We love visionary leaders.  Countless books and articles have been written about them.  We sit at their feet to learn from their journey and hopefully, get some crumbs off the master’s table to use ourselves.

Visionary leaders are big picture thinkers.  They are passionate.  Their ideas are outside-the-box.  Visionary leaders are often excellent communicators who paint a compelling future of a preferred future.  They inspire us.  As a result, they are often excellent team builders because their vision attracts top talent and financial resources.

But there is one quality rarely talked about that visionary leaders must have if they want to have sustained influence and eventually see their ideas come to pass:

Patience.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive but hear me out.

Visionary leaders lead and operate from their preferred future.  They see the vision.  They feel it.  They don’t have the vision, the vision has them.  Visionary leaders are consumed by what could be.

But despite all their passion and energy, visions are made in crockpots, not microwaves.

Let’s take a newly-hired head baseball coach for example.  This head coach has a vision for the following:

  • What his team will look like.
  • What type of players they will have.
  • What they will look like in their uniforms.
  • He can see the green of the grass and smell the freshly-cut field.
  • What type of coaches he wants around him.
  • How practices will be run.
  • The amount of hard work, sweat, time, energy, and sacrifice it will take to become a championship team.
  • How the team will perform in clutch situations.
  • What the stands will look like filled with fans.
  • The interviews he will give after winning a big game.
  • And most of all, what it will be like to hoist the championship trophy.

This is the future reality the head coach is operating from.  But not his assistant coaches and players…. yet.

It is at this point the head coach must transfer the vision from “me” to “we”.  He must communicate what the future could be and what it will take for the team to get there.

This is where patience comes in.

The head coach may already be hoisting the trophy in his mind, but the team’s assistant coaches and players must begin the long journey of making it a reality.

They need to develop the skills, habits, and training techniques to become champions.  The head coach patiently encourages, challenges, equips, strategizes, and provides the accountability to develop his team and get them to where he is.

And over time, with a lot of hard work, sacrifice, character, and a little bit of luck, the patient head coach may lead a championship team.

Conclusion

There are visionary leaders reading this article who are ready to give up.  Their preferred future has yet to come to pass.  I understand, I’ve been there many times.

But don’t quit!

Exercise the patience needed to develop your team or wait for your product to gain traction and you may just see your vision become reality.

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