Who the hell is a Visionary? Or is it a illusionary! Or worse. A Delusionary.

Corporate people use this term a 'visionary' lot. Specially the middle and senior managers. Something on the lines of 'You need to have a vision' or 'I am a visionary leader' or something equally cliche. Beware of the term and the user of the term. It might sound exiting to banks, VCs and investors. But there is something very sinister about it. It be a illusion in disguise. Or worse. It can be a chronic delusion.

Let's find out what's what.

To make it simpler I will use an analogy of traffic, a view and simple sense. Let's decode who is a real visionary.

Straight off the bat true visionary are people like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, the TATAs, Jack Ma, Jensen Huang and similar other popular or unpopular personalities.

Analogy:

Imagine yourself looking at a view. A pristine mountaintop overlooking a vast valley. Clouds swirling over your head. Crisp sunlight shining over the earth's green pastures. Horizon is the limit. You like it, you want it. You know what it feels like. You know exactly the emotions and value that view, that moment holds for you.

For corporate people, translate this view into a revenue number. Or market share. Whatever makes you happy, and your pockets heavy.

Coming back to our analogy. You know how to get to this heavenly destination with a view. You know the directions. You know the time, effort and challenges you have to face. You know how to ride the bends, the slow corners and overcome them without risking anything.

Traffic. Patience. Time. The view. The journey. Everything between yourself and your destination is already in your mind. On the way you will face traffic. The further you are the more you use your mental powers to visualize your victory. You endure traffic and murky weather with zen patience to inch closer every minute of your precious time. Only your hope to support your upcoming reality.

As you get closer, you start seeing the the hill. It feels good. You are almost there. Mountains always look closer and smaller then they actually are. But that is not an unfamiliar challenge for you. You are a visionary and you have visualized all that already.

You take your turn to a single lane up the hill. The sight getting closer. Now you can see your vision converting into reality. Almost there now.

You have arrived. You prepare yourself, brace yourself and congratulate yourself. You did it! You have successfully turned your vision into a reality.

You step on the exact place you visualized in your mind. And... it sucks.

Its humid, you are sweating, there is a lot of noise around you. The sun is aching your eyes. There is a construction going on right in the middle of your view. Its an eyesore. Your bubble bursts.

Your vision was an illusion!

Visionary:

Analogy lingo: Mental image of the route, detours, rush hours, gas stations, helpful contacts, tire pressure, hotel bookings with backup arrangements and safety arrangements required to get to that place, unwind and achieve success.

Corporate lingo: Mental image and a map with precise products, processes, people coordination, deviations, resources, help and support required to achieve success.

A true visionary knows exactly all these things I mentioned in the dreamy journey above. Dreams are a construct of imagination. Not reality.

The one who is visionary knows where to reach, how to reach, the cost and the consequence. Very few are such people in the world. They either know the path or know how to make a path for themselves. The supreme knowledge of everything that lies in the way of where they are and where they want to get, is what they possess. With extreme confidence.

For the things they do not know about, they definitely know who will know about it and they get them along (hiring).

Illusionary:

Analogy lingo: Assertion of expecting the route to be picturesque, and empty. Speeding beyond safety limits, without seatbelts. Lashing at people for their human like behavior which is outside the illusionary person's imagination. Constantly talking about what things they will do once they get there. Forcing people to play nice. Becoming totally cross when the bubble bursts. Spoiling everything for them and everyone else for eternity.

Corporate lingo: Those imposing to accept, agree, understand and execute their own thinking onto other people. Using the phrase 'You can't see what I can see'. Not ready to collaborate with experts. The ones who aggressively stay on a path of their own making with least knowledge of the risks, challenges and pit falls are the illusionary who take everyone down along when the ship sinks.

Illusion is what you think or believe should be a destination without factoring the reality. An oasis in the desert. Such people are obsessed with both eyes shut. You can identify them by their rage and aggression of not knowing the details of their masterplan. It's not that they do not know anything. They have a fair idea about what they want to achieve. But definitely not to the extent they think they can. They can get a company running successfully for about a decade or so but that's it. They run out of the spark after that.

Delusionary:

Analogy lingo: Will not give the details of where they are going. being secretive of what others can expect. Assuring only vaguely that it'll be good and you will like it. Collecting money for the contribution of the trip and its comforts. Not using maps. Taking multiple wrong turns and still not using maps. Not even asking passing by vehicles for the correct way. Getting there eventually. No booking. Still assuring people that its just a small matter, at least they are at the destination. Substandard accommodation, getting merely 2% of the view contrary to what was sold. Translating all the miserable experiences into words of glory by giving examples of how so many others cannot even get what they are getting. Eventually, turning a profit off the contributions with promises to make things better with the lessons leaned.

Corporate lingo: Those who do not communicate and share their ideas. They will never take any collaboration, support or even trust basic data. They will always twist words and situations in their favor making it sound like they already knew everything all along. Will never accept failure or a mistake. There are always other people whom the blame and punishments gets transferred. They are never wrong. They walk out of arguments. Usually they disappear with money, jobs and all the things dear to them. Only to emerge from the dead as fresh new version of themselves.

Beware whom you trust and work with.