One of my hobbies is photography, and my favorite photo subjects are nature scenes. I frequently take photographs of subjects at close range to medium range, mostly because there are so many subjects available to see at those distances. Much rarer, and much more exciting, are opportunities to take photos of expansive vistas stretching for miles in front of the lens. Getting to those views takes much more planning and physical effort than the closer subjects, but with healthy dose of luck, the resulting photographs can be spectacular.
At the same time, vista scenes pose problems for photographers, since so many elements of the photo can go so wrong. A long-distance shot has an immense number of elements that can work against the overall mood of the photograph, like dead trees, freshly dug property lots, traffic on roads, clouds and fog, and frustrating sun angles. I’ve often found that from my high perch, I can see many items that I would like to photograph but the flattening effect and the exposure requirements of an extreme zoom lens gives me a picture that completely misses the image I wanted to take. So, the twin photographs I have hanging in my office did not come from the countless rolls of film I took from mountain tops, but from close-ups of vivid orange leaves against a bright blue sky.
Some of these principles of photo composition also apply to how a leader constructs the vision to share with his followers. Leaders adore having a big scenic vista to present to their followers, frequently surrounded by unrealistic expectations; something like, “We’ll become the best widget maker in the world.” Statements like this one provide a strong emotional boost to a team, somewhat like a verbal shot of caffeine. In a while, however, the “buzz” wears off and the necessary questions start coming: “What does ‘best’ mean?” “What kind of widgets?” “How will we get the capital for improvements?” There are thousands of irritating details in a scenic vista, like the distracting dead trees and bulldozed lots in my photographs. A very small number of photographers, like Ansel Adams, made careers of scenic photographs, and I am no Ansel Adams. An even smaller number of leaders have achieved success by meticulously crafting, effectively presenting, and skillfully fulfilling an expansive scenic vista for their vision statement. It is unrealistic, risky, and foolish to assume that we are one of that elite few.
There are proper times to cheer on your team with emotionally charged encouragements; just back those up with strong, clear vision statements. Like a photographer, eliminate everything out of the background that would clutter the picture and tighten your focus on the key elements of the vision. Statements that provide better guidance to your team might be, “We will reduce the defect rate in our widget manufacturing by 50% in the next six months”, or “We will increase our manufacturing capacity for our specialty widgets by the end of the year”, or “We will pursue partnerships with outside companies to manufacture our low end widgets where such an agreement will improve our margins.” Any of these three might be what the leader meant by “the best widget maker,” but these three mean dramatically different futures for those following the leader.
Remember Rule #1: Followers choose leaders, and scenic vista vision statements enable and encourage your followers to chase after the leader they perceive rather than the leader you are. Imagine that our widget company responds to the scenic vista by investing heavily in new equipment to improve the quality of the products that are being sent to another company to produce.
This leads to the other problem with scenic vistas. One photographer stands in one location to take a scenic photograph, and one leader with his unique vantage point describes a vision to the team. However, every member of the team has a different vantage point. To warp this metaphor to fit reality, the photographer might be standing on a step ladder to take the picture, but one assistant’s view is holding the ladder, another assistant is taking notes, and a third assistant is reloading the trunk of the car. The photographer exclaims, “Look at that!”, but the assistants only see a ladder, a notebook, and a piece of luggage. At the same time, the photographer should be extraordinarily grateful for his assistants’ limited view, otherwise the ladder could fall over, the rights to sell the photograph could not be obtained, and the photographer would have no other clothes to wear.
To the leader, the metaphorical dead trees and bulldozed lots in the scenic vista are distractions, but there may be those on the team who specialize in replanting bare lots, or who need to know that trees in the grove have died. The leader, no matter how smart, is only one person, and one person will never know everything all the time about any non-trivial effort. What leaders think they are presenting in their broad vision may be interpreted very differently by others, somewhat like how a security photograph taken at an ATM might be used to analyze a traffic accident that took place in the background.
As leaders, we must be clear and precise in what we present to our teams, and for that matter, to our peers, management, and clients. Grandiose portrayals of our future sound a lot better inside our heads than in the ears of our followers. Keep it simple, clear, and understandable so your followers know how to follow you.