A Vision Is Not Just A Picture

Life Is Full Of Cycles That Have A Way Of Perpetuating Themselves. Success And Failure Both Feed On Themselves. Things Can Go Downhill Quickly, With People Bogged Down By Ineffective Behavior And Poor Teamwork, Unless Leaders Intervene To Shift The Cycle.

It Is Crucial To Recognize, Reward, And Celebrate Accomplishments.

Pessimists See Problems As Stemming From Stable And Universal Causes, Thus Making Them Less Susceptible To Corrective Action. Optimists, In Contrast, View Problems As Temporary And Resulting From Specific Factors That Will Either Change Or Be Changed.

In Most Important Ways, Leaders Of The Future Will Need The Traits And Capabilities Of Leaders Throughout History: An Eye For Change And A Steadying Hand To Provide Both Vision And Reassurance That Change Can Be Mastered, A Voice That Articulates The Will Of The Group And Shapes It To Constructive Ends, And An Ability To Inspire By Force Of Personality While Making Others Feel Empowered To Increase And Use Their Own Abilities.

Change Masters Are - Literally - The Right People In The Right Place At The Right Time. The Right People Are The Ones With The Ideas That Move Beyond The Organization's Established Practice, Ideas They Can Form Into Visions. The Right Places Are The Integrative Environments That Support Innovation, Encourage The Building Of Coalitions And Teams To Support And Implement Visions. The Right Times Are Those Moments In The Flow Of Organizational History When It Is Possible To Reconstruct Reality On The Basis On Accumulated Innovations To Shape A More Productive And Successful Future.