Recently, I watched footage from the 1960's in which new computer technology was modeled by a woman with a bee hive hairdo.  Her computer, a big clunky black box, allowed her to see the face of her boss, who was  simultaneously calling in on the telephone to provide instructions for her work. Fifty years later,  we use technologies that enable us to work from almost anywhere and to see and even hear our colleagues through our computers.  What seemed extraordinary then is now commonplace in this country.  This is the power of vision. 

There is real need for powerful, inspiring visions to guide us to a sustainable future.  Pay attention to how we are seeing and showing each other the future, and you'll notice that the common vision is a grim one.  News stories warn us of the impact of climate change on our civilization.  Top grossing movies, such as 2012, often are apocalyptic and nihilistic -- stories in which only a few survivors make their way into bleak futures on an earth devoid of life as we know it today. This is the future that our children see in our theaters, on their computers, in their video games, and in the newspapers.

So where are the visions for a sustainable future? How will we create that future if we are not taking time to imagine it?

Without new visions for the future, we risk moving forward without an empowering and common purpose at a critical time in human history.  Simply by "default," we stand to inherit the visions of others -- visions that may be far less creative and life-affirming.  The opportunity is for each of us to be visionary  in our leadership and our lives -- and do develop an appealing and shared way of seeing our future.   A vision is a descriptive and aspirational -- a source of inspiration that paints a compelling picture of a destination worth moving toward together.

Through Visionary Leader, we will share stories and examples of how leaders are using vision to focus their efforts, inspire their employees, and deliver on a core mission.  As we highlight visions that inspire us locally, nationally and globally, we invite you, too,  to  be visionary.

A New Paradigm for Our Relationship with Money
 
In 2003, I read The Soul of Money  and wanted to jump up and shout. For the first time in my life, I experienced a perspective about our consumer culture and money that made sense to me. Written by humanist and global fundraiser, Lynne Twist, this groundbreaking book introduced readers to the three great myths of the Western world: 1.) There's not enough for everyone; 2.) More is Better; 3.) That's just the way it is.

Writing of her personal experiences as a fundraiser for The Hunger Project, Lynne shares her journey from the glass-and-steel towers of corporate America to the backstreets of Calcutta where she worked with Mother Teresa to the Sahel Desert in Senegal. Through these extraordinary experiences, Lynne began to see money as a spiritual currency, a flow of intention to and from people. She observed firsthand the fear that comes from the mindset of scarcity and the way that pursuit of abundance drives many people. She also saw that those with  less often did not live from fear and scarcity, while many with bountiful resources did. The Soul of Money presents the "radical and surprising truth about sufficiency," a concept that holds essential wisdom for how to live a fulfilling and satisfying life beyond the three myths of our society.
 
The Soul of Money has awakened many to think in new ways about their relationships with money and with the consumer culture.  Lynne's work has inspired a movement, The Global Sufficiency Network.  Since writing the book, Lynne has founded another organization, The Pachamama Alliance, whose mission is two-fold: to preserve the Earth's tropical rainforests by empowering the indigenous people who are its natural custodians and to contribute to the creation of a new global vision of equity and sustainability for all.  For the past decade, she has journeyed to and from Ecuador where she and husband, Bill Twist, have worked in close partnership with the indigenous Achuar and Shuar people, sharing knowledge of the world and finding innovative ways to protect the Amazon rainforest, often called "the lung of the world." 

Today, Lynne is spearheading a global media campaign called "Four Years. Go." along with partners from Wieden & Kennedy, P:5Y, and The 2020 Fund. The Four Years. Go. Campaign is a rallying call to action to all of us to help change our course from one of destruction of our natural resources and planet to one of sustainable living. The Four Years. Go. Campaign provides a glimpse of how else we can live. The YouTube clip suggests ways that we can maintain or improve our quality of life, even as we make new choices.
 
Lynne's vision is based on deep trust in the innate capacity of human beings to find solutions using their own resourcefulness.  Her vision for a sustainable future invites collaboration, partnership, and dialogue between sometimes "strange bedfellows" such as big business and native people.  She calls for us to be willing to take a stand for a sustainable future rooted in the principle of sufficiency. Lynne's message is a rallying call for a new paradigm of success and a collectively higher quality of life. Her vision is of a world where people use what they have to live fulfilling lives that also sustain all life on earth.
 
To learn more about Lynne Twist, you can go to  The Soul of Money Institute, watch her on bigpicture.tv, or read The Soul of Money.  Would you like to get involved in the Global Sufficiency Network?  Check them out online or contact us.

In April, Nebo facilitated an executive leadership retreat where the question of how to teach vision came up.  The question floated in the room and was picked up by others as we discussed what the organization needs today from its leaders. How do you teach vision?

At Nebo, we've refined a process for teaching the skill of vision to leaders called "Vision Lab." 


Through Vision Lab experiences, we invite people to:

• Step out of everyday thinking and settings in order to make space for vision work
• Engage in a guided creative process that draws on both right and left brain thinking and stimulates fresh perspective - and can be duplicated in the future by participants without external assistance
• Capture the vision in writing and visually
• Examine the vision in relation to the organization's mission and current reality using SWOT analysis and other measures
• Define a strategy and detailed plan for realizing the vision
  

To learn more about Vision Lab and the visioning process, contact us and stay tuned for stories from Vision Lab participants.

The Soul of Money, by Lynne Twist