Align Your Dream In learning how to appeal to people’s ideals, move their souls, and uplift their spirits—and your own—there is no better place to look than to the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His “I Have a Dream” speech tops the list of the best American public addresses of the twentieth century. […]
Take Pride in Being Unique Exemplary leaders also communicate what makes their constituents, work group, organization, product, or service singular and unequaled. Compelling visions differentiate and set “us” apart from “them,” and they must do so in order to attract and retain employees, volunteers, customers, clients, donors, and investors.5 There’s no advantage in working for,
Take Pride in Being Unique Read More »
APPEAL TO COMMON IDEALS In every personal-best case, leaders talked about ideals. They expressed a desire to make dramatic changes in the business-as-usual environ- ment. They reached for something grand, something magnificent, something that had never been done before. Visions are about ideals. They’re about hopes, dreams, and aspi- rations. They’re about the strong desire
APPEAL TO COMMON IDEALS Read More »
ANIMATE THE VISION Enlisting others is all about igniting passion for a purpose and moving people to persist against great odds. To get extraordinary things done in organizations, you have to go beyond reason, engag- ing the hearts as well as the minds of your constituents. You start by 130 T H E L E
ANIMATE THE VISION Read More »
Envision the Future The most important role of vision in organizational life is to give focus to human energy. To enable everyone concerned with an enterprise to see more clearly what’s ahead of him or her, you must have and convey an exciting, ennobling vision of the fu- ture. The path to clarity of vision
Envision the Future Read More »
Look Forward in Times of Rapid Change In this digital age when the business world is changing at warp speed, people often ask, “How can I have a vision of what’s going to happen five or ten years from now, when I don’t even know what’s going to happen next week?” Venture capitalist Geoff Yang
Look Forward in Times of Rapid Change Read More »
Make It a Cause for Commitment When you listen deeply, as Jacqueline did, you can find out what gives work its meaning to others. People stay with an organization, research finds, because they like the work they are doing and find it challeng- ing, meaningful, and purposeful.17 When you listen with sensitivity to the aspirations
Make It a Cause for Commitment Read More »
Listen Deeply to Others By knowing their constituents, listening to them, and taking their advice, leaders are able to give voice to their constituents’ feelings. They’re able to stand before others and say with assurance, “Here’s what I heard you say that you want for yourselves. Here’s how your 118 T H E L E
Listen Deeply to Others Read More »
Feel Your Passion Passion goes hand in hand with attention. People don’t see possibili- ties when they don’t feel any passion. Envisioning the future requires you to stay in touch with your deepest feelings. You have to find something that’s so important that you’re willing to put in the time, suffer the inevitable setbacks, and
Attend to the Present To envision the future, you have to look around and notice what’s going on. Right now as you listen to your constituents, what are the hot topics of conversation? What are they saying they need and 109 E N V IS IO N T H E F U T U R
Attend to the Present Read More »