THE BONDING POWER OF CREATION
Leaders all over the world wrestle with the challenge of getting their team members to care deeply about the goals of a larger organization. They don’t understand how employees who are disengaged and apathetic at work can show fanatical passion in their personal lives, organizing citywide fund-raisers on weekends or maintaining Facebook pages with thousands of friends. A core principle is at work here: We authentically commit to those things that we have a direct role in creating. Whether it’s a product prototype or a new client account, I own what I create.
The same principle applies to your entrepreneurial venture. As you move from idea to action, creating something that can be read, seen, held, tested, or enjoyed in the world, your commitment naturally strengthens. Whether lines of code, a new bank account, a business plan, or a napkin sketch, every new work product puts extra wind in your sails and amplifies your energy and ownership.
Lynn Ivey’s dream was becoming more tangible throughout the summer of 2006, and her optimism was contagious. Everyone she encountered came away with a clear, positive picture of The Ivey. They could envision the future building and its staff; they could see a hundred satisfied clients and their relieved families. As a result of her enthusiasm and communication skills, Lynn successfully raised $2.6 million in seed money from investors and secured $3.6 million in loans to finance construction of the center. Groundbreaking was scheduled for October. In late July, she sent an e-mail to several of her supporters, writing, “The money’s raised and in the bank!! The loan’s approved and closing is at 9:30 a. m. this Tuesday!!”
About that same time, Lynn’s father called and asked her if she would make the four-hour drive home to Wilmington. “He’s putting Mom on oxygen,” she wrote at the time. “He says she is really winding down and thinks she’ll be getting worse soon. It’s ironic... my mother is the whole reason I started down this path to create the center. If she shuts down now, it will be as if she knows that phase one of my creation is complete and that it really will happen. I’m a believer that when God shuts a door, he always opens a window.”
