Rooftop Visions: Seeing Your Business Future
Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Business
As I stood on top of the big, beautiful newly designed building staring out – and actually above – Lake Ontario, the sentiments of the woman who had spoken minutes ago stirred in me. She stated in her dedication speech the vision she had for the building five years prior as she stood on the rooftop of another campus building with New York State Senator Wright. She shared her dream of creating a new science and technology building at SUNY Oswego to support the need for more STEM degrees. The woman was President Deborah Stanley, a woman I’ve respected since I took her challenging business law class in 1984.
The day was spectacular for so many reasons but mostly because of the lessons that spoke to me as I watched a woman discuss a vision she had five years ago and then experienced sitting in that dream with 200 other people applauding the vision, work and financial obligations that occurred to make the magnificent new building a reality.
As I glanced at the lake’s horizon from the rooftop of this new dream building during one of the tours, I realized the importance of having a vision in order to take yourself or your company to the next level. We owe it to ourselves and our future to stand on top of our existing enterprise and glance out at the future. We must envision what we want to build to ever move in the next best direction. Just like the quote in the movie The Field of Dreams, “If you build it, he will come,” women need to see what they want to build and trust in following the vision, because the success will follow.
Today’s post is meant to inspire you to find a place this week where you can stand tall on top a mountain, hill or rooftop or next to a vast lake or river and envision what you want to create for your company in the next five years. Realize it will take financing, hard work and support to accomplish, but it can’t even begin to manifest if you don’t create the vision to build it first.
I’m so proud to be inspired by daring, intelligent, visionary women like President Deborah Stanley who make me want to do better in my own entrepreneurial life. I plan on sitting on top of my own rooftop soon to envision the next creative services for my company. I hope you do the same.
Women TIES 