The Vision Pioneers Blog

by Miriam Garvi

Last night I was listening to a seminar on modern leadership and the importance of setting magnetic goals.

Nowadays we look to the world of elite sports for leadership guidance and inspiration, a world where years of hard work and training are directed towards that single moment where everything must come together in an outstanding performance. So much of leadership practice seems to be bent on «pumping up our emotions», trying to create a positive emotional balance so as to motivate people to achieve pre-set targets.

When business is defined as climbing new peaks, then what we need from leadership really is quite simple: making people believe in the attainability of the seemingly unattainable and motivating people to stretch themselves so as to reach that target. With the help of visualization techniques and positive thinking, it becomes a matter of pumping up emotions as we push for new records.

But where is the guidance in the emotional magnetism of «feel good» targets? Such coaching cannot help us find the right direction, but it can boost our performance once we know where we want to go.

As I wrote in my previous post Sheltered moments, true progress can never be achieved unless we know the whys of where we are heading. And it requires the kind of dedication to a vision that transcends the volatility of our emotions, where people are committed to making a difference even in the face of adversity because they value the sense of meaning that is generated in the engagement.

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“The leader sees work as part of a larger mission - make a better society for all (institution builder).”

- Georges F. Doriot

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by Miriam Garvi

I once read an article by professor Peter Pruzan where he makes this reflection:

“With the aid of our time’s alchemists - economists - money has been transmuted from a means to the end.”

Let me give you a little illustration of this point. As I was interviewing various people for my dissertation, I sat down with an investment manager at the Skandia Group, an international savings company. When asked what his team were all about, the answer was plain and simple; «We’re small and square - money for our pension beneficiaries, money for our pension beneficiaries, money for our pension beneficiaries…». Small and square? Now there’s an answer that’ll fit right into a business growth matrix or a market plan!

It is amazing how the ‘language of money’ narrows down possible options to one single end, namely maximizing profit - or to be more up-to-date these days, increasing shareholder value. This language makes no room for any reflections on whether +5% is the kind of fulfilment we’re looking for or if it is in fact merely a means for developing and sustaining what we are doing. If it is the latter, then the language of money is doing us the disservice of diverting focus away from the fundamental things in business and life alike, by reducing what we talk about and what we think counts to the measurable and simplistic.

A man with a vision once said: “Business is not about dollars and cents so much as about building for the future.” That future calls us to go beyond the measurable and simplistic and start thinking about the bigger picture.

by Miriam Garvi

In our society, it seems as if the real winners are never those who take the first step. Most money is made by those deft enough to know exactly the right moment to move in and beat others at their own game. Business is for the survival of the fittest - those who have the stamina for playing the ‘gorilla game’.

But who defines winning? And who defines the prize? Chalking up a new sales record is an achievement, but then what? As shown by many a public company these days, it is no longer enough to be profitable - you need to keep exceeding expectations that are fueled by past successes. Expected growth is the curse of success.

It takes courage and conviction not to be drawn into this spiral. But if we are to see other qualities than short-term achievement we need visions that go beyond heeding to the loud demands and expectations of markets and institutions.