Page 142 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

Beginning to Craft Your Vision and Direction 127

the world to find the cause of, prevent, and cure deadly infectious diseases
such as small pox, polio, and HIV/AIDS resulted from leadership with deeply
committed vision and purpose. President John Kennedy challenged the United
States in the race for space by creating the vision of landing a man on the moon
within the decade of the 1960s. This image galvanized not only the scientific
community but the whole country. President Ronald Reagan, who was a mas-
ter communicator, captured the spirit and the symbolism of freedom in his
famous and often-quoted speech at the Berlin Wall: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear
down this [Berlin] Wall.” Reagan’s speech was a very significant step in the
final actions that resulted in creating a free, reunited Germany.
It is power—the power of people who feel important and involved, of peo-
ple and organizations being all that they can be—that makes visionary and
purpose-centered leaders so valuable. In areas as different as business, educa-
tion, politics, and sports, visionary and purpose-centered leaders have demon-
strated an ability to unify and drive their organizations to greater heights by
unleashing the energy and drive of their people. Thomas J. Watson led the
building of IBM. Bill Gates envisioned easy-to-use computers and applications
in every home and classroom and later, with his wife, Melinda, established a
foundation whose purpose it is to eradicate disease in underdeveloped coun-
tries. So powerful is the vision and purpose of the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation that Warren Buffett, arguably the most successful and discrimi-
nating of the world’s large investors, has begun an extended process that will
donate much of his life savings and estate to the Gates Foundation. Steven Jobs
is legendary for his visionary leadership of Apple, which has developed such
iconic products as the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and the Mac computer. Roosevelt’s
and Churchill’s combined efforts to preserve freedom in the 1940s and Mar-
tin Luther King’s efforts to ensure civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s are
famous examples of visionary leadership. Sports dynasties were established in
New York, Boston, and San Francisco by John McGraw, Joe Torre, Red Auer-
bach, and Bill Walsh, all of whom practiced visionary and purpose-centered
leadership. Their successes were due in large part to the motivation and syn-
ergy of athletes’ working together to achieve great goals.
As we move through this century, an increasing number of organizations
of all kinds strive to identify and achieve their vision, mission and purpose,
and core values. Some organizations emphasize their vision, others stress their
mission and purpose, and yet others, their values. Some organizations empha-
size all three. Some examples follow.