How often, when preparing feedback for senior leaders following their assessments for new posts, do I find myself highlighting the need for them to develop and communicate a clear vision for their new team?  It is often a gap.

On the very day that I explore this topic with someone I interviewed recently, a quip from a colleague – sharing his lack of German alongside a famous quote (Ich bin ein Berliner) – reminds me of one visionary speech:  John F. Kennedy’s speech in 1963 in Berlin.  There is an urban myth about Kennedy’s speech, which rests on the fact that “Berliner”, as well as being someone from Berlin, also refers to a kind of jelly doughnut made in Berlin.  The myth is nicely dispelled on About.com – just follow this link.

You can also watch Kennedy make this speech on YouTube – in less than five minutes he makes the case for the free world at a time when the West was at cold war with communism.  Twenty-five years before the Berlin Wall came down Kennedy packs a punch when, whilst acknowledging the challenges of a free world, he highlights that the democratic West does not have to build a wall to keep its people in.  The phrase Ich bin ein Berliner signals his solidarity with the people of Berlin, and he repeatedly uses the phrase let them come to Berlin as a rhetorical device, countering by turn the key arguments for communism.

Such speeches may seem a far cry from the dry and dusty corridors of corporate Britain (and elsewhere) and still, the leader’s ability to engage his or her staff in a vision for the future is one of ways s/he can move the performance of a team or organisation from ordinary to great.  This is the difference – for staff – between knowing what they need to do and doing it because it moves them towards some heartfelt aspiration.  Sharing a vision – again and again and again – can capture the imagination and speak to the heart so that people want to come to work, they want to overcome obstacles, they want to succeed.

Daniel Goleman, in his book The New Leaders, positions this visionary leadership style as one of the styles that builds what he calls ‘resonance’ – it’s worth reading to understand the importance of this leadership style.  And if you want to see more footage of visionary speeches just follow the link to Kennedy’s speech and cast your eyes down the right hand side, where you will find many other examples of the visionary speech.