DLD121:VISIONARY

LEADERSHIP/VISION
BUILDING


By
Professor C. O. Awonuga

CLDS

 Objectives of the Course

By the end of the course,
the students should be able
to:

 a) define the terms vision,

dream, and daydream;
b) explain why vision is
important in leadership;

 c) discuss the importance of

the leader carrying others
along;
d) explain the impediments
to vision; and

 e) explain what one needs

to do to realize ones
vision.

 Reading List
Akin-David, M. (2015)
Leadership Secrets of
David O.Oyedepo, Ota:
DPH

 Maxwell, J. C. (1993)
Developing the Leader
Within you, Nashville:
Thomas Nelson

 Reave, L. (2005) Spiritual

Values and Practices
Related to Leadership
Effectiveness, The
Leadership Quarterly, 16,

 655-687
Tracy, B. (2010) No
Excuses:: The Power of
Self-Discipline, Vanguard
Press

 Vision
Many definitions:
1. an idea or a picture in
your imagination: He had
a vision of a world in which

 there would be no wars.

2. A dream or similar
experience, especially of a
religious kind: the idea
came to her in a vision.

 3. the ability to think about

or plan the future with great
imagination and
intelligence: a leader of
vision.

 (Oxford Advanced
Learners Dictionary of
Current English,2010.
Thus we talk of a visionary
leader and visionary leader-

 ship.
A visionary leader is
someone that has the ability
to think about or plan the
future with great imagina-

 tion and intelligence.

One thing that is clear from
these definitions is that
there is a religious
dimension to vision.

 More definitions:
Vision is the art of seeing
the invisible. To be the best,
a trailblazer must not only
dare to beat the best,

 he must be reignited from

within to embark on a
never-ending journey of
discovery, recognizing old
milestones, while envision-

 ing the future with fresh

and original eyes. (AkinDavid, 2015: 50).

 Vision is a comprehensive
sense of where you are
going, how you are going
to get there and what you
will do when you get there.

 Vision is feeling challenged

by the world around you
and being compelled to
make a mark on it through
the force of your own ideas,

 personality, resources and

desires. (Newman, quoted
in Akin-David, p. 50).

 Vision is the key to

understanding leadership.
Without vision you are
playing games with your
life. Men and women with

 vision see more and further

than others. Leaders have
empires in their brains.
(Newman, in Akin-David,
p. 50)

 Vision is the unfolding of

Gods plan or purpose for
your life (Dr David
Oyedepo)

 the greatest calamity in

[the] human race is for a
man not to know where he
is going much less than
how to get there. (Pastor

 Faith Oyedepo).
We also have the word
dream which is
synonymous with vision in
certain respects.

 a wish to have or be
[something], especially one
that seems difficult to
achieve: Her lifelong dream
was to be a famous writer.

 He wanted to be rich but it

was an impossible dream. If I
win, it will be a dream come
true. (Oxford Advanced
Dictionary, p. 445).

 But compare
daydream/daydreaming
It makes you forget about
the present, thus
constituting a waste of time

 Dream here refers to

capturing a picture of the
future from the present,
what you can see yourself
becoming in the future.

 One can capture a picture

of the future from the
Bible, which is, in one
sense, the Custodian of
Gods plan and purpose for

 each of His children.

It is this kind of dream that
Martin Luther King Jr had:

 I have a dream that my

four little children will one
day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by
the colo[u]r of their skin

 but by the content of their

character. I have a dream
today!

 For someone to develop the

leadership potential in him
and be effective as a leader,
he must have a vision or
dream of what he must

 accomplish.
That vision [or dream]
becomes the energy behind
every effort and the force
that pushes through all the

 problems. With vision, the

leader is on a mission and a
contagious spirit is felt
among the crowd until
others begin to rise along-

 side the leader. Unity is

essential for the dream to
be realized. Long hours of
labo[u]r are given gladly to
accomplish the goal.

 Individual rights are set

aside because the whole is
much more important than
the part. Time flies. Morale
soars upward, heroic stories

 are told, and commitment is

the watchword. Why?
Because the leader has a
vision! (Maxwell, 1993:
139).

 According to Tracy
(2010:145), one James
MacPherson carried out
studies of 3,300 leaders in
the United States and found

 that the first quality of

leadership is the quality of
vision. Leaders are able to
project forward into the
future and develop a clear

 picture of where they or

their organizations want to
go.
Without vision, one is not
sure of the future. As Dr

 Oyedepo has said, if

someone does not know
where he is going,
everywhere will look like
it.

 Also, you cannot become

what you cannot see. Being
able to see beyond the
present is vision.

 Maxwell (1993:141)
distinguishes four vision
levels of people:
1. Some people never see
it. (They are wanderers).

 2. Some people see it but

never pursue it on their
own. (They are followers).

 3. Some people see it and

pursue it. (They are
achievers)

 4. Some people see it and

pursue it and help others to
see it. (They are leaders).
To be effective as a leader,
one must know where one

 is going and be able to

persuade others to follow.
But two people can be in
the same place and not see
the same thing.

 Konrad Adenauer once

said, We all live under the
same sky, but we dont all
have the same horizon.
Bishop Wright and the

 young college president.

We see what we are
prepared to se, not what is.
One important question: Is
my vision or dream going

 to make a difference in the

world in which I live?
Ask yourself, Am I
interested just in surviving;
am I dreaming about

 success; or am I really
interested in making a truly
significant difference?

 You do not have to come

from an enviable
background to have a
vision that will positively
impact your world.

 It is said that:
a) Thomas Edison was a
newsboy on trains;
b) Andrew Carnegies first
salary was $4 a month;

 c) John D. Rockefellers
first pay was $6 a week;
d) Abraham Lincoln was
born in a log cabin and had
a rough early life;

 e) Demosthenes the
greatest orator of the
ancient world stuttered;
f) Julius Caesar was an
epileptic;

 g) Napoleon had a humble

beginning and was not that
intelligent;
h) Beethoven and Thomas
Edison were deaf;

 i) Charles Dickens and

Handel were lame;
j) Homer was blind;
k) Plato was a hunchback

Sir Walter Scott was

paralyzed.
A common factor was a
vision within them that
drove them on in spite of

 their humble background

and physical and mental
limitations.
So vision is from within. It
is a fire that drives one

 from within.
Great visions begin as an
inside job. (Maxwell, p.
146).

 So, a) look within you; b)

look around you to find out
what is happening to
others; c) look ahead of you
to see the big picture;

 d) look above you to see

what God expects of you;
and e) look beside you to
see the resources available
to you.

 Emphasis on d):
According to Dr David
Oyedepo, vision is the
discovery of Gods plan
and purpose for our lives,

 as recorded in His Word,

the Bible. no man has
the mental capacity to
create a vision.
Also, vision cannot be

 realized in the energy of the

flesh.
A vision must be shared
effectively with others if it
is to have any impact.

 The importance of
communicating a vision
clearly:
The vision must first be
clear to the visioner.

 Some hindrances to the

realization of vision:
1.The leaders capacity to
pass on the vision
successfully.

 2. Dogmatic people
(nothing new can happen).
3. A perpetual losers
mentality-always conscious
of their past mistakes.

 4. Complacency-passivity
5. Adherence to tradition
6. Anonymity-the herd
mentality
7. Problem perceivers

 8. Self-centredness
9. Failure forecasters-lovers
of pessimism
10. Only seeing things as
they are

 What to Do to Realize
Vision:
1. Carry others along by: a)
having a clear idea of the
vision; and b) communicat-

 ing it effectively to others

around you, especially in
an organization.
2. Believe in the vision.
3. Be courageous, no

 timidity.
4. Be humble.
5. Work hard. Vision
without action is a day
dream. Action without

 vision is a nightmare.
6. Be transparent, sincere.
7.Be persistent.
8. Keep your faith alive.