How leaders can inspire the future

The arrival at any milestone, on the path of any pursuit, is not the end of a journey. Every milestone is a stepping stone for the opening of new vistas of opportunities and understanding. To see beyond the visible is a predominant trait required in a leader. The end of a journey should always be the start of the next journey.

The seeds for developing active imagination are often sown at a young age. This ability can only be gathered through toil and an extensive reading habit. Parents and managers who remain attentively focused on this aspect end up producing visionaries who emerge as professionals, in the shape and form of doctors, scientists, lawyers, economists, professors and politicians.

For improvements in the performance standards of workers, an enlightened leader/manager would make efforts to ensure that teammates are continuously equipped with new bodies of knowledge, which will prompt them to think beyond their respective assignments. The leader has to be the one possessed of a great deal of imagination -- to the greatest extent possible. It is only such an attitude that leads to innovation and creativity.

Besides reading and learning from corporate and business history or even from the life chronicles of great business leaders, there is an imperative need for the leader to surround him/herself with people/ colleagues who would offer ‘good counsel and advice’.

From history, it is established that the advisers of Queen Mary were busy convincing her to have her sister, Elizebeth I, executed to achieve stability in England. All that while, Elizabeth was promising her subjects that she would not be acting in isolation but would heavily rely upon her advisers' counsel and advice. Later, when she became the queen of England, Elizabeth I ruled the longest, by ‘listening’ to her subjects. She was a keen student, always willing to broaden the horizon of her understanding by seeking guidance from others. She subscribed to a shared vision. Moderation in all aspects of rule and governance was the hallmark of her long reign.

Business managers similarly need to learn how essential it is to have a circuit of followers who must serve well by being courageous in offering fresh and new insights into the management and growth of the organization. Those team members who choose to sit on the fence and try gauging and measuring which way the wind will blow are essentially cowards whose only ambition in life is to please others. They are devoid of opinions of their own. They lack expertise in any area to be able to offer sound advice.

A band of such team members can never keep up with the times, for they fail utterly in satisfying themselves and their supervisors. Leaders must have a vision that is capable of offering plenty of thoughts, ideas and action. They have to necessarily force their followers to see beyond the visible which is possible only when teams are blessed with leaders who can inspire.

The followers led by Moses had within their ranks people who were apprehensive when they arrived at the shore of the Red Sea because they could see no land beyond the horizon. They could not see what Moses saw based on his faith in the unseen and the invisible. Only when he walked into the waters did they all realize his faith to foster them to safety from shore to shore. He saw beyond the horizon.

Like politicians, business leaders are also judged by the vision they espouse for their institutions. This is not to suggest that all of them need to come up with a vision that has pomp, glory and grandiose designs. A less-than-dramatic vision is also good for organizations. The only, and possibly cardinal, requirement is to be certain that it is workable and achievable. It must also yield positive dividends for the workforce at large. The ability to see beyond the horizon has to be bold yet simple -- new but not in conflict with moral or cultural nuances.

The courage and boldness of the leader must offer followers an assurance that the goals are achievable and not too distant. An active leader/ manager will be able to circumnavigate the different and difficult terrain of the marketplace with agility and confidence. To harness the support of the team members, managers must articulate their vision, with absolute clarity.

Against all the insecurities of the future, a leader must come up with a vision for his/her institution that instils the confidence to survive beyond the tumult and turbulence of market forces. Leaders need to have a view beyond the visible horizons.

The writer is a senior banker and a freelance columnist.