3 Perspectives of Visionary Leaders

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3 Alternative Perspectives That any Visionary Leader Should Have

 

Any leader who does not have a clear vision is doomed to fail. We can compare vision to common sense because it can be anything that is common but frequently not clear. This article presents three alternative perspectives that you can use in creating, communicating and advancing the vision of your organization irrespective of its size.

 

  1. The Diagnostic Perspective

 

You need to understand what worked in the past and what has not been working before you can create your vision. you need to understand the current position of your entity and make it to be your starting point. It may be hard for a person who has been in the organization for a long time to notice this. The reason is that individuals develop “institutional blind spots” over time without even noticing. After completing the diagnostics and have a clear view of the company and its requirements, you must incorporate these findings into the overall vision of the organization.

 

  1. The Innovation Perspective

 

Innovation usually ‘hides in plain sight’ and requires a distinct perspective to assist you in bringing it to the light. For instance, think of the challenges you will have to go through as you as you try to innovate these commoditized products: duct tape, glass and paint. These commodities are boring and dull at the first glance and have very little potential to grow. Industry leaders could not find a way of innovating some of these products for several decades in order to enhance the productivity of the form.

 

However, Sherwin Williams came up with a stackable, square paint container that brought a revolution into this industry. Secondly, Corning invention saw the shift to bio-tech lab tools, flat-screen TVs and fiber optic cables from cookware. Lastly, the Duck Brand Duct tape brought high profitability and new life into this category with fashion. It focused line expansion in a mixture of colors and patterns.

 

The innovative opportunity was always available in each case and everybody had the capacity of inventing at any time but they did not. It took the contribution of visionary leaders to develop a suitable environment that allowed other individuals within the organization to see the opportunity that was before them. They could now be able to articulate the opportunities and bring them forward.

 

  1. The Unseen Perspective

 

A visionary leader should take an organization down the path it has never gone through before. You will be required to make use of the u seen perspective that will establish the course for the future you desire. You have to package both recent and past history with relevant examples. For instance, Christopher Columbus made use of this perspective as he begun the journey of finding the new world at a moment when everyone knew that the world was flat. Steve Jobs also did this several times when gave Apple the challenge to launch the iPhone, iTunes, MacBook and iPod. In addition, president Kennedy used the unseen perspective in 1961 as he pledged that the United States would put an American on the moon before the decade was out.

 

A visionary leader should remain to be the oracle of his organization and drive performance. Therefore, the leader should pioneer the future path of the organization. The leader should have a clear vision for his or her organization for him to be transformational and positive and make the organization to thrive and survive. The leader and the vision should be indistinguishable because the organization won’t last unless the leader has a clear vision. The vision cannot also exist in the absence of a visionary leader.