Five ways to boost your visionary side

In the field of leadership, there are few words that evoke as much debate as “vision.” But although the word gets thrown around a lot by leadership gurus and thought leaders, the concept of vision remains elusive in real life. In fact, most people wouldn’t really know how to develop their visionary side, considering it to be something reserved for the larger-than-life figures — the Steve Jobses, Elon Muskes and Jeff Bezoses of this world. A born-with-or-not sort of thing.
I strongly disagree with this. I dare to claim that anyone can increase their visionary capacity. Not the world-changing kind of visionary capacity, but the inspiring, forward-oriented image that guides your team toward a purposeful future. And it’s not just a skill you can develop; it’s a skill you should develop. That’s what leadership is all about, after all: being a source of inspiration to others. It’s for this reason that I have spent the last eight years demystifying “vision” in an attempt to knock it off its pedestal. I’ve set out my ideas on how to systematically develop your visionary side in my book “Anticipate, the Art of Leading by Looking Ahead.”
There are various ideas for you to work with, but here are five concrete and practical tips.
1. Be Curious
American economist George Lowenstein discovered a simple truth about curiosity: curiosity occurs when we experience a gap in our knowledge. Such a gap can be drawn out in many ways, and you can purposely set yourself up to detect gaps in your knowledge. Above all, be open-minded, but in addition to that, deliberately expose yourself to ideas that fall outside of your current perspective. Ask questions, instead of asserting your own ideas first. Be playful. Make a habit of meeting up with someone you hardly know at least once a week. Regularly sit at a different table in the company cafeteria.
Once a year, go to a conference that’s completely outside your professional field (as they do at Google), and so on. These are all deliberate actions designed to detect gaps in your knowledge, which will arouse your curiosity.
2. Keep Track of Your Unconventional Ideas
We all have them: unconventional ideas. They pop up at random moments — when we’re talking to a client, listening to the radio, taking a shower or, indeed, visiting that out-of-your-comfort-zone conference.
Make a practice of recording your innovative thoughts. Make this a routine habit; physically post your ideas onto the wall of your office. Not only will they become integrated in the way you think, but they’ll also start to shine through in the way you lead. Over time, you’ll become known as the one with the interesting ideas, and people will come to see you as a person who always looks ahead.
Additional tip: in my book I introduce the practice of FuturePriming, a deceptively simple process that builds on the above. Try it out!
3. Develop Multiple Perspectives
All right, so your compelling story of the future is shaping up. But don’t get trapped in the snares of overconfidence and frame blindness. None of us can predict the future, so prevent yourself from becoming dogmatic and fixating on one version of the future.
Avoid the self-serving trap by all possible means — people will see right through you if everything you envision only serves your personal interests. Develop several outlooks on the future, and make sure to adjust your perspective as the future unfolds.
4. Use Visual Language
Time to work on your communication skills. We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, and so it is with vision. You call upon your audience’s imagination when you steer clear from facts, figures and bullet points, and use visual language instead. This will activate the associative brain and make your story more compelling.

5. Practice, practice, practice…
No more hiding! Actors live by the mantra that “you cannot think yourself into a new way of acting, but you can act yourself into a new way of thinking”. Read that again. Because the same applies to your visionary side. Create an inspiring story, invigorate it with unconventional ideas, find the right metaphors and analogies to tell it with, and then: tell it!

Don’t be shy — you’ll always be able to come up with a reason not to do it. Make a conscious decision to share your story at least once a week (don’t overdo it…). Sure enough, it won’t be perfect the first time, but by sharing your story you’re priming yourself to tell a better story next time. And an even better story the time after that. People will start to notice that you are always ahead of the curve, that you have thought-provoking foresight and that you see things early. Remember, you can act yourself into a new way of thinking. So don’t sell yourself short!

Rob-Jan de Jong is a behavioral strategist and acts as international speaker, executive educator, author, and consultant on strategy and leadership themes. He is the author of ANTICIPATE: The Art Of Leading By Looking Ahead (available at Amazon.com) and serves as (visiting) expert faculty at the Wharton Business School, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Nyrenrode Business University, and Sabanci Business University. He lives near Amsterdam, The Netherlands.