When I hear the term Visionary Leader a picture of a person perched/sitting on a hilltop sprung to mind. And this imaginary person is not sitting around idly but is diligently peering into the distance. To the faraway horizon, to the future …
This is what all leaders do. Not all the time, but leaders have to schedule time to climb the proverbial hill and to go and see what is happening on the horizon. Maybe you will see the trouble or the solution coming. Before it unexpectedly hits you between the eyes.
Yet, the demands of leader’s jobs don’t allow them that luxury. Let alone the space to actually stop and think.
Sabina Nawaz wrote in an article, This Space Intentionally Left White, that leaders are hired for their intellectual horsepower. But in the midst of the hustle and bustle of their job, there is little space to breathe.
And breathe they must. For when you breathe you start to think. Perhaps when somebody tells you to take a deep breath, they are actually telling you to start thinking!
Nawaz recommends that the leaders she coaches have to schedule a time during their busy week for doing nothing but thinking and to pay attention to what emerges in the absence of the noise of their normal activities.
She calls this the creation of white space.
To do precisely that, is difficult. Allowing for white space in our lives goes against our normal way of doing things. But according to Nawaz white space gives us the opportunity to think beyond our current problems and issues.
She recommends that to be successful at creating white space, leaders must be intentional about setting up some quiet time. The following is her four prerequisites to succeed in creating your personal white space:
- Set aside a specific time in the week. Block out that time in your schedule.
- Turn off the noise. Don’t answer telephones or emails.
- Experiment until you find the right format for you. Journal, walk, meditate or go climb the hill.
- Keep your white space dates. You need to practise perspective.
All of us have heard of the sacrifices leaders made for their career or work. How they have missed their children’s birthdays and how they operate under tight timelines and competitive pressures. But most of them don’t make time to make their minds wander. To climb the hill …
Creating white space in your busy schedule lets you hear and think in a new way.
Source: HBR Network, Sabina Nawaz, This Space Intentionally Left White, July 1, 2011
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. – Henry Ford
If you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big. – Donald Trump
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking. – George S. Patton
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