Page 165 - Appreciative Leadership

138 Appreciative Leadership

vision for the future. Visions, or compelling images of the future, aff ord
members a sense of positive possibility, give meaning to their lives, and
guide their activities. Once expressed, a vision, dream, or positive intent

seeks the path to its fulfillment. Visionary liveliness unleashes move-
ment toward a better way. It points the way to positive transformation.
While a leader or a team of leaders may have a vision, it is not the
vision itself that matters. It is the way the vision moves through the orga-

nization that makes a difference. It is the degree to which it evokes vision-
ary liveliness by permeating conversations, relationships, and perfor-

mance that matters. The following story illustrates how one, simple and

clear vision made a positive difference for employees and customers:

Qwest Communications employees were demoralized. Th e
company was billions of dollars in debt, and some members of
its former leadership team were under criminal investigation.

The level of employee embarrassment and shame was so high
that many technicians wore their own clothes to and from
work, changing into company uniforms only on the job.
Recognizing the need for vision, renewed pride, and visi-

ble change, the new CEO declared, “We can’t fix what’s behind
us. We can only tackle what’s ahead.” He put forth a simple and
very meaningful vision: focus on customers. He introduced a
new company brand, “Spirit of Service,” saying that it called
9
employees to see the world through the eyes of the customer,
to take ownership of customer concerns, and to create rela-
tionships with customers instead of passing their problems
along to someone else. And he gave employees permission to
do whatever it takes to meet the needs of customers.
Initially employees were skeptical, even cynical, but he
was unwavering. In all of his communications, he mentioned
“customer focus,” often sharing stories and acknowledg-

ing people for outstanding customer service. Little by little,