Dr. Earl R. Smith II

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70 Responses to “How would you define a visionary?”
1.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:57 am e
Carter F. Smith: I’m not sure about the context in which you are asking this, but . . . contrasted with a futurist, I received some fairly thought-provoking responses a while back.
2.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:58 am e
Kathie M. Thomas: A visionary is someone who sees how ‘it’ should be somewhere down the track, shares that vision with others and takes them on a shared journey to achieve that goal. At least, that’s how I see it.
Who are the outstanding visionaries in my profession? I’m one of them, having pioneered my industry of Virtual Assistants here in Australia – I began doing things back in 1996 not realising that many others would follow suit around the world. I was just doing what seemed to be the best way to do things – I didn’t have anyone to follow or copy and just kept trialling things. I connected with a small number of others on the Internet who had similar visions in their pocket of the world and together we birthed and shaped this industry. Sadly, two of those leaders are no longer with us today but many have followed their footsteps.
3.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:58 am e
John Greenan: Visionary is like beauty – in the eye of the beholder. The self proclaimed visionary is nearly always nothing of the kind.
In my line of work visionaries are few and far between. The few I have met are those that have a vision of their industry in the short and medium term and can explain what they are doing to take advantage of this. The long term then follows on from the dynamics described in the short and medium term.
One of the best I know is Sam Johnson (he’s on linked in) – he described his vision of electronic trading to me over a coffee in New York in 2002 and five years on I can see that he was bang on the money.
4.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:59 am e
Rob Hoogenbos: Someone who can, with some credibility, look beyond the present situation and predict what will happen in the future, based on descerning insight into the relevant aspects which will bring about change.
5.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:59 am e
Richard Shipperbottom: I just knew this question would come up. I knew it years ago.
6.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:59 am e
David P. Schofield: A visionary is one who constantly hears “that will never happen”. As a “garage inventor”, I tend to gravitate to people that hear that frequently. They can visualize what should happen, not necessarily how the back office it gets accomplished. To bridge the gap, they surround themselves with people much smarter than themselves to make the vision reality. I wish there were more. The pre-YouTube guys were on it.
7.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:00 am e
Mario Vazquez: nary is who can create the future and make it real.
8.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:00 am e
Maged El Daalees: A visionary is not only someone who dreams of something that does not exist yet, but who as well see how his dream will interact with the reality then. He is someone who is capable of seeing the future, living in it, experiencing it before hand, when the time comes he can lead people around him to realize what he envisioned.
One of the best examples I can think of visionary people is Bill Gates, this man not only had dreamt of what tomorrow would be like when it comes to computers and their effect to human life, he road-mapped his vision and but all this money and business behind it and made it happen,,,,
9.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:01 am e
Mudit Mahajan: Just sharing my view…
The person who wants to take strategic decisions. Its all about gamble and how you play that gamble with your brain+heart…
The person who learns from his mistakes and then grows from there.I appreciate steve jobs from apple the way he has grown and taken Mac Os and the organization to the heights….
——To me people who like to take that chance and if that works out you are the man—–
10.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:01 am e
Aaron Clutter: I look at the word visionary and break it down. Vision is the root and the characteristics ofd a visionary is that their have a vision that extends beyond themselves. Seeing the past, present, and future, and being able to integrate all three in order to create something new or an idea that has never been tried before. It is not always that they are innovators, simply that they see things in new ways or different ways. A visionary is someone who is willing to commit to something even when others are having trouble seeing it.
11.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:01 am e
William F DeVault: “Visionary” is like “prophet”, it only applies if history bears you out, so it is tough in the short term to pick out a lot of the visionaries. Certainly, despite any personal misgivings, you can argue for Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as visionaries. Dean Kamen, the developer of the Segway, is a visionary if his invention truly does end up transforming society and infrastructure.
And there is that word: Transforming. If there is no transformation, if society or technology or politics or religion or literature does not evolve due to the influences of your actions based on your vision, then the term is misapplied. Just making a great deal of money is meaningless in this definition, there also has to be change in the world (ideally for the better).
You see a “better” world, you promote the change, the world changes. You are a visionary.
12.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:02 am e
Matthew Nelson: This is a great question… I believe that a visionary is one who (1) has the ability to see through the “noise” and extract true meaning and value from what’s going on around them, and (2) helps guide his/her vision to reality. Someone’s already mentioned Bill Gates, and equally Jobs or Woz would qualify – men who saw the role that personal computers could play in industry and in our daily life and made it happen. In my industry (financial technology), people like Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP) and Seth Merrin (Merrin Financial, Liquidnet) are visionaries.
Also, for the person who mentioned electronic trading as a visionary idea in 2002, Evan Schulman and others (the so called “fathers of electronic trading”) were already knee-deep in electronic trading in the 1990’s.
13.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:02 am e
Lana BILA: A strategist with flexible positive open analytical curious and querying mind. I would start identifying individuals with strong intutitive logical thinking. Someone with a distinctive impressive ability of clearly communicating messages, speaking to the point. May not be perfect on presentation side. Good natural feeling of the time. Visually confident, no trying to impress.
Of how to sort them, beyond psychometric testing, I have only one method so far : when I meet a visionary, I fall in love with them ;o))))
Dr. Earl R. Smith II, do you consider yourself a visionary?
14.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:03 am e
Rachel Glickman: In my experience a visionary is an individual or an organization with a sustained interest in expanding their knowledge base and a deep understanding of changing consumer behavior and the ability to identify and capitalize on emerging trends. Most importantly, a true visionary has to be able to understand the executional and operational challenges of bringing that vision to life. In the digital media business I have worked with a very few true visionaries versus the boldface names who have managed to land in the right place at the right time and walk out with big paydays. In deference to their privacy I will not identify people here, but feel free to contact me directly if you need specific leads.
15.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:03 am e
Brent Alexander: I agree with Kathie’s definition. The key piece of the puzzle that makes a Visionary is their ability to plan and share with others what needs to and will take place in a future environment.
Characteristics:
-Foresight
-Intuition
-Strategic Planner
-Evaluation Skill Sets
-Planner/Organizer
-Risk Taker
-Researcher
Visionary Leaders Today:
-Mark Cuban, Owner of the Dallas Mavericks
-Makers of Hybrid Cars
Future Visionaries:
-Energy Consultants
In my industry of Direct Marketing/Printing
-President Corporate Press, Mike Marcian
Mike Marcian has been always had the ability to look beyond today and see through a virtual window to the future. Mike Marcian has been responsible for the growth and reputation of Corporate Press Companies in the Direct Marketing world. Mr. Marcian took our ESOP Company and added mailing, fulfillment, on-demand digital printing/mailing and now integrated marketing services. Each service we’ve added over our 50+ years has come well in advance of our competition and industry expectations. Mike Marcian always looks to improve our services and place us ahead of the curve when looking at our industries strengths and weaknesses.
I speak in general terms, but Mike Marcian is a true Visionary and his reputation within our industry speaks volumes.
Great Question
16.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:04 am e
Drew Becker: A visionary is someone who can see the next step blending the reality of “what is” with the possibilities of tomorrow’s “what can be.” What distinguishes a visionary from a pretender is the ability to see how to bridge current perceptions to their future thought and set a path through action or description as to how to get there.
What makes becoming a visionary so difficult is not the intuitive connection to the future as much as the ability to help others become enmeshed in making the the future happen. This combination of perceiving the real and imaginary and setting out a path to get there is the most critical gap that keeps all of us from being visionaries.
Visionaries of the past are the only ones we all know since the current visionaries are still birthing their visions. They walk among you, often quiet until their ideas reach critical mass.
One current visionary who influence me is Theresa Salihu. who began Inspire, Inc last year. This company is focused on life enhancement using tools such as coaching and wellness to improve corporate and personal lives. As her company defines and redefines itself, the idea comes closer to bridging the gap between the future need and current comprehension of what this means.
17.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:04 am e
Jeff Mesnik: There are two types of Visionaries, there are the ones who have the vision and create social change based on forseeing a path that society is taking.
The guys from Google. Why was their vision better than everyone elses?
They saw a movement and understood the movment and then became the movement because they kept it simple.
The 2nd visionary often times has great ideas, but too many if’s in the way, this would be the I call them Rube Goldberg of visionaries. More often then not those visions will run into trememndous trouble. (However there are those who can pull it off, it just is more difficult and esmpensive.
There is a third visionary one who can create change by throwing gobs of money at it, and those only succeed a small percentage of the time aswell.
A successful visionary, sees the future and can react to it with the fewest amount of moving parts.
That is just my humble oppinion, Another example is the company ChannelAdvisor. They saw Multiple moving parts and became the spoke’s to connect them all together. Giving people the SIMPLE process of leveraging the Internets e-Commerce world.
18.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:05 am e
Fred Bauer: A visionary is someone who, in the words of Robert F. Kennedy “sees things as they aren’t and asks ‘why not?’”.
19.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:05 am e
Matthew Liptak: Someone that really thinks outside the box and leads the organization or group in a different direction that may not be apparent at present, but becomes apparent over time. A visionary put themselves in place of insights and predicts what the outcomes will be. They imagine the future landscape and paint a picture of it.
20.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:06 am e
Juha Harkonen: A visionary is a person of above average intelligence that has a unique framework of of experiences and because of these attributes is able to see the big picture better than most allowing him guess the best course of action with a higher probability.
21.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:06 am e
Leri M. Thomas, Ph. D.: Shipperbottom is on cue! A visionary is someone who sees further into the future that the rest of us do; someone who can predict new developments; someone who can get ahead of the curve, and. . . yes, those who are visionary should be able to self-report, because it should occur to them that there is something happening in their minds that is reliably different and rewarding. If they can’t see it who will? Warren Bennis, William Bridges, Heidi and Alvin Toffler, Rupert Murdock. . .I will preface my last answer with the provision that my profession is idiosyncratic and that I am the leading visionary in my profession.
Einstein was preoccupied with light as a youth. He saw the finish line before he knew the steps to it. He never relented in his pursuit in understanding light’s relationship to energy and mass. Now that is visionary!
22.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:06 am e
Ken Steinberg: So many great answers and definitely a lot of overlap…my take…
a Visionary, in any field, must be able to
1) Combine existing circumstances/solutions together with an understanding of where a known or unknown trend might take them
2) Clearly articulate their vision in terms that can generally be understood
3) Standby their assertions whether they are popular or not while still being flexible enough to let the vision expand and change as it becomes reality.
Visionary views often transform the factors that gave them birth..what might be considered a “schrodinger’s cat” effect. When someone can clearly articulate a vision, the act of sharing the vision can change or introduce a new perception that can cause the vision to realized, modified, or sometimes cast aside….
23.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:07 am e
Klynn Alibocus: A big question!
I notice we have tended only to focus on “Business” visionaries, if your thinking big, then lets look at Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Thomas Edison, Bob Geldof etc.
The one thing I think that links them all is a “passion” in what they believe in; it doesn’t matter how many people tell them they are wrong or it cant be done, they just knew what was right/possible. It makes sense to them, and therefore they must live it out first and the rest will follow and join in!
…..and it’s nothing to do with ego’s as usually a visionaries works benefits other people rather than just themselves.
24.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:07 am e
Omar Shibier: I think a visionary is someone genuinely interested, creative thinker, ready to perform with excellence and can see beyond the future.
25.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:08 am e
John Yeo: I think a visionary is someone genuinely interested, creative thinker, ready to perform with excellence and can see beyond the future.
26.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:09 am e
John Yeo: juha’s answer was the most objective; visionaries are not always successful.
27.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:09 am e
Jason Seiden: Is it the ability to see the future that makes someone visionary, or is it the ability to recognize the right moment to represent a particular idea to the population?
Asked another way, is it the foresight–whether earned through intuition, intellectual horsepower, or some combination of the two–that makes the visionary, or is it the courage, perseverence, and sheer will power needed to change the course of humankind?
The latter part of the above question implies visionaries are like leaders to the nth degree. It also suggests that morality plays a role in determining who the true visionaries are… since we could argue that working to create a bleak or selfish picture of the future is akin to betting against your own team in baseball, on a much, much larger scale.
Unfortunately, I think we lack a refined enough lexicon to clearly differentiate visionaries from leaders, prognosticators, strategic thinkers, innovators, or even pretenders. As with leadership, when it comes to visionaries, we have to satisfy ourselves with “knowing them when we see them.”
I think we would be hard pressed to find more than a small handful of true visionaries in business today. Such individuals–those who combine optimism, realism, intelligence, intuition, courage, and an unmittigated willingness to create at potentent enough levels to merit the title of visionary–are rare in any day and age.
28.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:09 am e
Kevin Jackson: A true visionary for me is Andy Groves. Andy was asked the question of who was Intel’s biggest competitor, during the “processor speed race” of the 90’s. Intel’s competitors, as declared by many were AMD and Cyrix. Most figured that would be Andy’s answer. However Andy answered, “the television”. Most were perplexed, however long ago, I had come to that same conclusion. Here is why Andy answered this way.
He said that Intel’s processors power computers. Computers occupy part of a person’s life…his “work” life. Andy envisioned the computer taking over a person’s personal life as well. So he imagined a person working on a spreadsheet, while writing a letter, while listening to music, watching the stock ticker roll by, as they watched their favorite TV show, all on a computer that uses his microprocessors. He felt that the TV was his biggest competitor to that vision…not AMD or Cyrix. So I ask you, how do you use your computer?
29.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:10 am e
Gary St. Lawrence: Figuratively, a visionary is someone who can design an elaborate log cabin home beside a lake inside the forest, despite the trees.
30.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:10 am e
Jeremiah Locanas: I think this is a great question, and something often misunderstood. First, I agree with many of the answers already posted above – including Aaron Clutter, William DeVault, Matthew Nelson, Lana Bila, Rachel Glickman and Klynn Alibocus. Second, I think that being able to envision the future isn’t so much about prediction as it is knowledge of the past and present.
For example, take the game of chess. Great players have an ability to take what has happened in the current environment, calculate all the different possibilities likely to happen one to two to three moves from now and then adjust, adapt and act accordingly. Would we consider grandmaster chess players visionary? Maybe. But more important is the process behind creating that vision. It’s easy for anyone to come up with a prediction, but there is more of an art to it than just coming up with some random sensationalistic headline.
For me, in the technology industry, I’m not sure I would consider myself a visionary, but I have no problem saying my batting average for 3-5 year trends is higher than most. I believe in reading daily. And I believe in the value of having as much of a comprehensive understanding as humanly possible, given all the other responsibilities we have in life.
The art of predicting what’s next or creating something new or different, is almost always an offshoot of something that’s already been done or the compilation of multiple things in new and synergistic ways. Therefore the most important factor, imho, of successfully making predictions or envisioning the future is tempering one’s thoughts with a heavy dose of reality.
31.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:11 am e
Francisco Gonzalez: They are considered crazy… they ARE crazy.
They have a lot of friends, which consider them crazy.
They “travelled” a lot: you can travel: reading, talking, dancing or even you can travel travelling.
They don’t reject any idea at first step.
They let ideas flow, their ideas and others ideas.
For business: it’s hard make a visionary talk for 5 minutes to investors and avoid the investors run away screaming. The key: creator-investor facilitation. It’s tricky as Arab-Jew facilitation: but it’s very possible, at the end they both are humans.
For IT Consulting I don’t know names, but there are thousands on each country: if only they came out from IT consulting to other industries!!!
32.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:11 am e
Donal Lang: Sadly, most of us can only identify the true visionaries in retrospect.
33.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:11 am e
Scot MacTaggart: No disrespect intended toward any of the answers above, but I think that having the vision is only part of the answer. The other crucial component to being a visionary is the ability to communicate the vision to others in such a way that they share the vision, and together, the group helps to turn the vision into a reality.
34.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:12 am e
Joshua Nelson: Richard Branson
35.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:12 am e
Melissa Pollock: Fantastic question!
A visionary is someone who can correctly see and/or project what potential market opportunities and/or trends lie ahead, AND can correctly develop strategy meant to carry the organization in a parallel direction to capitilize on those opportunities and/or trends, AND can encourage “joint venture” mentality from employees in order to support, plan, and execute the envisioned direction, AND the outcome produces a positive impact and/or profit upon employees, shareholders, and customers alike.
That being said, I think there are fewer true visionaries than the media might lead us to believe!
Characteristics of true visionaries can be summed up by demonstration of Emotional Intelligence, and furthermore, Transformational Leadership. Bottom line – those who can both manage their (and others’) emotions productively, who lead others to greatness (on several developmental levels), AND who understand their business/market, and their financial structure, are the best visionaries.
I’m not going to go into a laundry list of today’s visionaries – Many are known (and they’re the ones we all know), because they are from large companies that receive constant exposure. Many more are unknown, but they are no less visionary.
36.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:13 am e
Fredric Joss Shelley: These are all great answers.
To me, a visionary may not be as “ideal” as what’s already been said here. That person may not always have everything fully thought out. Sometimes our successes can hinge on a hunch and only a modest understanding of how to apply a particular concept into action. One thing visionaries share is a fearlessness – a willingness to try something new because the risk of doing so is far less of the risk of not doing it. There is also the presence of a persistence – staying with that hunch because you know you’re onto something. Failure might occur a few (or many) times before the original idea finally takes off.
37.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:13 am e
Dorothy Canzano Beach: Having worked in R&D for most of my career I have met and worked for visionaries. You would think all scientists are visionaries but that isn’t true. A visionary at thier best is someone who, as other have said here, can see a possibility with such passion in knowing that they are right that they pursue that vision with everything they have. This pursuit can last for years and have some high-powered opponents but it does not deter the visionary. I don’t feel it is just “seeing” the vision. It has to be championed which requires, at least in science, the ability to not have it blind you to facts that work against it tas research progresses. Other skills that help a visionary is the ability to market thier vision and convince people to help with its fruition. In my experience not many have all the skills for success as a visionary. Especially on the business side a visionary needs the same traits – for companies do not reward just ideas or possibilities. Lastly, I have to say the great ones are exciting to work for and I try to seek them out all the time.
38.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:14 am e
Soledad Quiroz: A visionary is somebody who is bold when looking at the future. That person will not be intimidated by the “imposible” in his/her ideas of how things can be.
39.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:14 am e
David Prior: I think that, to help define the term, we could look at what Joi Ito does. There’s a piece on strategy + business – PDF version via the link with this message – that really gives some insight into how visionary people operate and what stimulates them. In Joi’s case it appears to be openness and a willingness to immerse himself in the idea flow, looking for nodes that highlight where things might go.
I think the most telling piece in the article is: “I’ve found that if I focus too much on where the money is, I end up finding fairly shortsighted opportunities. But if I focus on looking for people that I like and looking for things that I intuitively feel excited about and just focus on helping those things, then I end up with best returns.”
NB: Mr Ito notes ‘that he still cannot live off the income from his investments alone”
To me, there’s a lesson here: Vision is enthusiasm, engagement, ability to communicate, a willingness to step up to the plate, to put your money or effort where your mouth is, to be unafraid of failure, and to be just damn curious about what might be possible. And all with a certain childlike enthusiasm and sense of wonder! As Brancusi said, when we are no longer children we are already dead.
I don’t know if Joi is on here – if so, you might get more insight directly from him.
Have fun!
40.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:14 am e
Tarek Foda: A leader; who is thinks with the ending mind. A leader who knows where he wants to be; by when, who know how to fire teams up and get them involved because he believes. He believes in the future, he already knows how his KPI’s should look like, he already drew his mile stones, and it is not only for the organization, but for everyone in it as well. Although it is not on paper yet, but it is in his mind, he is living it all the time. His reactions, actions and attitude reflect it.
A visionary is a leader who will teach you how to fish, because he will leave you to lead at a certain point, it is all part of the vision.
A visionary manage things in a different manner, they manage it (geese style) where everyone can and will lead the rest at a certain time, they don’t leave anyone behind, and if one is tired there will always be another bird who will leave the formation to support the one needing help and join the formation back.
I hope this helps.
The leader who is not
41.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:15 am e
Brian Clark: Earl, going to answer your question in a strange way. I’d make the argument that “visionary” means too many different things, many of them actually patently false (like the way survivorship bias comes into the perception of who was wrong and who was visionary.) I must admit my views on this have been recently colored by the work of Nassim Nicholas Taleb (see “Fooled by Randomness” and “The Black Swan”) — Taleb would probably argue it is too hard for someone to sort your “visionaries” from his “lucky fools” until well after the fact. Then hindsight tells you everyone should have seen what that visionary saw. Does that mean I don’t believe some people are visionary? Yes, but that doesn’t mean they are the leaders of their field (as me who I think the visionary independent filmmakers are who are working today and I wouldn’t expect people from outside that field to even recognize very many of the names.) What characteristics do I think they have? For me, maybe it is that demonstrate an insight in the practice that is missing from that industry as a whole at that time. In music, you might talk about the influence of Fugazi versus the commercial appeal of Fugazi and be articulating that same argument. Why do so many musicians consider their work influential on their style, while the band’s work itself has enjoyed no revival?
42.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:16 am e
Bruce Bloch: A visionary in busines is one who combines means, management of people and process and timing to achieve targeted results.
43.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:16 am e
Marc Rapp: A visionary takes the existing model and refines the vignetted edges. Knowing that if they succeed, they will have to refine another blurred landscape. A true visionary knows that the concept of concepts is combining realities that where previously perceived to be unrelated.
Great question.
44.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:16 am e
David Lustig: A visionary is a dreamer with a track record.
It’s easy to make predictions about where things are headed but takes a special talent to be right more often than not — just look at the supermarket tabloid psychic predictions for the coming year.
45.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am e
Sheilah Etheridge: Far too many people consider themselves visionaries. They may well have a vision but then no clue what to do with it. A true visionary not only has the vision but also brings it to life and makes it work.
46.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am e
Terrence Seamon: In an organization, a true visionary is disliked by others. That’s how you know you’ve got a real visionary.
If the visionary is an individual contributor, co-workers and bosses get annoyed. They don’t understand the visionary. They think he is a crackpot. They give the visionary a wide berth. They eye the visionary with suspicion. If the visionary has a track record of coming up with “good stuff,” the others admire the visionary, but regard him as their prize freak.
If the visionary is a boss, her staff hates her because she is never satisfied and is always coming up with a new book, a new thought leader, and a new idea. She is always pushing the envelope. No matter how good the staff is, they get little recognition from the visionary boss. They feel that the visionary boss holds them in low esteem.
47.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:18 am e
Michael Ang: To my opinion, a visionary is someone who can see far ahead what is not yet seen by other and can bring it to the present AND can convince others to follow and realize it.
48.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:18 am e
Angie Stahl: A visionary is someone who can:
- envision an outcome that does not currently exist,
- describe it to others such that it incites those with the skills to make it real to become passionate about taking action
- not be content to trade in current realities, but in what-can-best
49.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:19 am e
Hari Panicker: Visionary gets his guidance from ‘visions’ come to them and use it to lead the people around him. They themselves cannot explain how they occur to them. It happens to them because of their focus- this generates the vision, the knowledge they attained – this helps them understand the vision and intellectual level with a tint of divine blessing.
50.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:19 am e
Clint Perez: A visionary is someone who has a clear picture of a better tomorrow and can lead people there. I’m paraphrasing Markus Buckingham’s definition of a leader, but I think the ideas are fairly similar – in order to lead, you must know where you’re going. I’m not sure you can define a visionary in absolute terms, but you will “know it when you see it”.
51.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:20 am e
Michael A. Pace: Someone whom expresses clairvoyant traits that combined with knowledge, trust in self and ones abilities, is tenacious and continually risks their neck for that big idea.
52.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:21 am e
Mirek mirpo Polyniak: IMHO: open-minded, forward thinker , imaginative
53.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:21 am e
Ray Wulff: A visionary applies two or more seemingly dissimilar practices, objects, or techniques and creates something 100X more powerful than the individual parts.
It is all about connections. A visionary makes a connection where others only see separation.
54.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:22 am e
Walter Groth: visionary sees what others cannot see, believes that it is already here despite the “background noise” of others pointing to their “reality”. A visionary dreams what can be and refuses any limiting beliefs. A visionary looks beyond common understanding, knowing what might be regarded as true today will soon be obsolete tomorrow. Without visionaries any society or business is stuck. Outstanding visionaries in my business are Deepak Choprah, Dr. Dean Radin, and of course people like Steve Jobs.
55.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:23 am e
Cary Sue Lavan: The person who says “Why not” and is not afraid to walk alone. Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates comes to mind.
56.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:23 am e
Kam Nasabi: In my humble opinion visionary person is someone who is able to envision the world in a way that other people can not and be articulate enough to relay that unreal vision and how to get there. This necessarily will not be a utopian vision. The visionaries will always defy the status quo and are way ahead of their times. Another very important characteristic of a visionary is his/hers ability to devise a plan, mobilize people and execute the plan to make it a reality. They tend to be not compatible with reality which makes them idealistic, quixotic, perfectionist, romantic, starry-eyed, unrealistic and utopian. They are strong enough to withstand the criticism and resistance to change. I consider the visionaries as the pioneers of the change and revolution.
Visinaries in Hedge Fund business: George Soros, Alfred Winslow Jones, Jesse Livermore, Warren Buffett, Steven Cohen, David E. Shaw
To just name a few in not any specific order: Albert Einstein, Gene Roddenberry, Mahatma Gandhi, Isacc Asimov, Milton Friedman, Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Harry Truman, George Lukas, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Martin Luther King Jr., Sam Walton, George Whasington, Benjamin Franklin
I would like to finish this with a Quote for Friedrich Nietzsche:
“The visionary denies the truth to himself, the liar only to others.”
57.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:23 am e
Jun Chen: Visionary is minority in their times. Different people has different definitions about visionary.
58.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:24 am e
Phil Lawson: A visionary is a work of art, an extremely rare and unique work of art. In the Answers to your question there seems to be much confusion and blurring of leader, strategist, innovator, futurist, thinker, idea generator, clairvoyant, motivator, communicator, analyst, even manager with visionary.
A visionary may have some or in very rare instances many of the characteristics in foregoing list. But a visionary is something far greater than the simple enhancement or integration of these characteristics.
Visionaries not only see the world differently but they have the integrity to stay true to their vision, paying the price (in many cases it is severe) to take their vision of the world and stay true to it.
Mohammed Yunis of Grameen Bank with microloans (2006 Nobel Peace Prize) and Bill Drayton of the Ashoka Foundation with social entrepreneurship, Tim Berners- Lee with the world wide web, Buckminster Fuller, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, Mother Theresa, Gandhi. There are others but the list is not infinite.
Each and every one of these people is a truly unique and rare work of art – visionaries.
59.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:24 am e
Pete Padilla: incredible foresight, very smooth and prefessional among investors and peers. A leader to take company to levels not see by ordinary executive memberes of the staff
60.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am e
Richard Schilling: Someone who has a tough time finding a job because people think he’s a threat to the status quo, will want to “get promoted” too quickly, or simply work on changing the company’s skill sets. Cheers!
When a true visionary finds him/herself interviewed by hacks, the hacks typically won’t want the visionary around. It makes them look bad. Ergo, it takes a while for a visionary to find a good company to work for. A visionary’s skill set will also confuse a hack because the hack won’t understand how the visionary’s skills apply to the job.
Separating the “hacks” from the true visionaries is somewhat of a skill in its own right – but it’s not complicated. It’s a matter of identifying in the person that they have a mastery of their trade, an interpersonal and technical communications skill (appropriate for their trade), and the a willingness to stick to simple, non-complicated answers to problems. After that, an individual’s character is also very telling about whether or not they employ what I call “hackery”.
Take any trade (or job, if you will). The real visionaries for that work are the ones that know the underlying science and history of their trade (e.g. computer science for software developers) and know important things about the people who influenced that science (e.g Knuth, Pratt, Morris, Chomsky, Koza, etc…) and why they were an influence. They also have a depth of knowledge about other skills that are useful to their trade and can use them to solve problems in unconventional, but simple ways. They may keep up on the latest research and be able to explain why the current fads are not always the best things to turn to. They ask questions – sometimes embarrassing questions, not in order to be shocking, but to discuss fundamental issues. And they will be able to point out where things can go seriously wrong (and be accused of being a “buzz-killer” in the process ). And they take chances – sometimes the highly risky projects with crazy demands.
Character can be shown in many forms, but given a person’s mastery of their trade/skill and ability to communicate, it can be shown in the following ways: a) an ability to define what the *genuine* problems in a company are and the guts/tact to explain what those are; b) ability to identify the fundamental principles of their trade, and use those to work toward the future vision; c) a natural rejection of manipulative, divisive, or disingenuous decision making; and, of course d) the fortitude to “tell it like it is” from a place of respect for everyone around him.
61.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am e
Claudia Del Giudice: Someone who has a dream and works to make it as much real as possible. A rare combination of intuition & will
62.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:26 am e
Paul Fletcher: It’s not what you think you know. It’s still Who you know.
63.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:26 am e
Sam Gorgey: A visionary is a person who redefine an ordinary into an extraordinary. For example, the IPod is an ordinary MP3 player. They’ve been around since the mid 90’s however, Apple redefined it by giving it a “cool” factor and exploited its potential. Redefining the MP3 player into a niche market. The visionary is Steve Jobs.
So a visionary is someone who sees the same thing in a different way creating a new business opportunity.
64.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:27 am e
Richard Clark: Great question and so open to personal views
In my opinion – a visionary is somebody who can create compelling visions that others can by into, see and believe in. Above all to be a visionary, they have to be able to bring people on board and share their vision.
The person must be knowledgable and believe in the vision themselves. A great example of a visionary has to be Martin Luther. You could close your eyes and feel everything he said
65.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:28 am e
Yvonne Larose: For me it has been like putting 2 and 2 together.
While the track record speaks for itself, few will speak of it. The other thing I’m very good at is making people jealous, desirous of having these victories as their own. When I fight back the envy, it creates even more foes and I fall deeper into my chasm of silence.
I would dare say there are quite a number of unsung visionaries and thought leaders out there. Ah, that we knew all their names so that we could avail ourselves of their gifts.
Are you setting up an organization and attempting to define certain individuals? Are you working at developing new contacts? What is the purpose of your very interesting organizational questions?
66.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:07 am e
Kunal Ghosh: the term visionary itself often conjures up images that have their origin in folklore and religious symbolism. In a business and professional context, my opinion is that visionaries are often an extension of “out of the box thinking”, which sadly is not a trait welcomed by most established systems and processes led businesses, prompting individual brilliance to seek avenues in management consulting and then using terms such as strtagey and visionary to label solutions that are often embedded within the business problem itself.
67.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:27 am e
Marta Wilson: Visionaries are able to access, expand, unite and channel collective energy to create new future states. They are committed to making their thoughts, words and deeds count to ensure successful implementation. Visionaries see the possibilities, take risks and maintain a smile while doing so.
68.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:56 pm e
Haim Toeg: Visionary is someone who can see into the future in a unique way, see a problem than needs to be solved or a situation that can be exploited, create a plan, build momentum and recruit support to execute it.
69.
July 12th, 2007 at 8:28 am e
Jermina Menon: One way to separate the real visionaries from the pretenders is really their view on the future. Pretenders will change their stance with every change of person/situation around them. A visionary will not.
Personally for me, a visionary is not someone who can foresee some potential and work towards it. It about being able to see the whole picture. It’s about being alert to what’s happening around. This change may also mean a slight deviation or change of plan of action – not change of visions (a pretender at this stage will change his vision – rather than the path!). And finally a visionary is someone who can carry people along.
70.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:52 pm e
Timothy Fearnside: Visionary: an individual with sufficient wisdom and intuition to derive uncommonly accurate convictions concerning matters not yet revealed.
I would propose that what separates visionaries from non-visionaries is the formers’ ability to perform right brained functions at a high level– i.e., to think spatially, visually, three-dimensionally, intuitively, outside-the-box, etc. I further propose that the most effective visionaries are “whole-brained thinkers” — i.e., those who are able to synthesize their intuitive convictions with the left-brained laws, principles, and logic of society, business, and/or academy. If you really think about, and I have, nearly all of the great contributions to mankind were the result of whole-brained thinking.
Food for thought, perhaps, if nothing else.