Leaders Dream (w/ Neil Edwards)

You can connect with Neil on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. You can email him at neil@neiledwardscoaching.com.

TRANSCRIPT

Neil: I am Neil Edwards, and this is The Leadership Range, where we elevate the voices of Black and brown coaches, leaders, and allies, and have soulful conversations about all things at the intersections of leadership, relationships and teams, well-being, and inclusion. Here, I offer deep insights and practical tips for work and life. Dreaming is a typical language in corporate leadership. There is some sort of conditioning that has us turn away from the notion, yet we talk about values, vision, mission, and purpose. We have 3, 5, 15-year strategic plans. They all have a connection to currency in business and leadership, they are somehow associated with leadership and business performance, but we don’t talk about dreaming. We talk about imagination and innovation. We talk about creativity. We talk about design thinking, but we don’t talk about dreaming. Who has not heard or dreamed of a future? A better future. Can you think of a great leader in business or society who did not have a dream? One of the most powerful and transformative speeches ever heard was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It was so powerful. It frightened some people who didn’t want that same dream, the dream that everyone has the same shot at the American dream. Dreaming is powerful, and for those of us who want a more kind, and inclusive world, it is crucial that we dream. It is crucial that we dream up the world we want. We need to do it every day. There are people out there dreaming up an alternative to an inclusive world. They don’t want your dreaming because they know the power dreams hold. If you don’t dream, start. If you have lost sight of your dream, reconnect with it and start dreaming again. We must all dream together about the homes we want, the lifestyles we want, the neighborhoods we want, the cities and states we want. The nations we want. If we all dream together, in one big relationship system every day, and then take action, we will create the future we want.As you take this short message with you today, I want to leave you one of my most favorite quotes of all time, from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood, and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” Start dreaming, folks. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Leadership Range. If you enjoyed the episode, I invite you to peruse the others for more great conversations. If you know someone you think ought to be on the podcast, please send me an email at neil@neiledwardscoaching.com. To connect with me you can find me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/nedwards07. I look forward to you joining in for more conversations each Monday on the Leadership Range.