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    Kotter's Point of View: Leading in the 21st Century 7

     
    June 1, 2000
    More Early Thoughts on Leadership

    Visionary Leadership
    Visionary/Transforming Leaders...

    Energy-Unleashing Leadership
    Energy-Unleashing Leaders...
    Think in terms of market-oriented visions and strategies;

    Look broadly around their domains and are willing to challenge the status quo;

    Work with others to create guiding elements for the group or enterprise, despite the difficulties in doing so;

    Understand that a vision is not a plan, that a strategy is more than numbers;

    Even at lower levels in organizations, they set clear direction by generating visions/strategies relevant to their areas of responsibility.

    Fight past the cynicism and fear inside themselves to find their hopes, dreams, and childhood ideals;

    Help other people do the same, mostly through leader role modeling, even though that makes them vulnerable to criticism from "realistic" colleagues;

    Use the passion and creative power that is released from these actions to shape exceptionally bold group goals;

    When ideals are involved, just "good" is never good enough, and that attitude affects all visions and strategies.

    Visionary Leaders Energy-Unleashing Leaders
    Believe in and seek teamwork by constantly communicating visions and strategies;

    Communicate both with words and with their actions, and do so day after day and week after week;

    No meeting ends without some reference to longer-term goals;

    Often escape their offices to deliver messages face-to-face and to role model the teamwork they need.

    Refuse to accept any parochial or self indulgent behavior;

    "Do what is right" is the guiding principal, and it’s created by appealing to very basic human values, by appealing to that which we share regardless of educational background, nationality, religion, or race: a desire for security for self and family, for love, for respect, for opportunities to grow, for a sense of purpose in one’s life;

    The talk goes beyond what we do (strategies) or how we do things (rules) to who we are.

    Visionary Leaders Energy-Unleashing Leaders
    Motivate action with positive incentives of all sorts: a pat on the back, public recognition, extra money in the paycheck;

    Tend to attack, sometimes courageously, that which can de-motivate employees, no matter the source;

    Dealing with these leaders, one senses the enthusiasm, even from introverted individuals;

    Working with them is exciting!

    Help people unleash untapped energies in pursuit of the tough group goals. They do so, partially, by creating work that has true meaning, work that speaks to a deep level inside individuals, to that which some would call spiritual;

    The tenor of the conversation seems to always address the unasked (and very difficult) questions of: so what?; why are we here?; what difference does this make?; what difference can we make?; what difference should we make?

    [ Back ] [ Additional Resources ]

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