THE CENTER FOR VISIONARY LEADERSHIP.Dr Sammy D.James

Visionary leaders are the builders of a new dawn, working with imagination, insight, and boldness. They present a challenge that calls forth the best in people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. They work with the power of intentionality and alignment with a higher purpose. Their eyes are on the horizon, not just on the near at hand. They are social innovators and change agents, seeing the big picture and thinking strategically.
There is a profound interconnectedness between the leader and the whole, and true visionary leaders serve the good of the whole. They recognize that there is some truth on both sides of most polarized issues in our society today. They search for solutions that transcend the usual adversarial approaches and address the causal level of problems. They find a higher synthesis of the best of both sides of an issue and address the systemic root causes of problems to create real breakthroughs.

VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
Are you someone with a vision burning inside that seeks to manifest? Do you see yourself as a visionary?

What is it that makes a visionary become a visionary leader? A visionary may dream wonderful visions of the future and articulate them with great inspiration. A visionary is good with words. But a visionary leader is good with actions as well as words, and so can bring his/her vision into being in the world, thus transforming it in some way. More than words are needed for a vision to take form in today’s world. It requires leadership and heartfelt commitment.

A visionary leader is effective in manifesting his or her vision because s/he creates specific, achievable goals, initiates action and enlists the participation of others.

What are the qualities and abilities of true visionary leaders? What is the mysterious inner process within leaders that enables them to work their magic and radiate the charisma that mobilizes others for a higher purpose?

Visionary leadership is based on a balanced expression of the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical dimensions. It requires core values, clear vision, empowering relationships, and innovative action. When one or more of these dimensions are missing, leadership cannot manifest a vision.

A COMMITMENT TO CORE SPIRITUAL VALUES

A commitment to values is an outstanding characteristic of all visionary leaders. They embody a sense of personal integrity, and radiate a sense of energy, vitality and will. Will is standing in a spiritual state of being. Will is a spiritual attribute, which allows a leader to stand for something.

More self-aware and reflective than others, visionary leaders follow an inner sense of direction, and lead from the inside out, as exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi. He said, “I must first be the change I want to see in my world.” He was a prime example of a commitment to values, as he freed India by appealing to the moral conscience of Britain and using “satyagraha” or non-violent action to reveal the immorality of the British Empire.

Rather than being corrupted by power, visionary leaders are elevated by power and exercise moral leadership. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, embodies this type of moral leadership, as does Marion Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, who has a deep commitment to children’s welfare.

Many successful leaders in business, such as Jeffrey Swartz of Timberland Shoes, have demonstrated the power of living their values. Swartz pays employees to volunteer in the community and honors the “double bottom line”--profit and values”. Tom Chappell, CEO of Tom’s of Maine, found that he could “do well by doing good.” Doing good-- embodying his values--has made his company very profitable. Tom’s of Maine uses all natural ingredients in their products to protect consumers and the environment.

A CLEAR, INSPIRATIONAL VISION

Visionaries who are successful at manifesting their visions base their leadership on an inspirational, positive picture of the future, as well as a clear sense of direction as to how to get there. Vision is a field that brings energy into form. Effective leaders broadcast a coherent message by themselves embodying their vision, as author Margaret Wheatley notes. They keep communicating the vision to create a strong field which then brings their vision into physical reality. Nelson Mandela clearly held a positive vision of a racially harmonious South Africa during his 28 years in jail and helped bring it into reality peacefully-- to the amazement of the world.

The best visionary leaders move energy to a higher level by offering a clear vision of what is possible. They inspire people to be better than they already are and help them identify with what Lincoln called “the angels of their better nature.” This was the power of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. The creative power of lighted, inspired words can sound a certain inner note that people recognize and respond to. This then creates dramatic social change. Like King, visionary leaders have the ability to sense the deeper spiritual needs of followers and link their current demands to these deeper, often unspoken, need for purpose and meaning.

Visionary leaders often have the ability to see higher spiritual forces at work behind the scenes of events, and they align with the vision of these redemptive forces. Both George Washington and Winston Churchill spoke about the help they received from a “guiding hand.” Churchill said, “...we have a guardian because we serve a great cause, and we shall have that guardian as long as we serve that cause faithfully.”

Sojourner Truth, a former slave, was guided by an inner spiritual experience to preach the emancipation of slaves and women’s rights all over the country during the Civil War. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt had a vision of Mohammed who told him to create peace in the Middle East. This vision is the hidden story behind the Camp David Peace Treaty between Arabs and Israelis.

Visionary leaders transmit energy to people, giving them a new sense of hope and confidence in achieving the vision. Television host Oprah Winfrey helps her guests believe in themselves and work to create a better world.

Visionary leaders often enunciate a vision based on principles that become guideposts for humanity. They intuitively draw on the ageless wisdom and present it in a new synthesis to meet the particular need of the times. In the Brundtland Report, Gro Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, helped synthesize the principles of sustainable development that are needed to protect our environment for future generations.

RESPECTFUL, EMPOWERING RELATIONSHIPS

Good relationships are the heart of effective visionary leaders. They embody a deeply caring approach to people, seeing them as their greatest asset. Aaron Feuerstein, CEO of Malden Mills, kept all his employees on the payroll when a fire destroyed 75% of his factories. His employees were so grateful they helped him rebuild and within a year the company was more profitable than ever.

In contrast to the old style of leadership which tells people what to do, and pushes or dominates them, visionary leaders embody a receptive, as well as a dynamic energy. They know how to listen and learn from other points of view and have fine tuned their communications skills. Rita Bailey, Director of Southwest Airline’s University for People, says the secret of the airline’s amazing financial success is living by the golden rule-treating employees as family, with warmth and respect. Employees then treat customers the same way.

Visionary leaders promote a partnership approach and create a shared sense of vision and meaning with others. They exhibit a greater respect for others and carefully develop team spirit and team learning, Building this sense of shared vision and partnership has also been key to the effectiveness of feminist Gloria Steinem.

The most effective visionary leaders are responsive to the real needs of people and they develop participative strategies to include people in designing their own futures. This approach has been very successful for Robert Haas, the CEO of Levi Strauss. Rather than confront or avoid conflict, the new leaders have learned how to transform conflict into usable energy. They work to unite--rather than divide- people.

INNOVATIVE, COURAGEOUS ACTION

Visionary leaders are especially noted for transforming old mental maps or paradigms, and creating strategies that are “outside the box” of conventional thought. They embody a balance of right brain (rational) and left brain (intuitive) functions. Their thinking is broad and systemic, seeing the big picture, the whole system, and “the pattern that connects.” They then create innovative strategies for actualizing their vision. CNN founder Ted Turner transformed television news by boldly creating an around-the-clock international news network. Sammy D.James great visionary for 21 st century have a vision in the islands of the bahamas,to bring that vision all over the world today.
CEO Ray Anderson took courageous action in transforming his world-wide company, Interface Carpets, into the most environmentally sustainable corporation. Interface launched a massive effort to cut its use of energy, replace petroleum-based supplies with vegetable-based substitutes, and reduce emissions by 24%. Customers now don’t buy a wall-to-wall carpet--they rent one--and when it wears out, all its component parts are recycled, and the customer receives a new one.

Visionary leaders anticipate change and are proactive, rather than reactive to events. Their focus is on opportunities, not on problems. They emphasize win/win--rather than adversarial win/lose--approaches. This is the strategy of environmental economist Hazel Henderson, author of Building a Win/Win World, who created The Calvert/Henderson Sustainable Indicators with the Calvert Social Investment Funds.Body Shop founder Anita Roddick addressed health and environmental problems, as well as poverty in the Third World, through the innovative strategies she designed for her hugely successful products and stores. Products are made of non-polluting ingredients and stores are opened in poor neighborhoods to provide employment and return profit to the community.

When we see a truly visionary leader accomplishing great things, s/he is drawing on the resources of their soul and its remarkable capabilities. Each of us can access our inner resources to become a more effective leader in our own field. First we must be willing to take initiative and stand for something we believe in passionately. We must be ready to take the heat. Many of us avoid the responsibility of leadership primarily because we are too sensitive to criticism. But when we know who we truly are and we live from an inner core of values, criticism can be filtered to take in only what is true and helpful to our growth.

Today, as we enter the Third Millennium, thousands of new visionary leaders are emerging in all fields of human endeavor around the world, leading a quiet revolution energized by power of the soul. By appreciating and supporting those who lead from their core spiritual values, we strengthen those leadership qualities in ourselves.

Dr:Sammy D.James/president and founder/ W V M I.




Visionary Leadership.


Elements of Visionary Leadership

The Objective is to increase workplace efficiency by controlling elementary problems with workplace education tools. Workplace education finds efficient ways to get jobs done.

The Goal - The goal in any task is to get the job done. Leadership style controls efficiency, which controls competitive value of product or service, which determines the winner.

Leadership Innovation – Today, fast growing organizations are built on leadership innovation, that is, they are not built by product visionaries but by social visionaries — those who invent entirely new ways of organizing human effort. Southwest Airlines, Inc. is an example.

Definition of Terms
Visionary Leadership increases efficiency by moving decision-making responsibility to the frontline. Efficiency is achieved with limited supervision. To make frontline responsibility effective, leadership must give workers opportunity to develop quality decision-making skills and learn to trust them. Wal-Mart stores use visionary leadership.

Standard leadership assumes employees to be robots and do as they are told. This is based on man’s natural instinct that only leadership is capable of making quality decisions. This is known as command-and-control leadership. Low efficiency is caused by the disconnect between management and the frontline. Management is busy dealing with problems that affect them while ignoring problems that affect the frontline. Front line problems are only dealt with when they explode into a major problem. K-Mart stores use standard leadership.

Workplace education creates a workforce of quality decision makers. Employees at all levels have the opportunity to discover and develop their unique skills, thereby, inspiring them to become quality decision-makers. The key word is “opportunity.” Not everyone will embrace this opportunity, but the few that do will inspire others with positive attitudes. This can only be achieved with visionary leadership.

Primary Elements
Organization structure controls decision-making responsibility. Visionary leadership allows decision-making responsibility all the way down to the frontline. Standard leadership limits decision making to management.

Priorities – Organization priorities control leadership style.

When priority is responsibility at the frontline, leadership will seek talent, people he can depend on to complete tasks with limited supervision. The policy will be “do it.” The frontline develops quality decision-making skills that are also found in layers of management.
When the priority is control, leadership will be organized in a way that all decisions must have approval. The policy will be “do not do anything until being told.” Layers of management slow the final decision, while lowering efficiency.

Policies - Leadership style is controlled by workplace policies. Leaders will adapt their style to the organization priorities and its goals.

High efficiency workplaces are based on visionary leadership, where workplace policies authorize decision-making responsibility at the frontline. Limited supervision is needed with worker responsibility.
Standard leadership is based on man’s instinctive desire for control, which is leadership by default. A leader’s changing mood controls policy of the moment and no one knows what the priorities are – mood-changing priorities reduce efficiency. Standard leadership requires a high level of supervision.

Elementary problems - Leadership style controls the level of elementary problems, which controls workplace efficiency. Level of elementary problems is controlled, in part, by learning opportunities and leader’s personal priority.

Decision-making responsibility, at all levels, allows minor problems to be solved by those who are first aware of them. Management can stay focused on problems related to the organization goals. As a bonus, employee motivation is high when they feel what they are doing makes a difference.
A leader’s desire for control prevents minor problems from being solved, because no one can make a decision without approval. Leaders’ priorities are based on high visibility events. As employees adjust work habits to minor problems, they become accepted as normal. The volume of these problems slowly grows and the workforce slowly becomes less efficient. Management blames workers for their lack of ability to get the job done. Assigning blame without responsibility solves nothing.

Learning opportunity - Quality of worker decisions is controlled by workplace learning opportunities.

Learning to make quality decisions is the result of worker responsibility, resulting in the development of personal skills. An experienced workforce prevents elementary problems. Continuous learning opportunity is highly motivating—it controls employee inspiration, skill level and quality.
People, who only follow orders, do not have learning opportunity, do not develop personal skills and do not learn quality decision making. A workforce that is indifferent to the needs of the organization increases elementary problems. Workers learn no more than necessary to their job.

Achievers – Everyone wants to be an achiever in and out of the workplace. With workplace ambitions, leadership promotes or kills this desire.

People, who have a burning drive to be an achiever, seek opportunity in organizations that have a reputation of supporting personal ambitions. Their presents inspire coworkers to do the same or simply be proud of their surroundings. Leadership welcomes subordinates more capable than themselves, because their first priority is to get the job done with limited supervision.
Command-and-control leadership drives away visionary achievers. Should they become employed, they will soon quit or be fired. Leaders do not want their status threatened by ambitious subordinates or someone more capable than themselves, because their first priority is control. As a result, the workforce waits for official decisions and waits for things to happen. A high level of supervision in needed to keep things moving.

Natural talent - Leadership style controls the ability to recognize natural talent. No one knows what their true capabilities are until they are given opportunity and responsibility.

Where workers have decision-making responsibility, unique skills and natural talent are soon recognized by coworkers and leadership. An employee may discover talent he did not know he had. With discovery, he can search for ways to develop it. Efficiency increases when natural talent is in harmony with assigned tasks.
Where workers only follow orders—unique skills, natural talent and discovery of capabilities are lost to the company and its employees.

Skill level – The ability and desire to share knowledge with coworkers influences the continuing education level of the workforce, thereby, increasing skill level and the value of their services. Workplace education is dead for people who only follow orders.

Technology – Today’s technology is reducing the time it takes to get jobs done. Workplace education is the only way to stay on technology’s leading edge. Visionary leadership, not standard, is the only way for the organization to be a leader in its field.

Getting the job done – Projects only have value when the job is completed, until then, it is garbage. Competitive value depends on the efficiency of getting the job done, which is based on keeping elementary problems to a minimum. Efficiency is also a byproduct of employees’ attitude towards their job. Leadership, opportunity and responsibility influence attitude.

Elements to Consider
Ethical policies – Ethical policies at the organization’s top filter down to the frontline. It is not possible to have unethical policies at the top and enforce ethical policies at the bottom. Leaders’ ethical policies become the mindset of the organization. A person with high ethical standards will not stay long in an organization with low ethical standards, they will quit or be fired. A potential whistle blower becomes a threat, yet, this type of person makes an organization efficient. Success of workplace responsibility requires high ethical policies from top to bottom.

Exception to the rule - The military uses command-and-control leadership, yet the troops are highly skilled, motivated and morale is high. This is opposite the statements stated above. The difference - military organizations are team orientated with continuous training. Troops expanding their skills and experiencing capabilities they never dreamed possible, produces a highly motivated and efficient organization. Learning opportunity and responsibility is the key.

Hiring a visionary leader – Very often, an organization realizes it needs to upgrade its leadership. Management can recognize quality in an applicant, but they do not know how to manage them, should they be hired. The first thing current leadership does is tell new leadership how to manage, using their policies. They are in the habit of giving orders and expect them to do as they say while getting desired results. Current leadership does not want to change, they want the new leader to change subordinates attitudes. Attitudes are reflections of leadership. If leadership wants subordinates to change their attitudes, current leaders must first change their attitudes and develop quality leadership skills. Then they can adapt and benefit from the experiences of visionary leadership.

Self-education – Man has the ability to educate himself without instructors – commonly known as self-education. Employees, of organizations that stay on the leading edge of technology, know how to educate themselves. This is the only way to adapt new technology as it comes on the market. The education system waits for market demand before it is offered in classrooms. Organizations that wait for classroom instruction are on the trailing edge of technology.

Resources - Efficiency is as effective as available resources—tools, supplies, work environment—to complete tasks. Employees will work hard to get jobs done, but they need quality resources to be efficient. Resources influence pride, which affects efficiency.

Self-fulfilling prophecy - If leaders want to control workers, they will lead in such a way that self-fulfilling prophecy will condition workers to do nothing unless closely supervised. If leaders want workers to assume responsibility, they must lead in such a way that self-fulfilling prophecy will condition workers to assume responsibility. Employee turnover sorts personalities, attracting people who fit the leader’s image and rejecting those who do not, thus fulfilling the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Social prejudice believes other people are less capable than we are. If we are managers and we think other people are less capable, then we will establish a management policy that reflects that belief. Through employee turnover and self-fulfilling prophecy, our opinion will be proven right.

The Visionary Leadership Programs Are Offered by Conscious Company Worldwide and Evolution Unlimited
A program for anyone with the desire to grow as an authentic instrument of conscious change and anyone ready to recognize that they are, in fact, already leaders – leaders in business, organizations, sports teams, social groups, and even amongst your family and friends.

Visionary Leadership in World Futures

Does global leadership still face an open moment in this post-Cold War period, as Harlan Cleveland asks? Will the 21st century fulfill its anticipatory promise, envisioned by thousands of new millennium celebrations from 1999 to 2000?

Or has our world, since September 11th entered a black hole of civilization wars, energy shortfalls, failed peace plans, and killer storms? Is this New World Disorder destined to foreclose any sustainable trajectory for international security, trade, social justice or the natural environment?

Drawing upon Robert's biographical research method, this paper will compare and contrast two influential leaders in the first half of the 20th century; H.G. Wells-the futurist and John R. Mott-the ecumenist. Following their introduction, this paper will define three behavioral leadership characteristics, gathered from Kouzes and Posner's book on visionary leadership theory: challenging, inspiring, and enabling. Using these practices as yardsticks, Well's and Mott's leadership style will be compared and contrasted. This paper will conclude with insights on how Well's and Mott's visionary leadership could help non-governmental leaders today address the Global Problematique or Civilizational Crisis of the 21st century (Meadows et al; Slaughter).

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) burst on the scene in 1895 as author of The Time Machine. This was quickly followed by a series of science fiction classics, including The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds and The Island of Dr. Moreau. Through these and other social novels, such as A Modern Utopia, Wells awoke a complacent Victorian age to the enormous scale of change unleashed, through ideas such as Darwinian evolution, the Industrial revolution, and national ideology. Following World War I, in books such as The Open Conspiracy or The Shape of Things to Come, Wells turned from forecasting the crisis of western civilization to advocating for world reorganization beyond militarism. He educated a new workforce of adult learners through his trilogy of integrated knowledge, An Outline of History, The Science of Life,and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind. Wells eventually wrote over 110 books over the course of 50 years, concluding with his bleak farewell, Mind at the End of the Tether in 1945. While the public saw the novelist, journalist or mass educator, Wells thought of himself as a visionary leader offering science, socialism and world service to both youth and the intellectual advant garde who could bring forth an organic world state to replace a shell-shocked western civilization.

John R. Mott (1865-1955) came of age in the YMCA student association in the 1880s and, by the year 1900, had formed the international associations of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Mission (SVM) and the World Student Christian Federation. Within a decade Mott had convened the comprehensive Protestant "World Mission Conference" in Edinburgh based on the vision expressed in the book, The Evangelization of the World in this Generation. This led to the rise of the International Missionary Council, a coordinating body for Christian service around the world, the seedbed from which the World Council of Churches was formed in 1946 (Hogg). In that year Mott received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in leading the young people of the world. In 1955 he died at the age of 90, still a Methodist layperson, yet recognized as the leading apostle of Christian unity during the 20th century (Hopkins).

Both Wells and Mott were visionary world leaders. Both labored through non-governmental organizations. Both challenged personal complacency, hypocrisy and selfishness in the face of militarism, nationalism and industrialism. Both were contemporaries who called young people to world service. Yet there is no record they ever met or corresponded. This is despite common acquaintances with world leaders such as Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt or Winston Churchill. Mott labored within the industrial age framework and championed its enterprise, while Wells worked as a socialist on its periphery, to challenge what Wallerstein calls the modern "world system" of capitalism. Two decades after Wells and Mott's death, each life was marked with publications to celebrate their birth centennials (Costa; Mackie). Despite these scholarly assessments of each leader's work, no paper has examined these men from the vantage point of leadership studies as defined by Burns, Bass or Yukl. This study aims to fill this void, and contribute to the growing body of literature that examines civic or non-profit / NGO leadership, in contrast to government or business leadership.

The method used to examine Wells and Mott is drawn from the biographical research method, while the comparative constructs are taken from visionary leadership. To study historical figures, Roberts claims the biographical research method offers context, depth and meaning. It allows the voice of subjects to be heard, and seeks to understand them in their context. Biographical descriptions and speeches of the leader are usually analyzed to identify behaviors, traits, critical incidents and influence processes. These in turn are evaluated against leadership characteristics. This study will draw its characteristics or constructs for comparison from visionary leadership theory.

Visionary leadership is recognized as a companion to charismatic leadership (Conger and Kanungo; Shamir et al) under the larger framework of transformational leadership (Burns; Bass). Most scholars consider leadership vision or 'visioning' as an organizational and societal process with three distinct steps: (a) as envisioning a desired future state, which (b) when communicated to followers, serves (c) to empower those followers to enact the vision. Westley and Mintzberg (17-18) represent this process in shorthand as:

vision (idea) --> communication (word) --> empowerment (action).

A biographical study, however, needs to translate this process into leadership characteristics. Kouzes and Posner's assessment of exemplary or visionary leadership has been a benchmark in managerial development for over a decade. Their Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) measures five leader behaviors. Its underlying factor studies have been sustained across a wide variety of industries, including the non-profit sector. The five practices are:

(a) Challenging the Process: the extent the leader questions assumption, experiments and takes risk;

(b) Inspiring a Shared Vision, the degree the leader describes an exciting view of the future;

(c) Enabling Others to Act, the amount of cooperative and participative decision making used by the leader

(d) Modelling the Way, the extent the leader consistently practices his or her espoused values; and

(e) Encouraging the Heart, the degree the leader gives positive feedback, publicly recognizes individual contributions and celebrates team achievements.