My Definition Part 4

Leadership is the dynamic, interactive process of creating, communicating, and transforming vision into reality.

Leadership is a process of creating vision. Leadership is an art form involving great creativity. It involves so many of the same skills as that of a painter. Taking a blank canvass, the master artist uses both long and short brush strokes filled with just the right color to create a painting that captures the vision in his mind.

As a child I remember watching an artist on PBS that talked his way through his painting as he made it come alive for me. I was always amazed at the transformation that took place. He usually started with the background and a common color covered the entire canvass; then the used some broad strokes of color that seemed rather meaningless and abstract. He would then create step by step, addressing more and more of the detail of the painting until the the last few techniques brought eureka moments as his creative hand transformed the brush marks into a perfect landscape.

My skill as a young lad was not quite as sophisticated, but I remember that same “aha” experience when I did a “Paint By Numbers” project. Instead of a canvass, I remember those coloring books that had a page of abstract shapes and each shape had a number referring to a specific color. The child-artist had to color all the “1's” red, all the “2's” blue, the “3's” green, etc., in order to make sense out of the mysterious shapes. I remember not knowing what the picture was going to be when I started, but after carefully coloring with several Crayolas, I began to see the image take shape.

The art of creating a picture on canvas or in a coloring book is much the same as creating a vision during the process of leadership. As that picture of a future reality begins to take shape in the leader's mind, he/she begins to make broad strokes . The first crayon is used to color in some the the abstract ideas. As the vision is pondered, time is given in thought, reflection, meditation and prayer to the new ideas and concepts floating around in the sea of one's imagination and innovation. Sometimes slowly, other times with leaps of discovery, the vision begins to come into focus with clarity and detail. Colors are added and details begin to come into view. What started as a burden or abstract concern about the future now becomes a crystal clear photograph of a future reality that needs to be painted. Now the driving force in your heart is how to make it happen.