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Visionary Leader: A Leader Who
Anticipates
The first step for a leader is to
establish a clear and powerful
vision.
A clear and
powerful vision leads the leader. A great
leader establishes a firm mental attachment to the
‘possibility
of what might be’ and sinks his or her heart
and soul into realizing it. Having a clear vision
‘points the
way’ to where a team, a department, or a
company will be progressing in the future.
Lacking
the same path under a visionary leader may have
dire consequences. A famous quote from The Bible
states, “Where there is no vision the people
perish”.
Vision
is fueled by passion.
It is passion that fires one’s resolve to hold the
mental picture tenaciously through the shifting
tides of life. To truly nurture a vision it is
necessary to adjust one’s thoughts to give the
vision priority. The
burning desire to imagine things the way a person
wants them to be enables a true leader to
accommodate and sacrifice for the good of the
dream.
The future of a leader’s vision
rests with the one who has spawned it. This is an
awesome responsibility and tests endurance and
resiliency. At a time in history when taking
responsibility is extremely rare, the visionary
leader must be prepared to ‘swim against
the current’ and shoulder the weight of
realizing a vision into existence.
A great leader resists
deflation in the face of discouragements and
set-backs but is driven rather by an internal
fire that will not bow to external forces. A clear
vision fires one’s resolve to hold the mental
picture tenaciously, with unwavering
devotion.
A visionary leader will ‘step up to the
plate’ again and again. The flame will continue to
burn even though the player may occasionally
forfeit a game. You might lose a game here and
there, but the vision doesn’t
die.
The visionary
leader refrains from grumbling, complaining and
blaming. Losses may hurt, but when knocked
down, a true leader gets back up, having learned
from the experience, and proceeds to look for
other strategies.
Harvard Business Review cites ‘having a
clear vision’ as one of the top five
leadership attributes that motivates the troops to
follow. If the vision is clear there is a stronger
possibility others will be infected by it, get
enthused, and come on board. The visionary leader
actively seeks to generate interest among others
because the vision cannot be realized alone.
The true visionary has the capacity to
hope. John Gardiner in his book Morale,
notes that the hopeful leader does not get
paralyzed by perfectionism, which ultimately leads
to cynicism and despair.
Gardiner says that cynical people have a self indulgent game going
where they believe that society is perfectible and
will settle for nothing less. They often become
the arm chair scorners of ordinary women and men
who are driven to make things better. The
visionary leader continues to hope despite life’s
imperfections.
So here are some things you can do.
- Keep your vision alive no matter what. The hopeful mind eventually
manifests what it sees.
- Focus
on the possibilities and eliminate the problems
from your mind. Possibilities like verdant foliage
will stifle the weeds of negativity and produce a
bountiful harvest.
- Surround
yourself with a small group of ardent
believers who are ready to support you and ‘mid-
wife’ your vision into existence. There is no
substitute for personal champions when foraging
through the wild underbrush of a new idea, looking
for a methodology to give it flight.
- Equip
yourself to lead people
effectively. Without people, you will not very
likely realize your vision. Take the time to learn
and navigate through inter-personal difficulties,
always seeking to build trust in order to keep you
in the driver’s seat as you ‘point the
way’ to others. Don’t ‘dance around’ the
people issues, go through them.
- Stay
in tune with yourself. Visions that are born from within
need to be fed and watered by a gardener that is
truly grounded. Develop daily disciplines that
keep you planted firmly. This will help your
vision to stay alive. Don’t let it die.
- Live
in hope. Leaders should always hope for the best and
prepare for the worst. Don’t get lost by having a
coherent plan that looks toward a hopeful future
instead of dwelling on the past. If you always
think negatively then your leadership has no
hope.
Powerful leaders have powerful visions.
Whenever great achievements have regenerated
cultures, societies, communities or workplaces
they have come about because someone has had the
capacity to imagine and to hope.
Margaret Meade
renowned anthropologist, author and scholar said,
“Never believe that a few caring women and men
cannot change the world, for indeed that’s all
that ever has”.
Having a vision is the
ability to imagine and to hope. Great leaders
and visionary leaders spend their lives protecting
this idea - learn to embrace that ideal yourself to be a visionary leader.
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Defining Leadership
