Change comes from a vision

A vision always ignites change because it does not allow settling for the status quo. Visionary leaders always seek to attain their visions. A vision is like a guiding star and it is not reached as a destination in a limited time. As you get near it, it still seems to be far away. A vision is a picture of an ideal and perfect situation people want to be in or see happen. Visionary people always take action and work to make changes in order to get closer to their vision quickly. For a visionary leader, time is too short and each day counts until the last day. A visionary leader is always in a hurry and busy every day with lots of things to do and move forward. A lifetime span for an individual is too short for a vision to be achieved. A vision crosses many generations. A vision is passed on from generation to generation. Looking back on history, great leaders never reached their visions, they passed them on to other generations, and even after death their visions live on. However, visionary leaders fix goals, objectives, and missions to be achieved in a given limited time. They initiate and carry out concrete action plans to achieve specific missions, goals, and objectives. Every time some goals are attained, new ones get fixed to pursue the journey towards the vision. A visionary leader is never satisfied and always seeks improvement.

Jesus Christ had a vision for the Kingdom of God, and He worked hard during His three years of ministry on earth and passed His work on to His disciples. His vision was transferred to Christian leaders from generation to generation until now. Jesus Christ accomplished his mission on earth to redeem humanity, but not all people are yet saved or understand the Kingdom of God. The work goes on. His vision is still to be reached.

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. His dream or vision was to make the United States of America a country with equal rights and opportunities for all its citizens, including African-Americans. He reached some goals to abolish racial discrimination in many areas, including public transportation, employment, voting, and education. Despite great developments made, the USA is still struggling to attain King’s dream. The dream of equality regardless of race is still far away; cases of discrimination against African-Americans are still common.

Nelson Mandela struggled to abolish discrimination in South Africa and allow all South Africans to benefit from the wealth of their country. However, he succeeded in making South Africa a democratic state with equal voting rights for all. After his death, his successors are still working hard to get closer to Mandela’s vision. The social and economic divide is still wide. The poverty among the majority of South Africans limits opportunities for inclusive prosperity.

In the corporate world, business people have visions for which they always bring innovations, new business models, and new technologies to effect changes. The late Steve Jobs was a technological champion and businessman in the last decades of the 20th Century. Steve Jobs' mission statement for Apple in 1980 was: ‘To contribute to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.’ Steve Jobs died in 2011, and Apple still works on digital tools to improve humankind.

In all walks of life of personal, social, economic, cultural, and technological arenas, visions are started but never reached. Achieving a vision is a continuous and never-ending process. Visionary leaders work hard during their lifetime to get closer to their visions, but the time will come to pass it on to their successors, and their visions will live on. During their lifetime genuine visionary leaders keep leading. Visionary leaders pursue their dreams until they die.

A visionary leader does not get a job; he gets a mission to accomplish and a situation to move closer to a fixed vision. There is often confusion between a leadership position and a high-level official title or office. Being a president, minister, CEO, bishop, director or chief does not automatically qualify a person as a leader. A person with an official title or position can be a good manager but not necessarily a good leader. A visionary leader is a person who pursues a vision without being mandated or employed for it. A visionary leader does not need a title or a position. With or without a title or position, a visionary leader will work and struggle continuously to achieve a vision. A visionary leader never becomes complacent. A visionary leader always generates new ideas to challenge the status quo. Visionary leaders keep inspiring changes right up to their death. Unlike an official title or position that has a mandate and a term limit, visionary leaders do not need a mandate and have no term limit; they never relinquish their leadership positions. Visionary leaders with official titles or positions would relinquish their jobs or positions but never quit their work of leading and making change. They continue leading on ideas (not necessarily on people) that seeks to inspire change. However, because visionary leaders are always aware of the fact that their lives will be shorter than their vision, they strive to mentor and empower other people who will assume the mantle of their vision when they are no longer there. The priority of visionary leaders is to ensure that even in their absence the vision will live on. The activity of empowering, training, coaching, and mentoring new leaders becomes a top priority for a visionary leader.

Visionary leadership involves establishing and effectively communicating a compelling vision that captures the hearts and minds of others, inspiring them to set aside their own agendas and interests in order to work towards fulfilling that vision. The vision becomes the enduring legacy of the leader, transcending their own lifespan and creating lasting change for future generations.

Contrary to popular belief, the vision itself is more significant than the visionary leader. While a leader may come and go, the vision remains and continues to produce change indefinitely. The success of a leader is ultimately determined by the extent to which their successors are able to successfully realize and carry forward the vision.

Written Mr. Juvenal Turatsinze