Developing Leadership Abilities

Visionary Actions

So far we have discussed leadership vision expressed in words: Richard’s plan for student services, President Kennedy’s approach to the Cuban missile crisis, Rachel’s leadership ideas in a corporate setting, and so forth. But leaders frequently find that a visionary action—some highly visible act, “happening,” or performance—speaks louder and more memorably than a host of visionary words.

Take, for example, the leadership choice facing Arthur Houghton Jr., CEO of Corning Glass, when he had to announce to the world in the mid-1900s that Corning no longer wanted to be thought of as a specialized “art glass” and crystal crafter but instead as an industrial giant producing common cookware and glass-based manufacturing materials. ...