Page 169 - Appreciative Leadership

142 Appreciative Leadership

auxiliary white cells. He found that visualization worked best
when patients chose their own images and were able to see
them as clearly as if looking with their physical eyes. A child
with cancer successfully imagined it as a big, dumb, gray
lump that he repeatedly “shot” with a rocket ship. Within a
year he was cured. 11

Athletes have long recognized the powerful role that images play
in human performance. Golf icon Jack Nicklaus has described how he
consciously visualizes the “perfect” shot in order to enhance his per-
formance. Indeed, he has said that the difference between good golfers

and great golfers is the capacity to focus on the image of success:

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very
sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball
where I want it to fi nish, nice and white and sitting up high
on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes,
and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and
shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of
fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of
swing that will turn the previous images into reality. 12

As the research and examples show, compelling visions are images

of the ideal. They are tangible and tactile, engaging the heart, mind, and

the body. They breathe life into new possibilities by showing people that
their most desired future has been and can be attained. Roger Bannister’s
ability to break through the four-minute-mile barrier is a classic example
of this. At the time, his achievement was hailed as one of the greatest in
sports history. But within three years, 16 other runners had achieved the
same thing. Today, while laudable, running a mile in under four minutes
is not uncommon. It seems the real barrier was a psychological one.
Table 6-2 describes “Five Criteria for a Compelling Vision.” Use
these criteria to test the inspirational value of your strategic plan, your
company’s vision or mission statement, and/or your personal devel-
opment plan.