Wayne Gretzky is not referred as one of the greatest to ever play hockey.  He is the greatest to ever play hockey.  Ever.  He just didn’t break every record of any significance, he blew them away.  Goals, assists, points, goals by a center, you name it.  Look at any offensive category and ‘The Great One’ holds the record.  More astonishing is that he did this in far fewer seasons than whoever is #2.  His level of dominance far exceeded whatever Michael Jordan did in basketball or Babe Ruth in baseball.  He won the MVP award nine times in 10 seasons!  These numbers do not lie.

Growing up in Minnesota as I did, you become a hockey fan like it or not.  When watching Gretzky you quickly saw a man among boys.  He weaved around everybody as if they were standing still.  He never got hit.  He was always in the right place.  He was deadly accurate.  His opponents were also professional players but you wouldn’t know it when Gretzky was on the ice!  Also, hockey is not a timid or individual sport.  This is hockey where fighting is allowed, teeth lost, blood spilled and bones broken.  This is not golf or tennis where the only real injury concern is a blister or muscle cramp.

I don’t mean to dismiss the accomplishments of Tiger Woods or Roger Federer, who recently set the bar in their respective sports, but in the organized mayhem that is hockey you have teammates.  With teammates, you must lead the entire team toward your vision for success to occur.  If successful, titles are won and records broken.

Gretzky’s oft-quoted line says it all.  “I don’t skate to where the puck is, but where it is going to be.”

Business is the same.  Vision is critical to success.  Effective leadership is not about telling people what to do or pointing out the obvious, but getting them to see and embrace vision.  The more a team shares and executes against the same vision, the more intuitive and obvious the game becomes.  The team knows what to do, when to do it, and why.  In the process, you and your company become experts and the more you score.  And the more others want to be on your team.

Business is attracted to expertise.  They want some of that vision and mojo for their teams.  They know good things will come from being associated with your expertise.  The problem is that businesses are too busy to buy a ticket and watch.  Put your expertise under their nose.  They don’t want to be pitched.   They want to be educated and discover your excellence for themselves.  And they want to be educated on their time, not yours.  This is why an on-going commitment to market relevancy is so crucial.

In business, your vision and expertise is not always apparent to the broader industry.  You cannot just skate to where the puck will be, you have to convince and assure others the puck will be there.  The more you do that, the more goals you will score.