I find that one factor often divides the line between the work of a manager and a leader.  A leader has a vision. Managers have important work to do, but if they have a vision, they are on their way to becoming a leader.

All too often, I have read management practitioners observe with groaning words, “Not another essay on vision.” Yes, many people have weighed in on the value of a vision, and it’s a common insight with a reason: vision is transformational. Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (1985) found that leaders use vision to animate, inspire and transform purpose into action. Vision is a quality of an informed mind capable of being transmitted to others, and capable of generating enthusiasm for action. A very useful interpersonal endowment, vision can be used to start wars or end them, launch thousands of volunteers working for a single purpose, or inspiring artists to dance, sing, or paint. Leaders offer vision as an invitation to be enlisted in a meaningful cause.

Where does one “get vision?” Perhaps vision should arise through inspiration, following a period of readiness that includes hard work, cultivation of serenity and critical thinking.  I think this is often true; a person “earns” the vision by virtue of understanding the issues and being receptive to its message.

Recently I saw the movie The Messenger that portrayed the life of Joan of Arc, a teenager who received a vision that led her to lead French troops against the occupying English army.  I admit that I do not understand this kind of vision, as she did not “earn” her vision as many organizational leaders do today.  The historical Joan did not prepare as a leader, she lived in rural France, yet she led military troops in an assault. She was canonized as a saint; we can say that she was selected by God for her vision, for reasons I cannot understand. Some people receive their vision for mystical reasons.

In my experience with vision, I have to prepare myself.  I gather an idea, and then I test it.  I ask myself hard questions. I question my worth, and my sanity. I also listen to others and what they have to say well before I am willing to share my insight. I nurture vision internally before I ever share it with others. I think that a transformational vision needs a period of fermentation in the soul before it can work to influence others.

The prepared vision seems to be bigger than me.  I may learn to articulate it, and present it to others. Once transmitted, I think the vision is “owned” by all followers; the person of insight may grasp the essential idea and nurture the growth of the idea, perhaps in a new form.

Jonathan Swift wrote “Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.” The leader and friends of the vision may perceive something that does not yet exist, may never exist, but may gain physical form when pursued with passion. The vision may have something of the eternal spirit in it, and the perceivers help to give it form through belief and action. The vision is a potential transformation, and requires an artistic perceiver to express the possibility.

Leadership is an art, and much of the art is the ability to express the vision to followers. Management is not an art, the effective manager does not surprise or innovate.  Managers follow organizational behaviors that do not deviate from the cultural of the workplace.  Leaders are willing to break the expected pattern, to innovate, and take a risk.  Leaders understand that the vision is much more important than the status quo.  An inspirational leader is willing to risk his or her career on a compelling vision.

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