The Visionary

What makes for a good "visionary"? The answer may surprise you.

A few years ago, I came dangerously close to starting a company with my brother. Over the course of an afternoon, we stumbled upon a pretty good business idea, although I forget what it was. In the course of an afternoon we had sketched out a rough business plan, invented a name and had nearly written our resignation letters from our fulltime jobs.

Then, when it came to divvying up roles and responsibilities, my brother informed me that he was an “ideas guy.” How nice. I guess that would leave me to do … all of the work?

Yeah, we didn’t start that company.

I think of that story because this morning a friend and former coworker described someone we worked with as a “visionary”. I paused when I heard her say it. “Visionary” is a lofty superlative that we don’t foist upon just anyone. As soon as she said it, I squinted for a second and said to myself “Really? That guy? Was he really effective?”

“That guy” was definitely an “ideas guy”. He had a lot of them. Even though we didn’t work together a lot, when we did converse, it was usually to discuss a new idea of his. In fact, every time we spoke it was about a new idea of his. His ideas were usually pretty good. They were practical, had business value and were quite feasible to achieve. Yet, why was I so opposed to calling him a visionary? Who is a visionary then?

In the most obvious example - Steve Jobs was a visionary. He had some of the most groundbreaking ideas in history. Jobs is also one of the most successful business leaders of all-time. So, then, what’s the difference between Jobs and my coworker?

There are a few. The most obvious difference is that Jobs spent a boatload of his time executing and marketing his vision. He obsessed over the details. Of course, Job’s vision for Apple (and all of the “sub-visions” that made up it) were grandiose and would change billions of lives. That’s an unfair benchmark.

Still, there has to be a relative comparison. I’ve worked with only a few folks who I’d call “visionaries”. When I think about what makes them an effective visionary (“effective” in this context means bolstering the culture and prospects of the business over the longer term), it often came down to one common denominator.

The visionary in my mind, committed to their vision long enough to convince the team that it would someday be true. So, I think the answer is firmness. The more someone can hook into one singular vision (or one big idea) until it’s realized or invalidated, the more successful they’ll be. The ineffective visionary oscillates between ideas, leapfrogging from one problem space to another. The ineffective visionary declares that “we all move in this direction!” on Tuesday. On Friday, the same ineffective visionary is ready to move in a different direction.

Over time, confidence erodes because the team feels like they never realized the first goal. Worse, the team feels that if they do begin to commit (mentally, physically, spiritually, financially) to the first goal, there’s a good chance the company will change it’s mind. So, the real risk of having too many ideas or constantly changing the mission statement of the company is that execution will also tail off.

Often, the act of changing business direction is called “shiny object syndrome”. Executives see a new possibility and choose to pursue it. Sometimes, this is due to competitors chasing the same shiny object and “fear of missing out” sets in. Can you imagine being a CEO entering a board room and having to answer to why you didn’t pursue an opportunity that made your competitors successful? Still, changing course too frequently can warp the team of energy. As long as the vision is feasible, exciting and shared - it’ll likely bear fruit. It just can’t constantly change.

When I refer to someone as a visionary going forward, it won’t be because they had the best idea. Or the biggest idea. Or even the bravest idea. It will be because they had the same vision for an extended period of time. They were committed. Best of all, they gave the team the time to understand their vision before buying in and taking action.

The effective visionary, in my opinion, is the committed one.