Visionary and Voice for Tomorrow

The Citizen Leader^™ Seminars are firmly grounded on the premise that leadership, at its core, is a relationship that engages our enthusiasm to take action in the service of worthy goals. As a leader, our job, indeed our success, is directly proportional to our ability to create, support and nurture relationships with our partners and followers, and to distribute ownership in ways that engages their enthusiasm and their willingness to take action because they and we are pursuing goals that are meaningful to us all.

How well do your partners and followers understand the goals that you are all pursuing? How well do you articulate the meaning of those goals in ways that engages their enthusiasm to want to take action? Whatever your response, know that the skill of articulating a meaningful vision or direction is typically among the most poorly and least frequently executed skill among leaders at all levels of an organization or community.

The operative word here is meaningful.

Meaningful is hard; it is elusive. For some, it is uncomfortable. Few leaders have much practice, practical experience, patience or coaching to hone and refine that skill. More importantly, it is difficult because our role as visionary demands introspection and contemplation, and few leaders have the bandwidth or breathing room for reflection.

Nevertheless, our ability to express a meaningful vision and talk with conviction about the future is vital in an environment of constant change and continuous competitive innovation. It is vital in our attempts to align the talents and the energies of our staff, our partners, and our constituents in a common direction. It is vital in our attempts to build the kinds of relationships that will engage and sustain their enthusiasm to want to participate, to act and to persevere in face of the myriad of possible and probable obstacles, difficulties and challenges.

As such, our approach to the work of this nature is to invite you to go inside first - to reacquaint yourselves with questions that both get at the heart of your personal convictions and passions about your work, and give heart to the relationships you have with the people you lead and the people you serve. Our approach to the work of this nature – to the work of expressing a meaningful vision and talking with conviction about the future – is to invite you, a leader in your organization or community, to journey inside to a place of love. Lovers are better leaders!

The journey inside will serve as a foundation, indeed a launching pad, for you to dream about a future for your organization or community, and to begin to share that future with your colleagues and fellow citizens.

“Love is an attempt to change a piece of a dream world into reality.”

—Henry David Thoreau

To that end, during the seminar, we will guide you through a framework to help you craft an expression of direction and destination that has direct relevance to your clients or constituents, addresses the current strategic imperatives of your group or community, adheres to your group’s values, and comprehends the forces of the climate in which you operate. Then we will coach you to express your vision in ways that are meaningful – in ways that inspire you, and inspire your staff, your colleagues and your partners to want to act to create that future together.

Outcomes of Visionary and Voice for Tomorrow

You, as a participant, will learn a framework to help you create and communicate a vision for your team or community that engages your collective enthusiasm to take action and pursue a direction and goals that are meaningful to you all. Your vision for the future will consider:

Current climate – markets factors, business conditions, competition, customer, client or constituent needs, operating assumptions, partnerships
Your community’s vision, values and goals
Your core beliefs about the work of your team or community
The interests, beliefs, enthusiasm and talents of your staff and partners