12 Ways Leaders Bridge Vision and Realism

One of the biggest barriers I have found in organisations when developing vision and strategy has been the lack of understanding about different ways people take in and process information. When this isn't recognised, nor addressed in the right way, there ends up a mismatch of buy-in right from the intial development phase. I remember an acquaintence some years ago telling me she was totally frustrated about all of these meetings her boss and some colleagues were holding about the future when the day to day work was stacking up and no-one thought it was a priority. I have seen this dynamic hundreds of times. Once you understand how people tick, it is like a magic wand has been waved because then everything becomes clear. This weeks article is about bridging the gap between creating a vision and living in present day reality.


I write a lot about leadership and how leaders can choose to see things from another perspective. One of my inspirations is Carl Jung, especially his work on archetypes and dream analysis. I see patterns and connections all around me, and if you know anything about Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) , you will understand it’s because I have a preference for intuition.


Being intuitive means I prefer using my imagination to find meaning. I am fairly future focused, and a “towards” motivated person. To those who don’t really know me, I can sound idealistic, looking towards a “happy ever after” future. Self-awareness, however, keeps my feet on the ground mostly, although I do actually believe we can influence our future by what we think, feel and believe in the present, but that's another story.


The other part of the MBTI Dichotomy around how we see things is the “sensing” type. This type of person prefers to see the world through their 5 senses, and so can be fairly factual about what they are seeing. They are “realistic” and prefer facts, and a pragmatic approach. Sensors like to live in the present, and generally call upon past experiences to inform their decision making.


Intuition and Sensing are not labels


The problem with MBTI is that some people believe the word “type” traps people into one of the two parts of the dichotomy, and it becomes a label. The truth is of course that we all take in information through our senses and our intuition in different quantities and in a variety of situations. We just can’t be taking in information from both sources at once. One day we could be realistic and down to earth, and the other might be finding joy in our dreams and vision. Our type is determined by how we feel most comfortable, taking in information.


Idealism and Realism are necessary for real growth


I remember talking to a friend about my plans and aspirations, and how I wanted to change the world and make a real difference. I rambled on for about 15 minutes, enthused by my theme and feeling passionate about what I wanted to do. She listened attentively, smiling and nodding. When I finished, before I got the last words out of my mouth she said “Lovely, but let’s get back down to earth now shall we?”


I laughed and nodded. As you can see we are very different. When I was younger and less experienced, I might have felt she had deliberately rained on my parade. Older and wiser, I knew she was right.


In order to grow as leaders and effective people whether in a leadership role or not, it is healthy and right to be both idealistic and realistic. If your preference is more prevalent either way you might find it more difficult to get that balance right.


Leaders who get the balance right will take in information either through their own inner processes or through their team and:

1. Use their imagination and aspirations to develop a clear vision, and convert to understandable outcomes
2. Make connections; develop big picture and systems thinking to have an overview of how things will be.
3. Harness the power of strategic plans as well as action plans
4. Assess the current situation or reality and understand where they are right now.
5. Bridge the gap between current and future reality with communication, plans and milestones.
6. Connect the past, present and future through storytelling and timelines
7. Work towards outcomes through believable milestones, so both realistic, and idealistic, can buy –in
8. Be tuned into and help solve day to day problems
9. Support and give credit and reward for “here and now” achievements
10. Listen to and understand both intuitive and sensory input.
11. Harness appropriate change strategies
12. Realise they have to understand the “here and now” to be able to turn idealistic dreams into reality

Do you get frustrated with others because they seem to live on a cloud? Do you get disheartened because someone can’t seem to focus on anything beyond tomorrow?


Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles.


People Discovery is a Leadership Development provider based in North East England, working globally.

No Resolution? - 4 Steps to Positive Change

Don’t get me wrong there are some fantastic articles out there about New Year resolutions and I’ve shared many of them with my social media connections. I just don’t subscribe to the whole phenomena about making resolutions in the New Year. It’s not because they don’t work, sometimes they do. It’s just that if you haven’t got a strong desire to make changes for the rest of the year, unless you do some serious preparation, you really aren’t committed to the change and it just won’t happen. If you’ve just embarked on a New Year Resolution and you’re feeling positive about it, please don’t let my cynicism spoil things for you. Lasting change can be made and you can be successful, and I truly wish fantastic results for you. I hope whether you are making New Year’s Resolutions or not, that my 4 steps to create lasting change help you even in a small way.

Please, no more new year resolutions – 4 ways to create change at any time

For me, the rot started and ended when I used to make and break New Year’s resolutions. I always started the diet, or gave up cigarettes or vowed to keep the house, my life, my work in pristine order. I probably averaged about 3 weeks staying with my resolution, over the many years I subscribed to the notion of setting these annual goals, before succumbing to the temptation of the path of least resistance and my old habits.

The year I stopped this maddening merry-go-round, was about 10 years ago, when I managed to give up cigarettes for good one September. Why in September? Why not wait until the wonderful prospect of starting in the New Year?

Basically, I made the change when I did because of 2 things. Firstly, I had come to hate smoking with fervour. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t really the cigarettes which I hated, it was the lack of control I had over my urge to smoke the things. Secondly, realising the high risk of returning to the dreaded habit, I spent 2 months preparing to give up before I actually did.

In other words, I spent a long time preparing my mind-set, and my strategy. I actually began to think like a non-smoker before I had stopped smoking. What I realised during this process is that when we are trying to make lasting change, you have to internalise the change before you can make a permanent difference.

Since that time, I have been able to refine and experiment with ways of making significant changes, and this is what I have learned.

You must have a deep desire to make the change. I made overtures about wanting to stop smoking for years, but deep down, I wasn’t motivated enough to do it. It wasn’t until I hated smoking badly that I was prepared to put in the effort of whatever it took to stop the habit.


You need to have a clear vision about what it will look, feel like, and be like, when you have made the change. One of the reasons we are unsuccessful when making change is because we are trying to “move away” from something and it is the situation or the habit we don’t want which is what we focus on. Of course, we always get more of what we focus on. It’s important if your motivation for change is to move away from that you do some real work on creating a vision about what you want instead, and switch your intention and attention to that. Visionary people sometimes have an easier time of it, because they tend to “move towards” their goal, and this is what they focus on. One of my great visionary friends said once, “It’s easy, I just picture it in my head and then it happens”. Even with great vision there are some other steps which if not taken can trip you up.


You need to be able to believe you can make the change. Whether it’s making more money, becoming healthier or making some other lifestyle change, if you either consciously or unconsciously don’t really believe you can do it, then it isn’t going to happen. The belief gap is one of the reasons small and incremental steps towards your goal is usually better. Some people just have complete faith that they can make big changes and often they can achieve those leaps because they have created the right mind-set. The majority of us though need to make a gradual shift in our beliefs as we blossom into our vision.


You must act “As if”. We are radio transmitters, and we are always broadcasting our signal out. We often get jammed on the same wavelength, which makes us return to unhelpful habits repeatedly. If you want to become slimmer or healthier, but you constantly feel, talk about and think about being overweight and unhealthy, then you will not shift your signal, and you will keep attracting the same old situation. In order to feel, think and be the person you will be when you reach your goal or achieve your vision, you need to use your imagination. You can do this by asking yourself: How would I feel, what would I think and who would I be if I achieved this goal or my vision? When you get the answer, tune into that state of being as often as you can.


So there are my 4 top tips for creating real change in your life. If you’ve made some New Year Resolutions, don’t despair, just follow those steps and you will greatly increase your chance of success. But remember, you don’t have to wait for New Year; you just have to want the change enough.

Wishing you a very Happy, Prosperous New Year.

Would you like to make a significant change in your life, but not sure where to start? Why not take advantage of my absolutely no obligation free 30 minute consultation. It’s amazing how much even 30 minutes can help you, and even if you decide not to move forward to a formal arrangement, I genuinely would love to hear from you. Go on simply complete the contact form and I will be in touch to arrange a convenient time soon.

Building Open-mindedness as a Leadership Trait

Do you sometimes just feel stuck, frustrated or weary of the effort of trying to change either yourself or others? . One of the traits of a great leader is open-mindedness. What follows is a simple technique to help you to practice your open-mindedness muscle.

I don’t think any of us could be totally open-minded because we continually have to make decisions and in order to make decisions we usually have to come to some sort of conclusion even if that means not making a decision at all.

Being open-minded, isn't universally a characteristic we are born with, often we have to develop the crucial habits of self-reflection, observation, challenging beliefs and perceptions. For many of us, until something in life looms up to challenge us, then we simply don’t make the effort, or we just don’t realise, we should be questioning our daily paradigm.

Some of the pitfalls of not practicing open-mindedness are:

• Having a Groundhog day experience
• Seeing other people grow away from you
• Staying in a miserable situation/state/relationship
• Giving up on dreams
• Feeling like a victim
• Limiting other people
• Stereo-typing situations or people
• Coming to faulty conclusions

Within my coaching practice, I regularly see clients or people they work with, struggle to overcome fixed beliefs, values, judgments or even wishful thinking that get in the way of changing, or moving forward, in a situation.

The most common reasons they struggle is that it sometimes feels painful to have to a) acknowledge there is another way to look at things, and they might have gotten it wrong, b) they have a need to be right, or c) they have to track back to painful situations in their past which formed their limiting beliefs.

Byron Katie has a brilliant method which demonstrates how we can turn around beliefs and ways of thinking to find relief from uncomfortable or painful emotions. You can find out more about Byron Katie’s work in her series of books which started with. “Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life”

For me, there is a simple formula which can help the process of practicing open-mindedness, and I call this “The golden triangle”. In essence, this involves looking at tricky situations in 3 ways. From your own perspective, the perspective of the other(s), and then as an observer

The role of the observer is essential in this process because it is in the observer’s role when it is possible to remain neutral, detached and to see the bigger picture. The possibilities are endless. When you come to make decisions, using the perspective of an observer you come to realise:

• For every argument “for“, there is a counterargument
• Beliefs, thoughts, perceptions and ideas are fluid and flexible
• Values can change depending on different situations
• Stories and myths are helpful to unraveling paradigms or thought patterns

We all need to form paradigms, beliefs and ways of thinking and making decisions which work for us, we couldn’t get through our daily lives without such a structure. But if that structure isn’t working for you, then it’s time to visit the Golden Triangle and practice your muscle of open-mindedness

Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles.

People Discovery is a Leadership Development provider based in North East England, working globally.