Create Images of the Future
Visions are images in the mind—impressions and representations. They become real as leaders express those images in concrete terms to their constituents. Just as architects make drawings and engineers build models, leaders find ways of giving expression to collective hopes for the future.
When talking about the future, people typically speak in terms of foresight, focus, forecasts, future scenarios, points of view, and perspectives. What these words have in common is that they are visual references. The word vision itself has at its root the verb “to see.” Statements of vision, then, should not be statements at all. They should be pictures—word pictures. They’re more image
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G E than words. For a vision to be shared, it needs to be seen in the
mind’s eye. In our workshops and classes, we often illustrate the power of
images with this simple exercise. We ask people to shout out the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the words Paris, France. The replies that pop out—the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Seine, Notre Dame, good food, wine, romance—are all images of real places and real sensations. No one calls out the square kilometers, population, or gross domestic product of Paris. Why? Because most of what we recall about important places or events are those things associated with our senses—sights, sounds, tastes, smells, tactile sensations, and feelings.14
So what does this mean for leaders? It means that to enlist others and inspire a shared vision, you must be able to draw on that very natural mental process of creating images. When you speak about the future, you need to create pictures with words so that others form a mental image of what things will be like when you are at the end of your journey. When talking about going places you’ve never been, you have to be able to imagine what they’ll look like. You have to picture the possibilities.15
Getting people to see a common future does not require some special power. Every one possesses this ability. You do it every time you return from a vacation and show the photos to your friends. If you doubt your own ability, try this exercise. Sit down with a few close friends and tell them about one of your favorite vacations. Describe the people you saw and met, the sights and sounds of the places you went, the smells and tastes of the food you ate. Show them the photos or videos if you have them. Observe their reac- tions—and your own. What’s that experience like? We’ve done this activity many times, and people always report feeling energized and passionate. Those hearing about a place for the first time usually say
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something like, “After listening to you, I’d like to go there someday myself.”