who come across your path; spend time with the former, make your apologies and leave the latter. 

And at all times stay focused.

Vision: Changing the world costs

Are you prepared to pay the price of your vision?  The rewards are plentiful, but the stakes are high and the entry price is even higher.  Your vision is going to cost you.  It’s going to cost you your money, your energy, your tears, your laughter, your time.  Can you afford to invest?  Can you afford not to?

Jesus said he was coming to bring life in all its fullness.  He did not say that it would be easy, cheap or quick.  But weigh the price against the alternative: existence.  If you want existence in all its glorious mediocrity then walk away from the table right now and settle back into that rut you were climbing out of.  But if you want LIFE – a taste of the Kingdom that is among us now – then roll up your sleeves and pay the price of admission, because you will unlock a bounty that you cannot comprehend.

People will applaud your vision, tell you how great it is and speak of it in terms of wonder and awe; but they won’t give you their money.  He will provide.

People will talk of how long they have waited for something like it, how much it scratches them right where they itch; but they won’t give you their time. He will provide.

People will see your tears, hear your frustration and they will watch from a distance, waiting for you to fall and your vision to disappear. He will provide.

People will congratulate your efforts and marvel at how hard you work in pursuit of that which God laid on your heart; but they won’t give you their energy.  He will provide.

When all seems lost, when your last drop of energy is expended, when your last penny is spent, when your last available moment has been used, when you have have no tears left to cry – when you have given out beyond that which was available to you – He will provide.  He will lift you to places you cannot imagine and you will soar with him who delights in your faithfulness and who has secured for you a prize you cannot comprehend.

And as He brings you gently down to rest upon the ground once more you will taste his provision, and it will be good.

Your home is not at risk with this investment, your LIFE is.  Changing the world costs.  Can you afford to take the risk of not investing?

Vision:  a constant reference point

The path less trodden, or even untrodden, can be a rocky one, full of deep pits and steep slopes, dense foliage and hidden hazards.  But it is also a path that leads to clearings with green pastures and still waters; places where we can stop, take a breath and be embraced by the story of which we are a part.

Your vision is your reference point – the marker that does not move, upon which you can fix your view and towards which you can aim your trajectory.  God gave you this vision – it is His – and He will not lead you into trouble, He will lead you through trouble to rest by still waters as you travel towards a better place.  It is your pillar of fire in the night that God uses to light your path.  As you steer your course to avoid deep pits and steep slopes, dense foliage and hidden hazards, as you travel through an ever changing landscape, one thing remains constant – that glimpse of God that is your vision.

Your vision is a glimpse of the heart of him that began this work in you before you were even born; he that is beckoning you into life and away from existence.  Fix your eyes upon him, hold tight to that which he has placed in your heart and push on towards that which remains constant in all the chaos around you.

Your vision is your reference point on this journey you are taking.  Keep it in sight always, don’t let your eyes be drawn to clearings or paths that take you away from your vision – those paths end in trouble and heartache.  Weigh every route against your destination.  View every offer, every temptation to change your course in the light of the flame which burns in your soul.  Ask yourself simply this:  does that path, does that offer, does that opportunity cause the flame to burn more vigorously, or does it extinguish it.  Plan your course according to your answer, and however tempting it may be, if it snuffs the flame, walk away. 

Don’t waste time convincing yourself it’s God if you know it isn’t.  Don’t listen to the snake in the grass, listen to the whisper in your soul.  If you can’t hear the whisper, take some time in the clearing, set yourself down by still waters, turn the volume down and tune into your soul.

Your vision is your reference point – stay focused – don’t get ambushed.