Imagine the details of all the work that it takes for you to get there. Or picture where you want to be by the end of the year, in five years, 15 years - the image that is being created in your head, the desires, goals, and wants for yourself, or your organization, is a vision. This is how Burt Nanus starts the explanation of a vision, but of course, in Visionary Leadership we learn that vision is much more than just imagining. A vision deals with the future of your organization and is also realistic, credible, and attractive toward success, and is just as complex as leadership in general. This book explains that having a vision is important in getting an organization going, and as a leader, it is important to attain the skills, talents, and resources needed to do so. Ultimately, a vision is a goal for a better tomorrow and the importance of leaders is their ability, drive, and skills to make that happen. .
Burt Nanus breaks the book into three parts: 1) what is vision and why does it matter; 2) developing the vision; and 3) implementing the vision. In part one, there are four roles introduced to describe qualities of a visionary leader. The four roles are direction setter, change agent, spokesperson, and coach. They explain that it is important to let people know where you stand, what the vision means to you, and what you will do to make it happen. Finding the vision for your organization is the first step and Nanus clearly lists the factors that are important to consider when realizing their vision (he successfully uses bulleted lists throughout the book). If an organization does not have a vision, they survive for a period of time doing the same thing over and over again until an inevitable change causes a loss in direction. I will discuss change in relation to visionary leadership later in this paper. As an opener, a vision in visionary leadership is very similar to values in leadership - there is no doubt that they go hand in hand.
