The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. -Helen Keller
As has been the case so often in recent months, when I started writing this article the current events facing our world were completely different than they are today. Given what has unfolded in the past week, I set aside the content I was planning to cover for June, in honor of our nation’s dialogue around racial inequality.
I want to revisit the first article I ever wrote for this blog featuring two voices from powerful leaders that never met but shared a universal vision about what is possible for our nation and our world.
Courageous Visions: Key Elements for Leadership Vision: Two Nobel Laureates’ Perspectives
What is it about the communication of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malala Yousafzai? They are decades apart yet their message is universal and relevant to the human condition today.
After growing up in the late fifties and sixties, I listened to the communication of leaders at many levels. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, political discussions cropped up at every dinner table conversation. While I was unaware of what good leadership skills looked like, I still felt the power of effective communication. Even as a small child, I sensed unease and fear in the McCarthy hearings. In contrast, Eisenhower projected security in his calm pattern of communicating.
Then it happened … One of the most compelling and courageous English language visions in the Twentieth Century was delivered in August of 1963: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream.” What made it touch us? Why could we see all and each of us in his dream? What made his words so powerful?
I say to you today my friends, even though we face difficulties today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
James Kouzes and Barry Posner studied the effective visioning and communication of Dr. King and other leaders, and identified the specific elements these leaders incorporate into their personal values and dialogue. It is these qualities combined with the ability to pull others into one’s vision that compel others to follow and listen to a leader’s message.
An Inspiring Vision Requires:
IDEAL: It speaks to hopes, dreams, contribution, and aspirations.
UNIQUE: It reveals the extraordinary that makes us distinctive. It implies that being part of this vision will make us a part of something greater than ourselves.
IMAGES: It asks us to remember our past and project our future in mental pictures.
FUTURE ORIENTED: It offers a description of an exciting possibility we desire in the future.
COMMON GOOD: It delivers a shared sense of destiny, a way to “belong” and move forward.
There is now another vision that historians will be referring to for years to come. This one made by recent Nobel Laureate recipient, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai to the United Nations on July 12, 2013.
Malala’s communication is an outstanding example of the defining elements of a vision. As Kouzes and Posner defined it, “A vision is an IDEAL and UNIQUE IMAGE of the FUTURE for the COMMON GOOD.” As Martin Luther King offered a way for conflicting factions to align in the United States, Malala offers the global community a symbol of a peaceful protest. I am using her story to provide examples of the elements of shared vision and how she inspires others to share in it.
IDEAL: It speaks to hopes, dreams, contribution, and aspirations.
“I raise my voice … so that those without a voice can be heard, those who have fought for their rights—their right to live in peace, their right to be treated with dignity, their right to equality of opportunity, their right to be educated.”
UNIQUE: It finds the extraordinary that makes us distinctive. It implies that being a part of this vision will make us a part of something greater than ourselves.
“The terrorists thought they would change our aims and stop our ambitions, but … strength, power, and courage was born.”
IMAGES: It asks us to remember our past and project our future in mental pictures.
“I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him. I want education for the sons and daughters of all the extremists.”
FUTURE ORIENTED: It offers a description of an exciting possibility we desire in the future.
“Dear brothers and sisters, we want school and education for every child’s bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination for peace and education for everyone. No one can stop us.”
COMMON GOOD: It delivers a shared sense of destiny, what all group members want.
“So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism and let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, and one book can change the world.”
In their book, The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner conclude that inspiring a shared vision is key among good leadership skills—and woefully lacking by leaders in organizations today. They explored the concept of vision and the excruciating need of it in the workplace and anywhere people needed to align to make a better outcome, future, and difference.
Why do we need to stretch ourselves?
I know it may seem like too much of a stretch to move from this place we are standing today to a new visionary framework, but it is exactly what needs to happen. If there is no global, national, or local vision you can organize around, build your own. Start with yourself first and your personal vision for building a life focused on equality and connection and then expand to your family, your work, your community.
As Nelson Mandela said, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” Change starts with each of us internally and intentionally setting our course. We don’t have to agree, but we owe it to each other to try to move forward and to understand and build empathy in the process.
Vision works. It expands what is possible not just in the moment but for generations. I believe the two Nobel Laureate leaders explored in this article and the relevance of their words today speaks to the power of one person’s ability to set a course toward a brighter future.
Need help crafting your vision? If you’d like to explore the visioning process in developing leadership skills, as a singular act or as part of a group, please contact me. I have four worksheets (excerpted from The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner) which will stimulate your shared vision of the future.
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