Visionary Leadership Aways Excels

Becoming a visionary might start a lot earlier than we envision, and that fact puts even a higher premium on the teaching and leading process.

Late December, really cold, about 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

The sled on which I sat was an old wooden one with steel runners. The stars that night were brilliant, allowed to be so by the lack of a moon and streetlights.

My friends and I sat there on our sleds waiting for the car that was almost a mile away to finish coming up Edward's Hill Road so we could push off and ride those relics almost all the way to Bakers Mills.

Sitting there shivering and waiting in the darkness, an amazing serendipity moment snuck into my teenage life.Looking down at my sled, I saw its darkened outline slowly lighten as light from the far away car fell on the cold wood and metal.

I couldn't explain the physics of the situation, but I do remember my intrigue as I watched the quiet brightness change as the approaching car rounded curves then came into view.

Though I didn't yet drive, at least legally, I knew the driver couldn't see the effect of his lights more than fifty or sixty yards ahead.

He couldn't see, yet four kids more than three-quarters of a mile away were able to see and benefit from the light of his headlights.

I couldn't verbalize it, but even as a kid it suddenly struck me...

... Even though we can't see beyond the moment, we can know that what we're doing at that moment can be profoundly useful to those who live far down the road.

Years later, philosophical nostalgia flooded my mind as I read a sign on the wall of a college classroom.

An extraordinary, high tech example of such vision is that of the NASA engineers and visionaries who are currently developing equipment and logistics for the manned exploration of Mars.

Think about it. Those planners will very likely have died before their visionary dreams become reality. Yet, without their ability to take vigorous action towards the future, we will never go on that interplanetary trip.

Being a visionary leader in school administration isn't as glamorous, but can certainly have a profoundly more important influence on individual lives.

It seems to me that true visionaries in the world of education must have certain courageous attributes.

• You need be brave enough to withstand the ever-present nay-sayers.
• You must be persistently persuasive without being obnoxious or angry.
• You must pursue your vision while putting your ego on hold. Who gets the credit doesn't matter nearly as much as who reaps the benefit.
• You cannot fear failure, since another vision waits just around the corner.

I honestly don't know.

But I do know this... vision should never be extinguished. Don't let it happen...

Fight the fight, keep the faith.

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