VISION: THE ROLE OF LEADERS IN IMAGINING A BETTER FUTURE

Abstract

AbstractThe author works with “executives of multinational companies and board members of global, national, and regional nonprofits.” She discusses the importance of vision, and how often it is overlooked by leaders and others. She uses examples of the vision articulated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Eleanor Roosevelt. “By imagining and depicting what is possible,” she writes, “these leaders inspired millions of people and even future generations worldwide to pursue new paths of opportunity—for freedom and justice for all in the case of Dr. King, for science and exploration in the case of President Kennedy, and universalizing human rights across the world in the case of Eleanor Roosevelt.” She uses current‐day examples such as Kenya's Kennedy Odede and Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), and Tent Partnership for Refugees, “a global NGO that mobilizes more than 300 companies worldwide to improve the lives and livelihoods of over 36 million refugees forcibly displaced from their home countries.” For corporations, she cites Trane Technologies, which “connects their commitment to the long‐term well‐being of its employees and communities. Furthermore, the company presents itself as a unique opportunity for investors, by describing its long‐term approach to growth for the company and the planet.”