Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership Part Two Inspire a Shared Vision
Another common trait among successful leader personal best stories was how they imagined a highly attractive, exciting future for their organization. Inspiring a vision of what could be, a dream and conviction for a better life is a guiding post, which pulls you up towards its achievement. This is the seed that grows into a tree. Every organization, or social movement, started with a dream and vision. This force can make incredible things happen.
Inspiration is not easy for most people. What gets people excited, however, is results. With persistence and constant effort showing you are dedicated to change, this is the greatest inspiration you can achieve. People must be able to see they can take ownership of the dream for themselves, and understand how it will affect the happiness of everyone to take part in it. It must be a two-way street.
It all centers on effective communication. Leaders must understand their constituents and speak their language. People must truly believe leaders understand their needs and have their interests at heart. Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue. To enlist support, leaders must have intimate knowledge of peoples dreams, hopes, aspirations, visions, and values.
An exemplary leader will breathe life into the hopes and dreams of others, and enable them to see the exciting possibilities of the future. It is possible to lay the groundwork of clarifying the values and goals of the dream, and then ignite the passion by enthusiastic commitment to it.
Becoming a forward looking person is a quality we look for in our leaders. In a sense you begin to live your life backward, envisioning where you want to be and pulling yourself towards that future vision.
The vision does not and cannot be simply a singular dream. It involves the needs and wants of the community, so honest reflection on what you know on that regard is important to take into consideration. It may be a great idea to have a questionnaire filled out so you can better understand those needs, and then to have a meeting to discuss future directions and current organizational culture.
Before a big change, it is often important to get others already involved in the process, so it does not come as a shocking shift, or laws sent from on up above - instead it is a communal process of reorganization, for the improvement of all parties.