The Vista of A Leader

Reflection Posted on Facebook on September 28, 2017

Reflection in transit: The Vista of A Leader. A leader’s lenses must be like that of a high-powered camera. One that can clearly see both the micro and macro view of issues and concerns. He must have a very wide vista – vertically to understand the long-term repercussions of his every action, and horizontally to see how these actions affect a wide group or cluster of people, professions, industry and sectors and not just a few, as well as the image and branding of the whole nation or city. He must have the ability to zoom in on the micro as well. How every action will affect every individual citizen or his personal and family safety, his education and self-actualization. Some will see the impact of a leader’s action to the whole community while some will only see how it will impact on their dining table.
A good leader must create a balance between these two views – to avoid sacrificing the good of a few for many and vice versa. Or to weigh the consequences with a full conscience – in times when there is a need to sacrifice. We see leaders today whose lenses are set to panorama only – they see the bigger picture and cannot seem to understand and are without empathy towards individual citizens aspirations. These leaders are wrapped in their own big ideas, without realizing that these ideas do not impact or are not relevant to small communities. They talk in jargon that only they can understand. They treat individual life stories as nothing more but figures to quote. We have many leaders in bureaucracy who are like this – they move from one national program to another – without really looking at building from what has already yielded results for many individuals. They do not care about specific examples and only focus on general data.

On one hand, some leaders only see the micro-view, these are those whose brand of service is dole out. Giving rice to every family instead of ensuring food sufficiency. Reacting to issues on an impulsive level and not putting in place long term solutions. These are those who believe change us possible with only them at the helm. Sadly, if they only have a micro view of everything – their plans has the tendency to be myopic, fleeting, almost self-serving.

The leader with a wide vista sees both the macro and the micro. He is able to carefully analyze how his every step affect the country and one individual or group of individuals. He can lay all the premises and consequences on the table using both views and is able to weigh which action is best to take. He is one who may think a situation that derails his administration of the city or the country or his organization as something orchestrated and designed to derail his efforts, but in taking the macro view – he is able to think passed these suppositions and draw strategies to resolve the problem on a more realistic and long-term level.
Some are born with the vista of a leader but they need to harness it with experience. Any skill when not put to use may wane. Some develop the skill through a long and wide range of experience.