My 5^th grade daughter is raising a puppy for Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Zoria has been living with us for about a year and has taken up residence in our hearts.  Since being involved with this organization, I have come to see visually impaired people in a whole new light.

Hoping to see what we could expect from our efforts, we attended a graduation ceremony at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus before we agreed to raise Zoria.  It opened my eyes not only to the puppy raising program, but to my perception of blind people as well.  I was characterizing the recipient of a guide dog as “blind.”  These graduates were so much more than that.  They were forest service workers, musicians, college students, fathers, grandmothers and many other things.  In addition, they happened to be visually impaired.  This guide dog was going to help them navigate through the world they lived in – not be their lasting impact on the world.

Business is a lot like this.  Sometimes we need a “guide dog” to help us navigate through a narrow area of our business.  We may be experts in business, but that one area of “blindness” or “near-sightedness” is holding us back.  Find yourself a trained guide dog and open up the opportunities around you.