An Invitation to Set Sail...

So here we are again. In that safe harbor between the past and the future. I really appreciate the calm moments between Christmas and New Years. For me it's a time of reflection, appreciation and anticipation. It's also a time of charting the next leg of the journey and this year, I'm inviting you to come along with me.

My grand adventure for 2008 is to finish my new book about a very special start-up company. In fact it's called "The Last Start-Up - A Leader's Journey to Mastery." And in doing so I intend to co-create a new future with you.

During the year I will be sharing new ideas, concepts and questions about leadership that will help you with every aspect of your life, especially your business.

But before I can finish the book, I have to "be" the book. And this means I will actually have to help at least one new client implement a sustainable start-up model that works exponentially better than anything they've tried in the past. I have no idea who this client will be or how the story will turn out. And I can't wait to get started.

I am sharing this with you in the hope that you will set your own "grand adventure" for 2008 and, through this blog we can compare notes and support one another on the journey.

Now for your part.

Contrary to what some believe, Life is not a spectator sport. It requires us to get out of the stands and get on the field or, as I like to say "slip the dock lines free and sail."

I can't successfully make this journey alone. No one can and no one ever does. I need your help and your point of view. I need your questions, comments, encouragement and advice. But most of all I need the gift of your listening - and I promise to give you mine.

Go to www.ceoing.blogspot.com to join the crew. With you on board, we can make this dialogue an international journal of new leadership thought, discovery and achievement.

The winds will change and there will be storms along the way. But with a clear intention (a North Star to steer by), a willingness to learn from whomever and wherever the learning comes from, and the courage and good sense to hold on and persevere, we will reach our destination.

So welcome aboard. Go below, take a bunk, stow your gear. And get ready to cast off the lines of the past and set sail to our future. It's going to be an amazing adventure.

- Tom Voccola

P.S. That's my boat, Sea Fever. She's a 1962 Bill Tripp designed Mercer 44 Sloop. I've grown a lot over the past 18 years learning to captain her, and I've created lifelong bonds with most of the crew that have come aboard. I hope we can do the same.

P.P.S. If you know the founder of a start-up, or know of other leaders embarking on the next leg of their organization's journey, who might benefit from this "Last Start-Up" conversation, please feel free to pass this on to them.