Being forward-looking is
what differentiates leaders from other credible people. While credibility is
the foundation, the capacity to paint an uplifting and ennobling picture of the
future is that special something that truly sets leaders apart. Leaders must be
able to gaze across the horizon of time and imagine that greater things are
ahead. They must foresee something out there, vague as it might appear from the
distance that others do not. They must imagine that extraordinary feats are
possible or that the ordinary can be transformed into something noble.
The consensus
among Nanus, Drucker, Collins and Porras, and Hamel is that little can happen
without vision. All enterprises or projects, big and small, begin in the mind’s
eye.
They begin with imagination
and with the belief that what is merely an image can one day be made real.
Without a clear view of the potential future, constituents will be as nervous
as tourists driving an unfamiliar mountain road in the fog. While the evidence
is abundantly clear that constituents need and expect leaders to have a clear
vision for the future, there’s been a disturbing trend among some executives in
the most senior ranks of large institutions. More than one could be heard
uttering a phrase like “Visibility is limited” and then following it by some
excuse for why they can’t articulate where their organizations are headed.
Well, excuse me. If you’re not sure where you’re headed, O Captain of the Ship,
then let me the hell off. Granted, times are uncertain. Granted, you can’t
predict your company’s stock price tomorrow. But there’s absolutely no excuse
for abdicating your responsibility for clearly and passionately articulating
your collective destination. Leaders must also engage their constituents in a
dialogue about the future. When we can clearly see how we fit into the image of
the future, we’re more inclined to want to go there. It’s like trying to put
together a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a lot easier when we can see the picture on the
top of the box. Leaders must be able to paint that picture.
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