Vision: How Leaders See The InvisibleLearn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Vision: How Leaders See The Invisible article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Vision is a strange concept. It's much more than just a goal or purpose. Goals simply state what we aim to achieve. Visions paint a fuller picture describing our most cherished dreams, hopes and possibilities. 1. Seeing Possibilities. The ability to see possibilities that others don't see is one of the hallmarks of great leaders. Where most of us see just a consignment of goods, leaders see an exciting product that can change someone's life. Where most of us see an office with space for desks and filing cabinets, leaders see a place where teams can do groundbreaking work. Where most of us see people with names and titles, leaders see budding organizational champions. As George Bernard Shaw said, 'Some people see things as they are and ask 'Why?' I see things that are not and ask 'Why not?'' 2. Clear and Compelling. Management writer Warren Bennis was fascinated by the ability of leaders to see what the rest of us can't see. A few years ago, he carried out a study of 90 top leaders in the United States. They included the first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong. What Bennis discovered was that, despite their different backgrounds, disciplines, and circumstances, these people all had one thing in common: a clear and compelling vision of what they wanted to realise. To them, the vision wasn't at some point in the future. It was right in front of their eyes. 3. A Vision Without Limits. The truly great leaders don't put limits on their vision. They go for the biggest dream they can imagine even if it is only realized at some time in the future when they are no longer around. There is a story about the filmmaker Walt Disney who died six years before the opening of the first Disney World. At the opening ceremony, two Disney executives were sitting together. One said, 'Too bad Walt couldn't have been here to see this.' The other replied, 'You're wrong. Walt did see it. That's why it's here.'. While most of us see no more than three months ahead, outstanding leaders can see several years ahead. Elliott Jaques of Brunel University believed that one person in a million can see 20 years ahead. The Japanese industrialist Konosuke Matsushita even has a 250-year plan for his business. 4. Drawing Others In. Leaders do more than have a vision of what is possible; they articulate it and draw others in. They do this through metaphor, images, and by triggering the innate desire of all people to be part of something big. Compare the visions of the two leading soft-drinks companies in America in the 1920's. One was a Boston-based company called Moxies. Their stated aim was 'to sell herb-based drinks'. Nothing to get excited about there. The other company's vision was 'to quench the thirst of a nation'. That company was Coca Cola. Today, nobody remembers Moxies. 5. Action. Without action, visions are just dreams. They are creations of our imagination, no more. But with action and the ability to see the steps from where we are now to where we can be, dreams become reality. In Shell UK, managers are taught to develop a quality known as 'helicopter vision'. This is the ability to see across three time zones of the future, as if in a hovering helicopter. From here, you can see the near plains, the middle range foothills and the distant peaks. Being able to see all three zones at once harmonizes your tactical actions, your operational planning and your overall strategy. There is a clear map to the realization of the vision.
We all dream but few of us remember our dreams let alone act on them. But leaders are different. They make a difference to our daily lives and our collective lives. They do this by capturing our dreams, nurturing them with care, and in the fullness of time helping us bring them to the glorious light of day.
|
More Articles:1. Enhancing the Motivational Climate of Your Workplace By Etienne Gibbs It has been well documented that employees' productivity and job quality increase when we are made to feel welcome at work. In other words, when the motivational climate is enhanced to meet their needs they produce quality work at the 100% rate.The source that caused them to produce at such high standards came from their employer's attempts at enhancing the motivational climate. As a result, they came to work, not because they had to, but because they wanted to.By listening to your employees,… 2. Tips for Performance Reviews By Scott Morris If you employ people in your business, you're going to be faced with a number of tricky management issues - dealing with tardiness, sick leave, and keeping your staff motivated.Performance reviews can be useful for motivating employees, but only if they are accurate. An inaccurate review, which fails to recognize the employee's value to the organization, can be worse than no review at all.If a performance review fails to take note of an employee's shortcomings, it won't be taken seriously.If a… 3. Improving electrical distribution reliability and cost ackground The company analyzed it's competitive position relative to the other large investor owned utilities in the US. It became clear to survive in a deregulated environment that significant change was needed in 3 key areas. Reduce operating and maintenance expenditures to be at or near the best companies in cost per kWh. Improve generating efficiencies and implement load control programs so that no new generating plants would be needed to meet forecasted demand through the end of the century… 4. Measure It First, Then You Can Manage It By James Louis If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Companies may be able to survive for a while if managers aren’t using data to make decisions, but they will eventually see their demise; likely sooner than later. Those companies to benchmark off are the ones who are not only surviving, but thriving! Pick your favorite phrase: TQM, Process Management, Quality Circles, Improvement Teams, Standards and Measurement departments or any other title you prefer. The function is the same. Look at baseline d… |
||||
