SUMMARY of Episode 1:41: The leader speaks to their concerns.

Expressing your vision as a leader is a little like flying an airplane. You have to stay at the optimal altitude – not too high and not too low – and be able to manage any and all turbulence.

The turbulence for a leader is the concerns others have about your vision. Whether vocal or silent, those concerns prevent them from listening and acting on your vision. So you need to be able to say whatever it is that resolves them.

In this conversation, Jonathan saw that he can’t just express his vision as a list. It’s actually a “sphere” in which different ideas exist in tension with each other:  It’s about home but not refuge. There’s diversity among us and within us but it’s understandable to be wary of strangers. We need the financial means to live but we wake up first and foremost as humans, not job seekers. And the need for truth is ever-present. Right down to the need to tell the truth about our past.

Jonathan saw how to anticipate and respond to a number of concerns his vision may evoke. But he also sees he will have to address other concerns that surface in real-time conversations.

There is a lot of truth though in his declaration that, “We are all united in our need for home.”  That may be enough for some to be open to listening to his vision of a shared home.

The leader’s journey continues. Stay tuned.