The Student Leadership Guide

I N S T R U C T O R G U I D E

C h a p t e r 2 : E N V I S I O N

The Student Leadership Guide teaches students to:

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Develop a leadership mindset by helping them

define and describe the leadership process

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Envision a compelling future

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Enlist others in collaboration

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Embody principles people will believe in

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Empower others with shared responsibility

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Evaluate ethics, performance, and direction

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Encourage growth and contribution

S t u d e n t L e a d e r s h i p I n s t i t u t e
D e P a u l U n i v e r s i t y

Chapter Overview

Envision is the first “E” in The Student Leadership Guide’s E6 framework. This
chapter stresses the importance of creating a vision that collaborators can truly rally
around.

Subsequent chapters teach leaders to recruit collaborators in the creation of, and
commitment to, that vision (enlist); role model the values and ideals needed to lead
(embody); grant collaborators the decision-making authority and trust they need in
order to feel a sense of personal ownership and responsibility for achieving the vision
(empower); monitor and manage their progress, ethics, and collaborator’s
performance (evaluate); and sustain hope, faith, and excitement throughout the
journey (encourage).

Note: From this chapter forward, an “Application Appendix” is included at the end of
this summary which details how this “E” in the framework could be applied to self-
leadership and the HBR case study on Earnest Shackleton.

Chapter Objectives

After completing this chapter and its course students will be able to:

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Describe the importance and benefits of creating a clear vision

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Explain what types of questions leaders ask in forming a vision

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Formulate their own “rough draft” of a vision (of which they’ll “finalize” in the
following chapter after editing it to reflect mutual purposes)

Key Terms and Topics

Chapter Introduction

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“Where are we now? and Where could we go? are the inquiries of great
leaders…Leadership is about visions of the future and seeking to make those
visions reality.” (p. 47)

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A vision “creates meaning for everyone in the organization, provides a
worthwhile challenge, is energizing, brings the future into the present, and
creates a common identity.” (p. 47)

Discussion question for class:
With all the talk nowadays about needing “visionary” leaders, just exactly what is a
“vision” and why do people want visionary leaders so bad?

What is a vision?

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A vision has been defined in several ways (see p. 48). Essentially, “A vision
should be simple and idealistic, a picture of a desirable future, not a complex
plan with quantitative objectives and detailed action steps. The vision should
appeal to the values, hopes, and ideals of organizational members and other
stakeholders whose support is needed. The vision should be challenging but
realistic. The vision should be focused enough to guide decisions and
actions, but general enough to allow initiative and creativity in the strategies
for attaining it.” (p. 49)

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Vision statement examples of Disney, an automotive company, Texas
Commerce Bank, and a student senate appear on pp. 50-53. The common
thread through these statements is that the visions are clear, simple,
inspiring and focused on those the organizations seek to serve.

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It’s important to note that not all visions are written vision statements. Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech was a vision people rallied around,

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but it was a speech.

Discussion question for class:
Who creates the vision, leaders or followers?

Who Creates the Vision?

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Leaders often create “rough draft” visions of the future based on their own
ideas about the future; their personal vision precedes creating a shared
vision. (p. 55)

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Because “leader’s initial visions are often formed even before taking into
account collaborators’ needs and values,” Conger and Kanungo, authors of
Charismatic Leadership in Organizations, call leaders “principal assemblers
of vision.” (p. 56).

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This means that you’ll likely come up with a vision first, then go out and share
it with collaborators to see if it “sticks” or if it needs to be edited to be more
reflective of mutual purposes.

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How do you come up with a vision? Simple. Look around you. Listen. Ask
questions. Find “the common thread that weaves together the fabric of
human needs into a collective tapestry…get a sense of what people want,
what they value, what they dream about.” (pp. 56-57)

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Remember, though, that no matter how good you think your vision is, it
means nothing unless it represents what your collaborators want to do. In
other words, it must reflect mutual purposes and fire “the imaginations and
emotions of followers” so that it is “claimed” or “owned” by most members of
the organization. (p. 57).

Discussion question for class:
How do leaders go about developing a vision?

Developing a Vision

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As Burt Nanus notes in his impressive book Visionary Leadership, “Every
leader develops vision in his or her own way, sometimes rationally and
objectively, often intuitively and subjectively.” Also, “a successful vision is
seldom created in a single moment of revelation, but instead it takes shape
during a lengthy process of exploration, discussion, and refinement of ideas.”
(p. 59).

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Visioning is a combination of reality checking, dreaming, and brainstorming.
And to do these things, leaders use the power of questions to assess the
past, present, and future. They spend the majority of their time on two time
frames: 1) questions about the present – “Where are we now?” – and 2)
questions about the future – “Where could we go?” (p. 59).

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Your first task as a visionary leader is to assess the present. “Before you can
paint a picture of tomorrow, you have to understand what today looks like.”
So ask yourself questions about the current state of your organization,
questions like:

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What are the current strengths and weaknesses of your organization?

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Where is your organization heading currently?

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What is your organization the best at?

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What is the culture like? (more questions, pp. 60-61)

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In assessing the present, always look for shortcomings in the status quo.
Look for what’s wrong or what could be better.

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Your second task is to look to the future. Ask questions about how you can
improve the status quo. Ask:

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What do we really want to do here? What is our purpose?

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What’s missing now?

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What do we want to have changed or accomplished in five years? Ten
years? Twenty?

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What new ideas could benefit this organization?

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Who are we not serving? (more questions, p. 62).

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Once you complete your vision, evaluate it. Effective visions “reflect a sense
of pride, a desire for greatness, a competitive spirit, service to others, doing
the right things, and overcoming odds.” (p. 63). Look at your vision and ask:

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To what extent is it utopian – that is, is it likely to lead to a better
future?

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Will everyone in your organization understand and support the vision?

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To what extent is it appropriate for the organization – that is, does it fit
with the organization’s history, culture, and values?

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To what extent does it clarify purpose and direction?

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To what extent is it likely to inspire enthusiasm and encourage
commitment?

What Next?

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Now that you’ve evaluated your vision, you have to start thinking about
strategies to attain your vision and developing the “map” to the promised
land. Second, you have to begin to think about 1) who you are going to share
your vision with, and 2) how you are going to communicate it to them. (pp.
65-60)

Optional Reading

Building Your Company’s Vision by

James C. Collins; Jerry I. Porras. Harvard

Business Review article, 1996.
Description: Companies that enjoy enduring success have a core purpose and core
values that remain fixed while their strategies and practices endlessly adapt to a
changing world. The rare ability to balance continuity and change--requiring a
consciously practiced discipline--is closely linked to the ability to develop a vision.
Vision provides guidance about what to preserve and what to change. A new
prescriptive framework adds clarity and rigor to the vague and fuzzy vision concepts
at large today. Managers who master a discovery process to identify core ideology
can link their vision statements to the fundamental dynamic that motivates truly
visionary companies--that is, the dynamic of preserving the core and stimulating
progress.

The Vision Trap by

Gerard H. Langeler.

Harvard Business Review article, 1992.

Description: As the executive responsible for vision at Mentor Graphics, Gerard
Langeler discovered that vision has the power to weaken a strong company. In its
early days, Mentor's motto was Build Something People Will Buy. When clear
competition emerged from Daisy Systems, Mentor's watchword became Beat Daisy.
Both of these visions were pragmatic and immediate, giving Mentor a sense of

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purpose as it gained momentum. Once Daisy was beaten, however, company vision
began to self-inflate. The final escalation came when Mentor Graphics decided to
Change the Way the World Designs. The company had stopped making products
and was making poetry. Finally, in 1991, Mentor went back to basics.

Video / Internet
Resources

No video is recommended for this 50-minute course. This topic is best explored
through dialogue based on the student’s real-life personal examples.

Experiential Exercises
or Assessments

Recommended Activity

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Collect vision statements from Fortune 500 company websites, print them out,
and distribute them to the class. Ask students to dissect the vision statements
and discuss what values the statements promote and whether or not they view
the visions as motivating.

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Ask teams of 4-5 students to create a vision for their group, unit, or
organization, and then present their vision to the full class for discussion and
feedback. Focus on whether or not the vision is clear and motivating enough.

Biographical Sketch

Walt Disney’s vision for his theme park is one of the most widely cited vision
statements in leadership texts, other than the Declaration of Independence or
Constitution. Disney’s vision appears on pp. 50-51 and serves as an interesting
discussion topic.

Creative Instructor
Notes

It’s recommended that you teach this class with the philosophy of empowerment in
mind—you should let the class “run itself” for the day. For example, you could:

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Ask students to review the “ultimate” vision statement, the Declaration of
Independence. Ask them to read it before class, then come prepared to
discuss the values the document proposes and does not propose, as well as to
comment on its persuasiveness.

Homework

Options for homework might include:

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Review a Fortune 500 company or governmental department’s vision
statement and write a 3-page paper detailing:

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The vision and its main elements

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Which values, customers, and needs they are addressing

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Why the vision works or doesn’t work for you

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Interview two leaders on campus who are known as inspiring leaders. Ask
them their secrets and strategies for creating a powerful vision. Write a 3-page
paper summarizing your interview and come to class prepared to discuss the
highlights with your classmates.

Takeaway Message

The first activity of a leader is to define a vision for the group to follow. This vision can
be drafted by you, but it must ultimately be shared with, and shaped by, your
collaborators so that it reflects mutual purposes.

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Test Bank

1. Which two questions below does Burchard claim are the “inquiries of great

leaders and are the underlying components of their visions?”

A. Where are we now?
B. What do I want?
C. How many followers will I need to enlist?
D. Where could we go

Answer: A, D (p. 47)

2. According to the author, can you have goals, objectives, or strategies without

first having a vision of what you want to achieve?

A. Yes
B. No

Answer: B (p. 47)

3. Which person’s vision does the author cite in this chapter and call “inspiring

and utopian”?

A. Bill

Gates

B. Nelson

Mandela

C. Walt Disney
D. Rudy Giuliani

Answer: C (p. 50)

4. Leaders often create a “rough draft” of a vision without taking into account

collaborators’ needs and values?

A. True
B. False

Answer: A (p. 55)

5. What two steps below are the essential steps of creating a vision?

A. Find out who will be the leader
B. Assess the present
C. Look to the future
D. Determine how many people you’re leading

Answer: B, C (p. 59-61)

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The Student Leadership Guide

A P P L I C A T I O N A P P E N D I X

“ENVISION” APPLIED TO SELF-LEADERSHIP

page 07

“ENVISION” APPLIED TO HBR ARTICLE:
Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and
the

Epic

Voyage

of

the

Endurance

page

16

6

“ENVISION” APPLIED TO SELF-LEADERSHIP

How Does
ENVISION Apply to
Self-leadership?

Great leaders have grand visions for their future. They can “see” in their mind exactly
who they want to be and what they want to do. This vision doesn’t happen overnight,
it happens through long periods of introspection.

The problem is, that most people wait until the end of their lives to think about who
they want to be and how they want to be remembered. This is why most people
aren’t living the life of their dreams: because they have no idea what that life looks
like. They have never clarified in their minds exactly what they want in life. They’ve
never written down their life’s goals, and in most cases they’ve never even
consciously thought of them!

Are you one of these people? Let’s check. Do you have an exact picture in your mind
of who you want to be in life? Do you have an exact idea about what you want to
accomplish in life before you die? Do you know exactly how you would like to think,
feel, and act on a regular basis? Do you have an exact number in mind for how much
you want to be making financially in five years? Do you know exactly what kind of
relationship you want to have with your spouse or significant other? Do you know
exactly how you want to be remembered after you die?

If I asked you to write down the answers to all these questions right now, would you
tell me, “Thanks, pal, but I’ve already thought of all this and I’ve already written down
similar goals for this year”?

If your answer to most of these questions is no, then I have to be brutally honest: At
this point in your life you have absolutely no chance of living your ideal life anytime
soon. Zip. Zero. No chance. I can say this with confidence because if you answered
no to these questions, then it’s clear you have no idea what your ideal life would be.
Remember: You can’t hit a target you can’t see.

Don’t be like most people. Don’t wait until your 30

th

or 40

th

or 50

th

birthday to start

thinking about the direction and meaning of your life.

In order to grow as a person and prepare for leading others, you need to get clear on
the direction of your life. Where do you want to end up? What do you want your life to
have stood for? What do you want to have accomplished and contributed? These are
the questions great leaders ask themselves.

What is your vision for how you want your life to turn out?

Optional
Applied Activities

The tried-and-true method for helping people envision how their lives should end up
is some variation of a “funeral” exercise in which an instructor helps participants
envision how they would be remembered at their funeral. Below are talking points for
walking students through this exercise.

In this exercise, I’m going to describe a scene to you—your funeral—and as I do so,
I’m going to interrupt the scene several times and ask you to complete a few
sentences. These sentences will be about what you would ideally want the people in
your life to say about you after you are gone. Simply, these sentences will help you
begin to have a vision for who you are or should be in the future.

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Let’s begin.

Close your eyes. Imagine that you’ve just died. Your soul is hovering above hundreds
of people in a church who have gathered at your funeral. You scan the crowd and
realize that almost everyone you’ve ever met is sitting in the pews. In the front rows
are the closest people in your life. Your best friends are sitting there, holding each
other’s hands. Your spouse or significant other is sitting in the first row, crying. So are
your surviving family members. It pains you to see everyone so upset. You can see
yourself in the open casket behind the alter. You float down to your casket and stand
next to it. You see that your face is a pale white, but the mortician has put a cosmetic
blush on your cheeks. Seeing yourself lying there is eerie, but you feel an incredible
sense of peace. You hear something behind you. Your best friend has just stepped
behind the podium. You float over to the front pews and stand next to your spouse or
sweetheart. You wish you could do something to comfort him or her. You hear a lot of
weeping from the people seated behind you. Your best friend taps the microphone at
the podium and begins to speak, but their voice cracks. They

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pause. They say,

“Thank you all for coming to remember and celebrate the finest person I’ve ever
known.” They pause again and wipe away a loose tear. They start again. They
describe the type of person you were and why they loved you…

Now I’m going to stop the story. I want you to open your eyes and complete
statements one and two on your activity worksheet. [Instructor Note: The questions
are listed below, and are also on the attached ACTIVITY WORKSHEET which can be
photocopied and distributed to students in advance of this exercise].

1. When my best friend talks about me at my funeral, the three words he or she

keeps using to describe me are…

2. The reason my best friend says he or she loved me is because I was the

type of person who…

[Instructor Note: Allow students a few minutes to complete the sentences, then move
on].

Now close your eyes again. Imagine your best friend finishes the speech, and you
can see that the people around you are clearly moved. Your surviving family
members were nodding and wiping their faces with their handkerchiefs throughout
the speech. Your spouse stands and hugs your best friend when they return to the
pew. You wish you could hug them both. Your spouse walks slowly up to the podium,
trembling but smiling. Every memory you have of this person flashes through your
mind. They begin: “I also want to thank you for coming here to celebrate an amazing
human being, someone I loved very much.” The love of your life then tells your family
and friends why they thought you were so unique, how you lived your life, and why
they loved you…

Now I’m going to stop the story. I want you to open your eyes and complete
statements three through five give on your activity worksheet. [Instructor Note: The
questions are listed below, and are also on the attached ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
which can be photocopied and distributed to students in advance of this exercise].

3. My lover describes my uniqueness as a human being, saying that I was…
4. The love of my life describes the way I lived my life, saying that I always…
5. My lover says that the reason she or he loved me is because…

1

Forgive the grammatically incorrect usage of “they.” This is done to avoid the awkward, mood-killing use of “he

or she” in this exercise.

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[Instructor Note: Allow students a few minutes to complete the sentences, then move
on].

Now close your eyes again. Your lover finishes and smiles sheepishly at the crowd.
He or she takes a seat and is embraced by your best friend. Your closest family
member gets up and walks over to your significant other, and they hug. Then the
family member walks to the podium. They appear surprisingly composed. They say,
“This, to me, is a beautiful moment. To see all of you gathered to pay your respects
and love to such a good person.” Your family member then tells everyone how proud
of you they are for all that you have accomplished and contributed throughout your
life…

Now I’m going to stop the story. I want you to open your eyes and complete
statements six through seven on your activity worksheet.

6. I feel humbled when this person mentions to everyone that my greatest

accomplishment in life was…

7. My family cries tears of pride when this person mentions that I truly made a

difference in people’s lives by contributing my time and resources to…

[Instructor Note: Allow students a few minutes to complete the sentences, then move
on].

Now close your eyes again. Your family member finishes a moving speech, and
many people seated in the front rows begin quietly clapping. You realize they’re not
clapping for the speech, but for you, for the difference you made. The funeral ends,
and a reception is held in a courtyard behind the church. The sun is bright, and the
trees sway in the gentle breeze. You walk around and listen to people sharing their
memories of you. The mood is light and joyous as people celebrate your life and
recall how you touched their lives…

Now I’m going to stop the story. I want you to open your eyes and complete
statements eight through ten on your activity worksheet.

8. By going through this activity, I realize that the things I need to start doing in

my life in order to be remembered this way are…

9. The things I realize I need to stop doing in my life in order to be remembered

this way are…

10. From this day forward, I am committed to being the type of person who…

[Instructor Note: Allow students a few minutes to complete the sentences, then move
on].

Debrief: This exercise should have given you a clear vision for who you want to be in
life. This kind of vision is essential to self-leadership.

Now take out your PERSONAL JOURNAL, which will help you get a VERY specific
vision for what you want to do in your life.

Journal Questions
for Self-Reflection

Consider photocopying the PERSONAL JOURNAL for ENVISION (found below) and
distributing it to students following the exercise of completion of the class.

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The Student Leadership Guide

A C T I V I T Y W O R K S H E E T

1. When my best friend talks about me at my funeral, the three words he or she

keeps using to describe me are…

2. The reason my best friend says he or she loved me is because I was the type of

person who…

3. My lover describes my uniqueness as a human being, saying that I was…

4. The love of my life describes the way I lived my life, saying that I always…

5. My lover says that the reason she or he loved me is because…

6. I feel humbled when this person mentions to everyone that my greatest

accomplishment in life was…

7. My family cries tears of pride when this person mentions that I truly made a

difference in people’s lives by contributing my time and resources to…

8. By going through this activity, I realize that the things I need to start doing in my

life in order to be remembered this way are…

9. The things I realize I need to stop doing in my life in order to be remembered this

way are…

10. From this day forward, I am committed to being the type of person who…

E N V I S I O N Y O U R L I F E :
T H E F U N E R A L E X E R C I S E

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The Student Leadership Guide

P E R S O N A L J O U R N A L

Now it’s time to get down to the details of your personal vision and describe exactly what
kind of life you want to live. Complete the sentences below with as much detail as possible.
The more exacting you are in your responses, the more likely you are to achieve your vision.
[Note: All the statements below refer to you and the life of your dreams.]

Your Emotional Life

□ In the life of my dreams, three emotions I would consistently feel on a daily basis

would be…

□ In order to start feeling these three emotions on a consistent basis by the end of this

week, the thoughts that would have to be running through my head would be

thoughts like…

□ To feel these three emotions for the rest of my life, the things I would have to do

consistently would be things like…

Your Physical Body

□ The way I would want my body to feel on a consistent basis could be described

as…

□ In order to have a body like this, the first thing I would have to stop doing is…

□ The first thing I would have to start doing would be…

E N V I S I O N Y O U R L I F E P A R T I

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The Student Leadership Guide

P E R S O N A L J O U R N A L

Your Activities

□ The way I would spend my ideal day would be…

□ The work I would love to be doing would be something that…

□ The things I would do in the weekday evenings would be things like…

□ I would spend most of my weekends…

□ The hobbies I would pick up and be skilled at would be…

Your Intimate Relationships

□ My ideal lover would be someone who, on a consistent basis, treated me with…

□ I would always treat my lover as if he or she was…

□ The things my lover and I would do together frequently would be things like…

□ In order to have a relationship like this, the things I must start doing in my current or

next relationship are things like…

E N V I S I O N Y O U R L I F E P A R T I I

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The Student Leadership Guide

P E R S O N A L J O U R N A L

Your Social Identity

□ When mingling with other people, the impression I would always want to leave with

them is…

□ The groups of people I would spend time with would be the type of people who love

to…

□ My closest friends would be people who…

□ My friends would think of me as someone who…

Your Material/Financial World

□ My income would be high enough that I could finally…

□ The material things I would want to have would be things like…

□ The places I would travel to would include places like…

□ The things I would buy for those around me would be things like…

□ In order to make a difference, I would contribute a portion of my income to

organizations or individuals who…

□ In order to have a future like the one I’m describing, the three actions I would have

to start doing immediately would be…

E N V I S I O N Y O U R L I F E P A R T I I I

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The Student Leadership Guide

P E R S O N A L J O U R N A L

Your Spiritual Life

□ The connection I would have with others or with my Creator could be described

as…

□ I would have a sense of peace in my life because I would believe that…

□ I would have a sense of peace in my life because I would behave in a way that…

□ I would feel as though I had a purpose in life because I would be…

E N V I S I O N Y O U R L I F E P A R T I V

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“ENVISION” APPLIED TO HBR ARTICLE:

Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and

the Epic Voyage of the Endurance

How Does
ENVISION Apply to
the HBR article
Leadership in Crisis?

Shackleton proved over and over throughout his life and his Endurance voyage that a
great leader sets a bold vision, enlists others to achieve it, struggles through thick-
and-thin to achieve it, and when necessary, changes course and creates new visions.

Shackleton’s first vision in this article was to reach the south pole. In 1909, he and his
crew of the Nimrod “succeeded in trudging to within 100 miles of the South Pole”
before being forced to turn back because of hunger and frostbite. After Norwegian
explorer Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole—making him the first person to do
so—Shackleton’s polar ambitions were reignited.

Thus, his second vision was created and communicated with gusto: “The discovery of
the South Pole will not be the end of Antarctic exploration. The next work [is] a
transcontinental journey from sea to sea, crossing the Pole” (p. 5).” Shackleton’s
vision, which required an overland march of 1,500 miles and two polar vessels,
“seemed nearly impossible” (p. 5).

Shackleton’s vision evolved a third time when the Endurance became trapped in the
polar ice pack. “The mission of the crew” morphed into waiting out the winter with
“hopes of moving the following summer” (p. 11).

After seven months stuck in the pack, though, his vision changed again to simply
saving his crew’s life. This vision became his sole purpose when he left Elephant
Island on April 24, 1916 with five selected crewman heading for South Georgia
Island. He would leave 22 members of his crew, then head through treacherous
waters and march across an uncharted island before reaching a whaling station. It
would be another four months before he could find a suitable ship to rescue his crew
stranded on Elephant Island. When he finally reached them, he saw that his vision
was accomplished—all 22 men had survived.

Four years later, in 1920, “the Boss was hungry for another adventure” (p. 24). This
time his vision was less clear, but because of his persistence and strength in
achieving his last, his crew joined him once again for what would be his final journey.

Discussion Questions

1.

What do you think was extraordinary about Shackleton’s vision?

2.

What did people think of his vision to cross the Antarctic?

3.

Under what circumstances did Shackleton change his vision?

4.

What traits do you think helped Shackleton achieve his vision of survival?

5.

Do you think an “average” man could have accomplished Shackleton’s vision
under similar circumstances? Why or why not?

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