Engage Coaching and Consulting

Most people would have a powerful reaction to the words, “I have a dream.” Few have not been stirred by the speech of Martin Luther King, Jr.  In those words, he captured his own dreams and those of millions of Americans. 

Dreams are powerful today.  Psychology Today published a powerful statement about the power of a dream. 

Dreams are powerful tools that can help us find new patterns and create combinations that break through well-worn ruts. They breathe life into everything we do and can be used to inspire ourselves, shape our lives, and do what makes us come alive. Dreams are the incubators of unborn possibilities and can be imagination bolstered by hope.[1]

What are your dreams?  What dreams do your teammates have?  What is your role as a leader in fostering the dreams of those around you?  We must never be dream killers but exercise all our ability to be dream encouragers. 

Nothing starts happening until somebody starts dreaming. Every accomplishment started off first as an idea in somebody’s mind. It started off as a dream. It started off as a vision, a goal.

Ben Franklin wrote about dreams when he said, “Most men die from the neck up at age twenty-five because they stop dreaming.”  

In my work at Engage Coaching and Consulting I have a mission to provide you with resources that strengthen you and your team.  One such resource that I discovered recently was a powerful and succinct list of ways to encourage the dreams of your team.

John Maxwell suggested six steps to encourage others to pursue a dream (In his work “The Charismatic Leader”)

• • Ask them to share their dream with you.
  • Affirm the person as well as the dream.
  • Ask about the challenges they must overcome to reach their dream.
  • Offer your assistance.
  • Revisit their dream with them on a consistent basis.
  • Remind yourself daily to be a dream booster, not dream buster. Everyone has a dream, and everyone needs encouragement.  Set your mental radar to pick up others’ dreams and help them along.

Dare to dream!  Encourage the dreams of those around you!  “Death is not the greatest loss in life.  The greatest loss is what dies inside of us while we live.” (Norman Cousins, former editor of Saturday Review) Do not let the dreams die!