Intention

What did Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi all have in common. How did they become so successful at delivering their message? Why were they so believable? Did they just tell a great story, act as wonderful orators, deliver a good pitch. Or was it because they absolutely to their core, believed in everything they said and did? It may have been freedom, equality, fairness or fighting racism. Whatever words we choose, their ultimate message could be paired down to a few simple words. Their "Intention" was clear.

Intention is often defined as an aim or a plan. We all have aims and plans that we execute on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis. However, we all have a single intention underpinning everything in our lives. Discovering what it is and understanding how we harness the power it gives us is the key to our future.

Imagine as you come to final stages of your life, sitting in your favorite chair on your veranda, enjoying the warmth of the evening sunset and looking back on your life. Could you encapsulate in one or two words what you had tried to achieve. What would you be remembered for?

This is not an easy question to answer, and in my case took many years to unravel. However I believe this is because the question had never been posed to me all those years ago.

When, aged 25, I formed my corporate dental business, Barbican Dental Care, my vision was to provide affordable, high quality, private dentistry to busy city workers. (At the time private dentistry was not widely available and was considered a privilege of the chosen few). I also wanted to create a model whereby I could develop a business that would deliver an income when I wasn't treating patients i.e. not being the conveyor belt. Mixing my professional vocation with commercial enterprise was very appealing and I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of pitching and winning new corporate contracts.

So what was my intention? Fighting elitism, freedom, commercial success........It could be all of these but none really described what I would want to be remembered for.

As the business expanded I began to appreciate and enjoy the connection I made with my employees, especially if I could contribute to their growth and development. In 2012 I launched an apprenticeship programme for disadvantaged young people in Tower Hamlets. The pleasure I experienced in seeing them develop into valued team members outshone my previous achievements. Looking back perhaps my intention was "empowerment" all along. Certainly I see this very much my focus for the future.

In my last post I talked about the "space" between stimulus and response and how our destiny is governed by how we react to that space.The choices we make can also give us the freedom we desire, if we are brave enough to make them. How often do we make a knee jerk response to an employee request/demand only to regret it later (I certainly have many times!)? Often it is because we haven't given the time to consider how we should respond, or as is often the case, we feel under pressure to make an instant decision. Or is it because we haven't let our intention lead us?

I want to leave you with one final thought today. When your intention in business is completely clear and you remain on that path, the results can be quite astounding.

Steve Jobs wanted to change the world through beautiful design. This single intention changed all our lives and built the world's most profitable company........