IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES
“The human being is the only animal that thinks about the future” (italics in the original), writes Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychol- ogy at Harvard University. “The greatest achievement of the human brain is its ability to imagine objects and episodes that do not exist in the realm of the real, and it is this ability that allows us to think about the future.”1 Our data support the importance of this ability
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in leaders. Being forward-looking is the second-most admired char- acteristic that people look for in those people they would willingly follow. In fact, it’s this quality of focusing on the future that most differentiates people who are seen as leaders from those who are not. Nearly three out of four respondents expect this from their leaders, whereas less than 30 percent expect this quality in their col- leagues. However, researchers who study executives’ work activities have estimated that, unfortunately, only about 3 percent of the typical businessperson’s time is spent thinking about the future.2 It’s something to which every leader needs to give more time and attention.
Leaders are dreamers. Leaders are idealists. Leaders are possibil- ity thinkers. All enterprises, big or small, begin with the belief that what’s merely an image today can one day be made real. It’s this belief that sustains leaders through the difficult times. Turning pos- sibility thinking into an inspiring vision—and one that is shared—is another one of your challenges as a leader.
When we ask people to tell us where their visions come from, they often have great difficulty describing the process. And when they do provide an answer, typically it’s more about a feeling, a sense, even a gut reaction. Clarifying your vision, like clarifying your values, is an intuitive and emotional process of self-exploration and self-creation. There’s often no logic to it. You just feel strongly about something, and that sense, that intuition has to be fully explored.3 Visions are reflections of one’s fundamental beliefs and assumptions about human nature, technology, economics, science, politics, art, and ethics.
A vision of the future is much like a literary or musical theme. It’s the prominent and pervasive message that you want to convey, the frequently recurring melody that you want people to remember; and whenever it’s repeated, it reminds the audience of the entire
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G E work. Every leader needs a theme, something on which he or
she can structure the rest of the performance. Think about these questions:
What’s your prominent message? What’s your recurring theme? What idea, feeling, aspiration, or concern grabs hold of you and
won’t let you go? What do you most want people to envision every time they think
about the future?
For many leaders, the answers don’t come easily—at first. For- tunately there are ways you can improve your capacity to imagine exciting possibilities and to discover the central theme for your life and the lives of others. Improvement comes when you engage in conscious introspection. This requires you to reflect on your past, attend to the present, prospect the future, and feel your passion.