On my desk, I have a lot of papers hanging up. Some of them are notes from my daughter, some are schedules for trainee rotations, and a few are inspirational quotes and sayings that help me get through the day.
The most important one, though, is the one that says “Hold the Vision, Trust the Process.” It is so important, in fact, that I also have it hanging on the wall in my bathroom, right above my scale. At least 50 times a day, that message skates through my vision, either peripherally or directly, to remind me of the most important lesson I’ve tried to learn in adulthood.
Patience.
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am incredibly impatient. Like most extreme type-A personalities, I dive into everything head-first, and I expect immediate results. I start a diet, I expect to lose 20 pounds the first week. I learn how to crochet, I want my whole house filled with beautiful handmade blankets in a month. I set a target for Legion, I want us to hit it in double-time, without any hiccups. And when those things don’t happen at the speed I want them to, I get frustrated. Really, really frustrated.
But that’s not how the world works. My mom always told me (and this is rich, because she’s just as impatient as I am) that everything worth having takes time, and you can’t rush the process. It’s not an easy lesson to learn, but if you want long-term, sustainable results, you have to be consistent. And patient. You have to trust that results will come. Not overnight, but over time.
And that’s why I remind myself, 50 times a day, to hold the vision and trust the process. Tony and I have set out an ambitious plan for Legion – we want to grow 25% every single year – that’s the vision. We’ve laid the strategic framework underneath that vision so we can accomplish it – that’s the process. We have step-by-step plans for every department, and we’ve been executing those plans, day after day, week after week, month after month. And the results are coming. And everyone outside the company can’t believe how quickly things are changing for us, and how remarkable the results are.
There are days, though, when Tony and I want more. We want instant results. We want to be at the end of this process now, instead of in the middle. We’ll look at the numbers, we’ll look at the sales floor, and we’ll say, why aren’t we further along? Why aren’t we DONE yet? Why hasn’t this aircraft carrier of a company turned on a dime?
And that’s when I point to the sign on my desk and remind both of us that if we want to get where we are going, we have to hold the vision and trust the process we have set out. We have to stay laser-focused on 25% growth. And we have to follow through on the processes we’ve developed. They are working. And they will continue to work, as long as we are consistent. It’s not easy when you want immediate results, but the success that comes will be even sweeter because we’ll know that we held steady and accomplished it over time.
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