The Law of Attraction – does it apply to business?

If you want to realise your personal vision, you must act as though that vision is already a reality. This well-known theory, which is based on the Law of Attraction, is normally applied to personal goals. But it can be equally applied to your vision for your business.

The theory maintains that if you act as though something is already real, the universe will deliver. It also applies to attracting people. Similarly, it says that if you are clear in your intention, you will attract people into your life who also see your vision and want to help you achieve it.

If we as business leaders were to act as though our company visions were already real, would we act differently and make different decisions? Would those decisions be based on where we want to be rather than where we are today? Would we attract different people into our business? And if we did, would that expedite the realisation of our vision?

Often the challenge in business is in creating the vision. But when it comes to executing the strategy to achieve that vision, we’re dragged back to making decisions based upon where we are today, rather than acting as though we’re already there.

Often this will be a result of making daily operational choices which are incremental in nature and addressing the immediate issue, the next obvious and logical step in our journey from where we are today. Often it will be the low-risk option. Or we will face the inevitable resistance: "We can’t do that … we don’t do it that way … this is too big a step from where we are today." Such resistance can be fatal to innovation and the realisation of your vision.

Yet if we act as though we are already operating our vision, we are likely to change the foundation of our business to support it. We will probably change procedures and processes, risk-appetite and profile and corporate culture, aligning them all to our vision of the future.

We are also likely to make different decisions, such as where we invest, what we deem to be our core business (for example, if what we do today will have only a small role or financial contribution in the future, would we make the same investment decisions).

It is a challenge for any leader or organisation to balance existing business activities and expectations against the execution of their vision. But changing our mindset to operate as if that vision was already real may make a significant difference in how we approach daily and strategic decisions, which will ultimately expedite the realisation of our vision.

So how can we challenge our approach?

1. Can you as the leader of a business see your vision? Can you feel it and describe it in such detail that it feels real? Do you act, think and operate as though it’s already real?
2. Is the vision known and clear within the organisation? Do people understand what the new organisation (based on the vision) will look like, feel like and operate like? Do they understand how that is different to today’s practice and why the vision is necessary?
3. Is your strategy execution largely driven by your vision or your current state? If many of your strategic decisions and actions are dictated by your current business environment rather than your vision, you may need to challenge yourself on what this means for the realisation of your vision.
4. Have you defined and established guiding principles that align to your vision? Guiding principles that may need to change could be your risk-appetite and profile, engagement models, operational procedures, culture and so on. It is important to define these to ensure you have stakeholder support. The business needs to be aware of the changes, what they mean and why they’re necessary to achieve your vision.

So is the Law of Attraction relevant in business? Well, if you define this application as "acting as though it was already real" and making daily and strategic decisions based upon where you want to be, rather than where you are today, then yes. It is very reasonable to think the Law of Attraction is not only relevant, but it is also critical to the realisation of your vision.