We interface with clients every day who are trying to make sense of the recession, the job market, and all the other negatives in our world today.  As leaders, they are regarded by those in their organizations as visionaries who are supposed to help them make sense of the future.  The perception is that employees want their leaders to be the “emissaries of the future delivering the news of how their markets and organizations will be transformed.”    

That’s difficult work in today’s climate.  But, it also may also be the wrong work to be doing if we want to be effective.  In research conducted by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, there was a slightly different, but important focus that was uncovered:

“Constituents want visions of the future that reflect their own aspirations.  They want to hear how their dreams will come true and their hopes will be fulfilled.  The data tells us what leaders struggle with most is communicating an image of the future that draws others in—that speaks to what others see and feel.”

It isn’t that people don’t have a desire to know what’s going to happen.  It just gets a lot more interesting when a leader can describe what is going to happen and then make the connection to how it personally affects each member of the team.

If you’re coaching someone, this has an important implication.  Those who you are coaching need to understand how to be visionaries.  But, they also need to understand how to communicate the vision so that they engage those they manage, work with, and even sell to.

If you’re in a recruiting role, it’s your job to outline the vision of your organization and paint a picture
of the possibilities that exist if the candidate leaves their existing organization.  Wouldn’t it be more attractive to the candidate if you could weave those possibilities into the things that he or she is trying to accomplish in their own life?

There becomes two important parts to the equation:  (1) The development of a vision that appropriately addresses the future of the organization, and (2) An understanding of how that vision can personally engage each member (or potential member) of the team.  

 “As counterintuitive as it might seem, then, the best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present.  The only visions that take hold are shared visions-and you will create them only when you listen very, very, closely to others, appreciate their hopes, and attend to their needs.  The best leaders are able to bring their people into the future because they engage in the oldest form of research:  They observe the human condition.”

We think observing the human condition is worth the time and effort.  I hope you do too.  

The information and the direct quotes in this discussion were adapted from a Harvard Business Review article (January, 2009) called To Lead, Create a Shared Vision.  The article was written by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.  These authors recently wrote a book called The Leadership Challenge.