CHAPTER 6
Perfect Phrases for Developing Visionaries

A Dynamic Leader empowers others to develop and communicate clear visions of possibilities. A clear vision mobilizes energy for action. Going from being responsible for executing plans to being responsible for developing a vision is a challenging transition for emerging leaders. Previous chapters guided the Dynamic Leader to lead the process of developing a vision for the mentoring relationship and using visioning as an aspect of creating energy and increasing alignment. These phrases emphasize visioning itself as an essential Dynamic Leader ability.

Perfect Phrases to Get Emerging Leaders to Think Imaginatively

Moving from frontline roles into the leadership arena requires a shift in focus from “what tasks have to be done” to “what reality could be created.” These phrases get leaders beyond thinking about “what is” to “what could be.”

Let’s imagine, create, and propose innovative solutions to_________________________.

Imagination is a muscle—and we’re building ours.

We need a creative solution here. What can you think of?

How do you prepare yourself to generate creative ideas? I’ll tell you what I do when you finish.

How do you encourage creativity in others?

How do you see imagination playing a role in leadership?

What markets could you imagine us developing that we haven’t yet?

What’s the most imaginative thing you’ve ever done in a business setting?

Complete this sentence: Imagine a world where _________________________. Be specific.

Complete this sentence: I’d be really surprised if we were able to_________________________. What’s the craziest idea you can think of about how to_________________________?

In your wildest imagination, where could we (should we) be five to ten years from now?

If you had unlimited resources, where would you take this company?

Look for the patterns in the chaos in the marketplace. That’s where our future is.

What unique vision can we build on toward the future?

What does your intuition tell you about this situation?

Thinking boldly, what would truly excite you? That’s a clue for building your vision.

What excites you about this idea?

What scares you about this idea?

Do you see blocks to my creativity I don’t?

Perfect Phrases to Develop a Clear, Comprehensive Vision

Imagination starts with random thoughts. A clear, comprehensive vision filters, organizes, and gives shape to haphazard imaginings. These phrases lead emerging leaders from unfocused dreams to a vision that is lucid and all-encompassing.

Where do you envision yourself being at the end of this leadership development process?

When you think about our firm, what do you picture in the future?

What percentage of your time do you dedicate toward creating a long-term vision of the future? It’s a leader’s job to do that. I suggest you schedule more time for it.

When you think about your own development, what do you envision?

When you picture our organization in three to five years, what do you see?

How can you describe your ideas to convey a compelling image of the future?

Paint the picture of your vision so people see themselves in it.

Write a science-fiction story that shows where this company (business, product line, you) can be ten years from now. How does this vision of the future connect to our organization’s past and present?

Write an optimistic version and a pessimistic version.

What do these stories tell us to begin doing differently now?

Why should we care about your vision?

Why do you care about your vision?

How does your vision serve the world?

What assumptions does your vision make?

How does your vision reflect the aspirations of people who have a hand in making it happen?

Is your vision challenging, inspiring, clear, comprehensive, and specific?

Perfect Phrases to Encourage Emerging Leaders to Think Strategically

Leaders who imagine impractical possibilities and leave it to others to make them work are dreaming, not leading. By balancing imagination and practicality, these phrases foster strategic thinking.

We need a plan for our visions. Otherwise we’re dreaming.

How do you define “strategic thinking”? Our strategy is our sustainable advantage.

What differences do you see between visioning and strategizing? How are these terms related?

We’ve envisioned what we want. How are we going to get there?

What do we do next? What clear intermediate stages are there along the way?

What_________________________ (financial, material, information, personnel) resources do we need to accomplish our vision?

What do you plan to do first in your leader development process (or other objective)?

What steps will you take to turn your ideas into reality?

In broad terms, how would you create a plan for a leader development program (or other project)?

Let’s create weekly objectives for the next month, monthly objectives for the next year, and yearly objectives for the next five years.

Let’s walk through an analysis for that idea to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved.

Who are our allies for an initiative like this?

Who might feel threatened by this initiative?

Can we minimize the perceived threat? If we can’t, is it worth risking? Why?

Define the position of this idea in terms of market, environment, and measurement.

What criteria do you use to find practical solutions to problems?

How do you decide if an idea is practical or not?

Who else should weigh in on this project?

How could I think more strategically?

Perfect Phrases to Inspire Emerging Leaders to Think Globally

That idea that looks so good can have a strong negative impact on someone else or completely fall flat because of global events that escaped notice. These phrases remind us to think globally, outside the bounds of our own organizations.

Describe this idea from a truly global perspective.

List the countries where we (1) sell the product, (2) advertise the product (in the native languages and cultures), (3) have sales and service offices, (4) engage suppliers, (5) have manufacturing sites, (6) face competitors, (7) integrate into the cultures, and (8)______________________________.

What do you see as our market share rank in each of those countries?

What does the new environment require now that it didn’t before?

How does social media (or other emerging technologies or trends) play into this initiative?

This isn’t the world it was where we can do things like this in secret. We need to make our choices assuming they are transparent.

Can we develop this quickly enough to compete in this environment?

What companies or people might this initiative impact?

What departments or people in our company might this initiative impact?

Have you validated this idea with_________________________ (representative of the target customer groups) from_________________________ (country)?

If our chief competitor was looking at this initiative, what problems or opportunities might it find?

What other companies have the capability of making this same product? Can they do it better, faster, or cheaper than we can?

Is there a new technology on the horizon that might make our product obsolete soon?

Are there regulatory agencies that might need to weigh in before we go too far?

Have you monitored the news, press releases, and the social media to get the context for this?

What’s changed since we first considered this?

Perfect Phrases to Inspire Emerging Leaders to Embrace Input from Diverse Demographics

The workplace in the days of “Leave It to Beaver” was a homogeneous land of white, middle-aged men walking with firm steps. The new demographics are far more diverse. We all have some prejudices. The Dynamic Leader must harvest and channel diverse viewpoints and expectations into productive results. While this may involve a larger, organization-wide initiative, these phrases identify issues and solutions.

I am committed to creating and sustaining an inclusive diverse workplace without bias. Please join me in this ongoing effort.

When I started my career, the workplace was almost exclusively made up of white males. It’s a different world now, and I still uncover unconscious assumptions and rankist attitudes in myself at times. When we observe those in each other, let’s agree to point them out.

I ask myself if there are people I work with who make me feel uncomfortable, and why. I’d like you to ask yourself the same questions.

I ask myself if there are people I am not working with because they make me feel uncomfortable, and why I feel uncomfortable around them. I’d like you to ask yourself the same to make sure there is no implicit or explicit intolerance.

What can we do to get comfortable with demographics we’re not used to?

Do we actually have a fully diverse workforce? If not, why not? How can we remedy that?

What are we missing out on by not having every single employee fully engaged?

Do you notice areas of unnecessary conflict and chaos that are due to ignoring the diversity of our workforce?

What barriers might_________________________ (a specific new initiative) present to members of our diverse workforce?

What areas of expertise or different perspectives might different employee experiences, cultures, viewpoints, and perspectives provide that we are now missing out on?

What communication barriers do we experience due to different ages, races, genders, nationalities, or disabilities? How can we bridge them?

Is it possible that some of our diverse employees don’t feel comfortable providing input? How can we find out? What can we do to remedy that?

Does my language and leadership approach demonstrate inclusiveness?

May I give you some feedback on what your remark (suggestion, idea, etc.) suggests about your attitude toward inclusiveness?

Perfect Phrases to Share Your Personal Successes and Lessons

Sharing our leadership stories personalizes the leader visioning process. There is one caveat, however. Make sure you share your story for your emerging leader’s benefit, instead of your own gratification. Make the communication specific to the emerging leader.

Is there anything specific you would like to know about my experiences in leading?

Before I could lead well I had to overcome my_________________________ (fear of, habit of, tendency to, beliefs that, etc.). I share this because_________________________.

My first leadership experience was_________________________. I saw I was good at_________________________ (leadership skill). I also discovered I needed to develop_________________________ (another leadership skill).

We all have our own roads to where we are, and I’d like to share mine in case it’s useful to you.

My thinking about leadership changed when I discovered_________________________.

You’ll get a kick out of this. One of my biggest leadership mistakes was when I_________________________.

One of the best things I ever did as a leader was when I _________________________.

The most influential leader in my life is/was_________________________.

The most important thing in leadership in my experience is to_________________________.

I was a leader for a long time before I thought about how I did it. I’ve had to reflect to be able to support your process. I realized_________________________. Thank you for causing me to do that.

I wouldn’t be in a leadership position if it weren’t for_________________________

I learn a lot from reading about leadership. I applied one thing I read,_________________________(specify), with_________________________(results).

I found_________________________(sources) useful for leadership information.

Let me tell a very brief story about when I faced a similar challenge in the past. This is what I did:_________________________. Can that help us here?