The Vision Code. Oleg Konovalov
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data is available:
ISBN 9781119775911 (hardback)
ISBN 9781119775935 (ePDF)
ISBN 9781119775928 (ePub)
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: © GeorgePeters/Getty Images
Foreword
Over the past four decades, I have made a living coaching and educating leaders globally. In doing so, I've come to be the #1 Leadership thinker and #1 Executive Coach in the world. I do this because I have a purpose. I help others become what and who they can be. I help successful people become more successful, and this requires a convincing vision that will resonate with people.
Life does not matter without a purpose. Are you making progress, are you achieving something, are you happy, are you in a good relationship, are you doing what you love doing?
In the world of business, people tend to think that purpose is about money. Here's the dirty secret, money doesn't matter that much. It is a by‐product of what you do, a tool to allow you to do more. The truth is, if you have enough money for a moderate lifestyle, money does not matter much. Once basic needs are fulfilled, money is superfluous.
So, what is purpose then? What is it that will reveal meaning in your life? In purely practical terms, it is helping others in some way. And to help others, you need a vision on how to do that.
If you have no vision, why are you here? If all you are doing is eating, breathing and going about daily tasks, you already know that is a life devoid of purpose.
You picked up this book because you know you are missing something. You are missing the thing that will make your life and business meaningful.
This feeling is shared by many, perhaps especially by leaders. Modern leadership depends on vision and direction. If we are getting better with a direction, many still struggle with vision, thinking it unnecessary or that it is beyond them.
Top global thought 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