As a leader, the one thing you must have is vision. Without vision, you are not a leader — you are a mere follower, or, at best, a manager. You must be able to see more than anyone else, faster than anyone else and farther than anyone else. You must have foresight, far sight, and even the wisdom of hindsight. As a leader, you sit at the top of a pyramid, on the highest perch. There is one primary reason you are at the pinnacle and it’s not about authority — it’s to see farther than anyone else.

What do we mean by vision in the context of leadership? It is very simply a clear and inspiring picture of the future for an organization, team, or country. It is the ability to see that which others cannot yet see. Literally, it means “that which is seen”. Who sees it? The leader sees it. No one else sees it, yet. It’s in the leader’s imagination. It does not exist yet. It’s your job as leader to articulate this to the rest of the organization. Make them see what you see. It’s a little like the iceberg. 90% of the iceberg is under water. You as a leader see the whole iceberg, especially the large mass under the water. Your team may see the tip of the iceberg. And as you describe what’s underneath, they may see more of it. But they’ll think that’s the whole of it and you’ll say, “It’s just the tip”. And so on and so forth, until more and more of the iceberg is revealed. At any time, for you as the leader, its just the tip that’s been revealed. If the whole iceberg is out there visible to all, you don’t have a job as a leader. At that time you are just a manager.

The question arises in leadership — does having a vision make someone a leader or is the leader a person that comes up with the vision? The answer does not matter. What matters is that without a vision, you are not a leader.

Why is vision important? The vision gives purpose to the organization. It is the very reason for the existence of an organization. It is why you as a leader have followers. If you have articulated the vision well enough, your followers believe in it. It touches their heart and does not just appeal to their intellect. If it is really, really, well articulated and is a noble cause, they will even make your vision their own. They will embrace it. And that is when you can move mountains, start revolutions, and change governments. Think about a few visionary leaders who did that:

• Martin Luther King with his vision of racial equality and social justice
• Nelson Mandela’s with his vision to end apartheid in South Africa
• Gandhi’s vision of a free India, founded on the principles of truth, nonviolence, and social justice

A clearly defined and articulated vision is the cornerstone of leadership. It not only sets the direction for the leader and their followers but also serves as a source of inspiration and motivation. A compelling vision empowers a leader to navigate challenges, unite the team, and drive meaningful progress toward a shared future.

A popular definition for a leader is “someone that has followers”. As the joke goes, if you think you are a leader and you look behind and no one is following, you are just out for a walk by yourself. But if you do have followers, what are they following? Your behaviors? Your qualities, values, and actions? That may well be. But first and foremost, they follow your vision. They buy into your vision to go “from here to there”. And then they follow you to “get there”. If they’ve embraced your vision fully and wholly, to the extent that they’ve made it their own — you’ve transformed them into leaders as well. And what more can you do as a leader other than creating other leaders?

Leadership — it starts with a vision. Ends with a vision. It’s all about a vision.