Fixing the Reason Vision Casting Flops
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Casting vision to hopeless people is like feeding cake to the dead. The greatest vision in the world is meaningless in the absence of hope.
It’s more important to build hope than it is to cast vision. Hope builds confidence. Confident people dare to act.
The Gift:
Fear rules where hope sleeps. Giving hope is the greatest gift leaders give.
Hope fuels first steps toward uncertain destinations. Hope enables letting go and pressing forward. Hopeful people persevere. Without hope, safety dominates our attitudes and controls our behaviors; the evil status quo wins.
Giving hope:
- Servanthood empowers hope building. The moment others believe you are in it for yourself is the moment you drain their hope.
- Consistency builds hope. Having favorites undermines hope. All the rules apply to all the people all the time.
- Celebrating failure invigorates hope. When Jack Welch blew up a manufacturing plant (no one was injured), his boss’s boss asked, “What did we learn?” Additionally, Peter Mcintyre wisely said, “Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.”
- Clear performance metrics drive hope. Explain what you expect, clearly.
- Belief in them makes them hopeful. Your doubts about their competencies and abilities drain their hope. Put people in roles where you believe they can succeed.
- Feeling understood enriches hope. Few things are more powerful than feeling seen and appreciated by others.
- Feeling like we fit in protects hope. Avoid negative comparisons.
- Celebrating small wins affirms hope. Give complements without suggesting improvements.
- Letting go while extending support drives hope. Trust people to perform. Be there to support.
- Expressing passion brings vitality to hope. Determine the inner motivations of others and adapt.
How can leaders instill hope?
Which of these ideas seem most useful? Why?
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THE HOPE DIAMOND
The most precious diamond in the world cannot be purchased, it can only be accepted.
The most precious diamond in the world cannot be seen, it can only be felt.
The most precious diamond in the world cannot be worn around your neck, it can only be kept safe in your heart.
The most precious diamond in the world cannot be taken away, it can only be given away.
The most precious diamond in the world is free for the asking, and you can have as many as you ask for.
The most precious diamond in the world is stronger than iron, but is more fragile than a dream.
The most precious diamond in the world is always genuine, because there is no such thing as false hope.
From the book “The Healing Tree” by Joe Tye
Hi Joe,
Great seeing you again and thanks for getting the conversation started.
Your quote is beautiful… especially “there is no such thing as false hope”
I’m glad I own “The Healing Tree” if my readers are interested they can check it out at: http://www.healing-story.com/buythebook.html
Best to you,
Dan
Thanks Dan – Leadership Freak is one of the first posts I read in the morning 🙂
Thanks Dan, I needed that.
I had that “feeding cake to the dead” feeling myself recently. You have expressed a very important part of vision casting, and the is keeping hope alive in the participants.
No matter how clear the vision you see, if they have no hope, you will not get them there.
Hope keeps the vision alive and moving in the proper direction, even when the vision caster is not physically present.
Great and timely post.
Martina
@martinamcgowan
Hi Martina,
I love how you added, “even when the vision caster is not physically present.”
I’ve been thinking about the frustration of trying to motivate people externally. Once we begin we have to continue. It’s frustrating. But when we can touch a person’s inner motivation it sets both people free.
Thank you for extending the conversation,
Dan
Boy, Martina, if your quote doesn’t define what legacy should be, don’t know what does!
Thanks Doc. I learn a great deal from you guys…and from observing life. Thanks for the affirmation.
Anyone else wish their boss knew this stuff?
#2 & #4 are great examples. My only addition to this list is to teach autonomy. Once a person has this in their current role it will give them “hope” to try for bigger better things.
Robamus,
Love your addition of autonomy…good point.
Thank you,
Dan
Great post, Dan.
Be ready for hope to come slowly. Most of your people will need to see something concrete before they really allow themselves to hope. Leaders can do that by embodying the vision, by exemplifying the new thing you hope to move to – all of your points are excellent ways to do this. But I don’t think a lot will happen to make people hope until the first time someone makes a mistake and isn’t castigated, or the first time someone does something great and gets a bonus, or the first time everyone is affirmed for a team success.
If there’s no hope at all then you’re following a very bad leader. You will need to invest time and care, because those employees are working through their own version of battered wife syndrome. There is a situtation exactly like that in a company we own; the previous GM was verbally abusive, and pitted employees against each other so none could threaten him. He left ten years ago to work for a competitor, and those employees are still afraid of him. Three GMs later they still won’t trust, and they don’t have hope.
It does take so much more time to build hope than it does to break it down. I was an emergency hire college soccer coach for a small university. The previous coach had been verbally and emotional abusive to the women on that team. The first couple of years, I spent more time counseling away their fears and healing wounds. For every ten things I did to build them up, it might soften the blow of even one thing he said. It is slow…but it is worth it. MMF
Hi Meagan,
Thanks for sharing your story. Your team was fortunate to have you.
You make me realize that one small negative can undermine many powerful positives when people are gun shy.
Best,
Dan
Greg,
You’re helping us just how challenging hope-building can be. And I love your put your money where your mouth is.
You can’t talk people into hope. You have to lead them into it.
I feel challenged by your comment.
Best,
Dan
This really made me think. Thank you.
I’d like to add something to the idea of hope. Perhaps a vision needs to not only provide hope, it needs to be based on a seed of belief that participants/members/followers already hold. The job of the leader is to find that seed, fertilize it, water it and hopefully grow it.
Perhaps hope is the “fertilizer”. If we believe in the idea, and believe it is possible, then we are motivated to work toward accomplishing the task.
Perhaps our leader isn’t a vision caster, but a vision curator? Curating the trends on the outside, and the internal culture and resources to find a vision that resonates with followers.
Thanks for adding the human factor to our discussions of leadership.
I like your curator image Colleen, thank you. Could be that leaders need to be both, a caster and a curator? Over time, one may transition to primarily curator as each person has potential to cast hope…if given the opportunity. Again, your role as curator is a temporary position which must be handed off skillfully because of the gossamer qualities of hope.
Hi Colleen,
Thanks for adding your insights.
YOu make me think about the importance of aligning our vision with the vision of others. Great stuff to mull over.
Best,
Dan
Timely topic today as I have been thinking about hope as well. I don’t think many leaders realize how easy it is for them to build or dash the hopes of their future leaders. I think item number 5, a leader’s belief in their people creates hope, is one of the most powerful lessons a leader can learn. By simply expressing disappointment in an employee’s performance on an individual project, a leader can make a person question their own abilities and choices. By lecturing an individual on his specific failures during a project, a leader can make a person lose hope in his ability to ever be successful. That is when a future leader becomes a disengaged employee and the leader wonders why he ever saw potential in such an employee; a disengaged employee created by the leader’s own actions. It is just as easy to give people hope. Letting them know you believe in them after they have failed is one of the most powerful things a leader can do to give a person hope.
Dan,
This post was an absolute gem. Every single one of your ten points struck a nerve and brought a personal experience to mind. That’s when you know your thoughts (and writing) have hit a home run. Congratulations!
I’m in the profession of spreading hope and confidence to students and future teachers. The same dynamics that happen in businesses happen in schools. But our product is so much more valuable.
Thank you for your daily thought provoking posts that help me keep my focus clear.
Dauna Easley
“Fear rules where hope sleeps.” This is such an important notion. Fear and hope ebb and flow consistently, and it matters most that the energy a leader provides gives more momentum to the hope than to the fear. I’m not sure that fear can be completely eliminated, nor that hope can fully dominate, but leaders can consistently support the “building of hope”. Mistake= teachable moment. Achievement= time for celebration. Idea= possibility. If the leader is a hopeful person (genuinely hopeful) and there is intention to share that hope generously, people will respond with hope. When people are more fearful than hopeful, they become paralyzed and hesitant to move anywhere. You offer an awesome checklist for hope inventory. 🙂 MMF
Dear Dan,
I agree that fear rules where hope sleeps. Hope creates confidence and confident people are hopeful. This makes virtuous cycle. I also believe hope and humility goes together. Hopeful people have humility. And humility is the greatest treasure of servant leaders. So, in this way, servant leaders are best leaders to create hope. I think leaders instill hope by thinking and doing for others. It is about being authentic and creating trust by doing needful for others. Servant hood empowers hope building is the most useful. I think it is most sustainable form of leadership. Examples are many, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi etc. They create more impact on people and society. The impact is even more after they leave this world.
Dan, you wax poetically today, wonderful wise words!
“Fear rules where hope sleeps.”—that does shine brightly!
Where and when can we find hope? It is there, in a single moment-if we shine a light on it. (that is the leader’s job) It is there within the brief exchange with those we serve-not necessarily in the exchange itself, but at a deeper core potential connection-if we let it happen. And to paraphrase Mr. Sagan, there are ‘billions and billions’ of potential moments of hope wide awake, keeping fear in the dark corner where it needs to be.
Of course, fear is also just a negative energy waiting to be converted to something more productive…but that is a different blog!
Leaders have a role to drive the force by building hope and confidence in a promising future. It’s difficult that the whole lot gets encouraged simultaneously. It’s a gradual process. We have marketing concepts like ‘early adopters’, ‘followers’ and ‘laggards’ when customers are classified. The same thing applies when we see that leaders inspire people by showing the vision and the ways to achieve by motivating all but it’s few who get convinced and become part of an early team followed by others as things progress.
Leaders have to strive hard in spreading the right good vision with consistency and never to loose hope in themselves.
There is nothing like hopeless people. They are laggards and will get changed only at the fag end or else can be left to their destiny. Good leaders will not bother about that 15-20% lot.
This is gold. In business, and church world, but even more importantly in relationships! Thank you.
Hope more important than vision? Wow! That’s such a powerful statement to remember. Thanks Dan from putting this piece of wisdom together. To read and reread. Yanik
This is a very insightful post…linking hope to vision. I especially like #1, #3, #5,#8, and #9. Being able to trust and support without limitation or restriction is very powerful. The idea and implication of hope is so important in carrying out vision. Thank you for bringing this to light!
Which of these ideas seem most useful? Why?
I am not sure if I can pinpoint just one of these idease as most useful. If I were forced to choose, however, I would pick #1: “Servant hood empowers hope building. The moment others believe you are in it for yourself is the moment you drain their hope.” I suspect that will be the top choice for many (and a reason it is #1), but I don’t think every “servant leader” comes across to their followers as “servant-like” – there are times that call for difficult messages, given in a brusque manner. For the best leaders, though, even if their delivery is not servant-like, they are still conducting themselves in servitude to the vision and mission.
At last someone preaches the lost gospel of hope! Well done Dan. Leaders have the responsibility to unite followers under a single cause. That cause is based on discontent with the status quo and optimism that a solution is possible. This is the cause that a good leader will champion, this is the hopeful vision that energises any group and without which they perish. I hope we’ll be hearing more along this vein.
Dan:
Great post today. I am a Relationship and Personal Development Coach. I often hear from my clients that they love the coaching process because even though they often leave with more inquiries than they come in with they always feel more hopeful because they discover new perspectives & possibilities and how those help to create choice and change.”
Pretty cool stuff…
Thanks,
Nan Watts/Inspiredviews
Relationship & Personal Development Coach
Good post, thanks. The leader can help people move from being hopeless to hopeful very quickly by diverting the discussion away from the problem that makes them fearful. At most, simply define the problem…then quickly move to what they want to have happen instead. Every time they go back to the problem simply say, ‘Yes that’s hard for you. What do you want instead.’ Here’s how that works – ask, ‘Suppose the problem no longer existed, we have moved on and things are different / better, what will we be doing?’ Try it. You’ll find how much people know what they want once they stop talking about what makes them fearful.
Thank you, Dan! I’m late to the party on this one. Catching up with mail after being out of touch for a bit.
I don’t want to make this political, so I hope (there’s that word) that this will be taken in the spirit of example. When President Obama ran for office, he took a fair amount of criticism for his emphasis on hope. Pundits thought it was vague, that it lacked substance. Again, I’m not seeking comment on the content of that message, but simply talking about the word itself and the reception it got and still gets.
People outside of places like the church and various organizations with similar values often misunderstand hope. They equate it with optimism or wishing. And in that sense, it can seem vague and airy.
And yet, as you say, it may be the most powerful thing there is. In his first letter to Peter, St. Paul says, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is within you.” My inner Freshman Composition teacher tells Paul to be more concise: “Always be ready to account for the hope that is within you.”
I think that’s the message for leaders. Be ready to account for the hope that is within you. If you have it. If you are able to get up and put your feet on the floor in the morning, face the day with abundant expectancy, be willing to look for the human being inside each person you deal with, and seek the wonder that is present in each moment, then you will be able to account for the hope within you. And people will catch that hope.
And that is way more contagious than mere vision.
Dang. I should have written this on my own blog!
Thanks again, Dan.
Wow. Great stuff! I look forward to sharing this with others.
Great stuff thanks!
Hope is bigger than a vision,good visions and fresh ideas is not all we need,along the way,when planned goals seems not reaching ,we need to hope that ,it got to get better!