Catarina's World

“The most successful leader of all is the one who sees a picture not yet actualised. He sees the things which belong in his present picture but which are not yet there” US political scientist Mary Parker Follett once wrote. And she’s right because if you don’t know where you are going and can’t see it, how are you going to get there?

What does your vision of the future look like – what's the image? When you make colleagues travel with you, what will they see?

Followers actually want a leader with a compelling vision of the future and research shows they respond to a leader who can articulate a vision reflecting their own aspirations. It needs to be engaging, capture their hearts and get them to pay attention. Those who hear it should want to be a part of it.

So what does your vision of the future look like – what’s the image? When you make colleagues travel with you, what will they see? Will they be able to visualize it, remember and make an effort to achieve it?
Great leaders provide inspiring visions and passionately believe they can make a difference by inspiring people to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. You must be able to provide a clear picture of a change beyond the horizon with a realistic image of what could become. Only then can you with your attitude get people enthusiastic and passionate about playing their role in reaching your destination.

Once all your colleagues have a vision of your aims and goals you can set out to reach them. It is a bit like the old saying: “If you don’t know where you’re going, then for sure you won’t get there.” Warren Bennis says of vision: To choose a direction, an executive must first have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the organisation.

The best way to impact others is to convey your vision in a dramatic and enduring way. If you bore them, or they don’t really believe in it, the impact will be next to none. A company who buys the grudging compliance of its staff is practically not going anywhere while enthusiastic and participating employees are a crucial aspect of making a vision come true.

A vision should ideally be of long term challenging goals. The odds of realizing the vision may actually not be more than fifty percent, but the company must believe it can. So aim for something worthwhile that will make people stretch themselves to succeed. If not they will not make that extra effort essential for success.

You need to get to the stage where executives and managers can live the visions and missions, be seen doing so and constantly communicate them to their colleagues. And chances of that happening without a mental image is slim. It’s best is to create a noble vision that elevates the energy, enthusiasm and passion of everyone in the company.

And don’t forget to make everybody see a benefit in enabling the vision to come true. There’s no need to worry about laying out the vision in details, it’s the direction that counts. But do remember that a good vision will evolve over time. Having a vision can be a catalyzing force in our lives, but don’t expect to travel a linear path from point A to point B to realize it because no matter how good the vision it has to adapt to an ever changing world.

(Photo. PhotoXpress – Olaru Radian-Alexandru)

Everything and everyone is a product. A country, a city, a company, a product, a service a person – yes you and me included. And how the market perceives the product determines its value. It’s sounds cynic, I know. But if you want a high value and be sought for on the market you have to create a brand that is in demand and sells.

Want to be assiciated with Chanel or Wall-Mart? Depends on which market you are aiming for.

And then when the product is a success all of a sudden the brand matures, growth slows and it comes under pressure from competitors. This is the time to start innovating and spending again if you want to defend your market position. If not ,don’t complain if nobody wants to hire you, go on holiday to your country, do business with your company or buy the wonderful product or service you are selling.

You may object that some brands, like Cornflakes, or Chanel for that matter, have been around for a long time. But what we buy today is very different from the same product 50 years ago, not least when it comes to packaging and design. If your personal brand is out of date you will have to make an investment to innovate yourself. Maybe learn a new skill, have a make-over or simply learn how to better promote yourself? How you want to be perceived depends on what market you are aiming for.

When it comes to countries, Europe and the US have matured and competitors are moving in. But the West seem to take their current status for granted and the only thing they are doing to defend their market position is protectionism, unfortunately. And they really have to do much more if they want to keep their position in this globalised world. What happened to innovation and making their markets more attractive to investors not to mention more business friendly?

Nowadays it’s irrevocably one global market. And Sweden, to my great surprise, hasn’t wholeheartedly joined. Sweden as a product has matured badly and needs to innovate to get back the position it had on the market in the 60′s and 70′s. Join the global market wholeheartedly, reduce corporate taxation drastically and realize that there is a reason that Sweden’s unemployment is more than twice as high as it’s neighbours Denmark and Norway would make a good start. But there doesn’t seem to be any political will to do so.

More and more Swedish companies are using IT consultants in India. Naturally the Swedes, not least the trade unions, don’t like that. They conveniently forget that the main objective of a company is to make money. And using Indian IT consultants is far cheaper than using their Swedish counterparts. On top if it India, unlike Sweden, has four universities that when it comes to IT are on par with MIT. Unless taxation in Sweden, i.e. the politicians, change we will see more and more Swedish companies outsourcing IT to India.

Obviously this is not only happening in Sweden but in the West as a whole and there is no stopping it. Look at all the out-sourced call centres, for instance. Since it is an issue that is not going away I’m surprised that not more is being done in the West to adapt to the global market. It surprises me that we are not facing up to the issue.

Globalisation is irrevocably the governing principle of commerce. That does not mean it is popular everywhere. The US will continue to lose relative power because of globalisation. It’s ironic that thanks to its generosity in exporting the secrets of success, China and other emerging giants are catching up. Public support for protectionism has hence surged in the United States. But there is only so much current protectionism can achieve. Look at the way China is surging, despite Western protectionism.

Developing nations are not going to cede power to the US and Europe out of gratefulness. So it’s time for the West to face up to reality – their brand is loosing out. It’s time to innovate and make it profitable for businesses again to stop them moving to other parts of the world.

(Photo Handosh Flickr)