leader Oleg Konovalov has an incredible sense of exploring new areas in leadership and management. With this book, The Vision Code, Oleg has proven himself as the da Vinci of visionary leadership.
The Vision Code is a breakthrough book that sets the foundations for a new school of thought. It re‐evaluates and reimagines the world of corporations, not to mention our personal lives as lived purposefully. This book puts vision into the spotlight, elevating it beyond a mere mission statement to its rightful place as a fundamental part of long‐term success.
With Oleg's guidance, we can understand and break the code to create and structure a clear and compelling vision, how to communicate it and lead it, and above all how to live by it with integrity.
This book presents the creation and development of vision in a simple six‐step process, making it accessible to those thinking momentary and the practical, beyond the bottom line. It is a practical guide for leaders of all sorts, as well as a very effective tool for visionary leadership coaching.
Oleg Konovalov does not merely rely on his sole store of experience and wisdom. He has spent months interviewing other visionary leaders from around the world and shares their insights throughout The Vision Code. The vision is no longer a mystery. It has been elegantly decoded by the master of visionary leadership.
The flow of the book has been carefully designed to take the reader on the vision journey leading to the final destination: from why you need a vision, to how implement it, to re‐evaluating the whole process along the way.
As I read The Vision Code, I frequently asked myself: ‘What can I do better?’ Such a simple question – and yet, a question that, when you actively think about it, transforms your life. If you ask ‘What can be done better in this book?’ the answer is – ‘Nothing!’ This book decodes vision and presents the practical tools and sophisticated knowledge needed for leaders to put it at the forefront of their businesses to make a positive, lasting difference.
This book will reinvent you and others around you. Your journey to your successful future starts here.
Life is good.
—Marshall Goldsmith
Only two‐time Thinkers 50 #1 Leadership Thinker in the world
#1 Executive Coach
INTRODUCTION In Search of the Golden Ratio of Vision
We are living in a time of leadership blindness. All leaders claim to have a vision. At best, the vast majority are only pretending. In truth, about 0.1% of business, social or political leaders actually have a vision.
Modern leaders often cannot explain what vision is and how it can be made a reality. They substitute money and performance indicators for vision, forgetting that, without vision, no amount of time, money or resources can help. As Carl Jung suggested, ‘Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate’.
The reality of the Digital Age revealed that, while we mention the importance of vision daily, the majority of people have little if any understanding of it. Yet, a solid vision is a necessary foundation for any successful organisation.
We desperately need leaders of all levels to be armed with an understanding of vision as never before. Without this, there will be no long‐term progress.
We desperately need more visionary leaders. Visionaries such as Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 to 23 March 2015), the first Prime Minister of Singapore, transformed the country from a ‘third world country to a first world country in a single generation’; Carl Gustav Mannerheim (4 June 1867 to 27 January 1951), the President of Finland, is still voted as the greatest Finn of all time and the father of modern Finland; and Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 to 5 December 2013), a South African anti‐apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, is named ‘the father of the nation’ and ‘a global icon’. There are many others to whom we still pay tribute.
Vision as We See It
What we do really understand about vision?
Having a vision and being able to a make it a reality differentiates leaders from managers. When there is no vision, no amount of effort or money can help. With vision, real change can be achieved. The world is conquered by visionaries and surrenders its advantages and opportunities to them unconditionally. Even the most sophisticated and time‐tested system can be defeated by someone with a sufficiently strong vision.
Vision creates the fertile ground on which we build the future. How we create a productive and prosperous space – for all stakeholders, employees, customers, partners and future users of this eco‐system – depends on visionary leaders.
Having a vision is like looking at the present from the future's standpoint. Being a visionary is similar to putting one's own signature on the future while being here and now. A visionary defines how soon the future reality will come. In this sense, vision is like a time machine. In looking from a desired future back to the present, one can envision all the steps needed to get from here to there.
There is only a slim chance for success, breakthrough initiatives, incredible achievements and an abundance of opportunities in a flat, two‐dimensional reality. A solid vision opens up a multidimensional space in which anything is possible. Vision is the most powerful and versatile tool we have to make a difference in the world around us.
Questioning the Understanding of Vision
The future will come whether you have a vision or not. But without a vision, you will be lost. It will be a reality you don't accept as it doesn't reflect your desires. And if you don't have a vision, do any desires you have even matter?
I've been thinking about this for the past 24 years. I even remember the start of this path as if it happened yesterday. I climbed to the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I sat at the top and gazed around into this great tranquil wilderness, basking in the solitude.
Suddenly I realised how little, powerless, inconsequential, imperceptible and insignificant I am compared with this world. Something whispered within me – ‘what is the meaning of what I do? What do I do for the future? Who am I, and where do I want to be? How I can escape mediocrity?’ Since then I've been thinking about vision from different angles.
A vision cannot be bought. It can't be merely found. It has to be created.
In this book, we will thoroughly explore the concept of vision. Why is it important, and for whom? How do visionaries define vision, and how do they experience it? What common leadership and personal traits are shared by visionaries? What is the difference between ordinary and visionary leadership? If we consider vision as a mental or psychological construction, then what elements of it are the most critical? How do these incredible leaders construct their vision and make it a reality? How do visionaries prepare or reinvent themselves to make a vision a reality? How do they act as visionaries and constructors of a positive future? What struggles and difficulties do they face, and how do they overcome them?
In searching for answers and practical solutions, I decided to talk with today's visionaries, those who are changing the way people work and live, to open a window into how they think, act and construct their vision.
I decided to discuss these
