This week, the ABV team had wrap-up meetings with each of the pilot clients. It’s been rewarding to see how far each client has come, in different ways. And there are some common results that I’m observing:

• Cohesiveness. We asked each client to "tell their story" at the beginning of the pilot and then in the wrap-up meeting. The "before" snapshot is loaded with lots of interesting details, sometimes moving, sometimes fascinating. And there’s typically not an "arc" that leads to a compelling punch line. The listener is left to connect the dots on their own. The "after" snapshot provides a story that flows, is cohesive, easy to follow, and leaves the listener excited and wanting more, instead of exhausted and trying to sort out what they just heard. This is the start of engaging a community of kindred spirits.
• Expanded vision.  All of our pilot clients came to us with a  clear sense of what they wanted to create. And in the process of working with ABV consultants in the different areas (Full Expression, Networking, Marketing, Technology, Community-Building), each of our clients found that there were bigger dreams waiting to be discovered. A book turned into a larger conversation about the fate of post-industrial US. One individual’s desire to help children turned into the vision of a network of individuals with a passion to keep children safe. A consulting practice transformed into a yearning to change what we are taught in schools about "how to be heard." As one client put it, "After working with ABV, I felt as if I was focused on the horizon instead of my feet."  Seeing the horizon provides the juice to attract like-minded individuals, ones who may become part of a community. Human beings want to be part of something bigger, greater, than they can achieve on their own.
• Beginning the journey. All of our clients realize that their journey has just started, even though they may have been working on their dream for years already. How is this? Once the vision is expanded and there is a story that gives purpose to where you are now (i.e., why here, why now), the client is on a new trajectory. It feels different. With this new trajectory, all of us, consultants and clients both, can see the long road ahead. There is a quiet confidence that this is a road that can be traveled by putting one foot in front of another. In a  conversation with a client, I likened ABV as the "mother ship" that launches the "rover" to Mars. Sure, we can all go to LA or Chicago. But if you thought you could, wouldn’t you want to go to Mars?

I’m sure there are other common results that I haven’t capture here. These are the big ones the come to mind.