Oleg Konovalov
Global Thought Leader and Trusted Advisor
Visionary Leadership
Episode Summary
On Episode 122 of the Keep Leading!® podcast, I interviewed Dr. Oleg Konovalov! Dr. Konovalov is on the Thinkers50 Leadership Shortlist for 2021 and is the #1 Global Leading Coach. Having been named ‘the da Vinci of Visionary Leadership’ by many leading authorities, I seized the opportunity to get his viewpoint on Visionary Leadership.
Check out the “60-Second Preview” of this episode!
Bio
Dr. Oleg Konovalov is a thought leader, author, business educator, consultant, and coach with over 25 years of experience operating businesses and consulting Fortune 500 companies both in the UK and internationally.
Oleg is on the Thinkers50 Radar, recognized as #1 Global Thought Leader on Culture by Thinkers 360, and is #1 Global Leading Coach (Marshall Goldsmith Thinkers50).
Having been named ‘the da Vinci of Visionary Leadership’ by many leading authorities of our time, Oleg Konovalov is helping companies create and execute their vision, diagnose and treat organizational diseases, maintain a strong, productive corporate culture and achieve superior business performance.
He is the author of The Vision Code (2021), LEADEROLOGY (2019), Corporate Superpower (2018), Organisational Anatomy (2016), and Hidden Russia (2014).
His research identifies entrepreneurs’ and managers’ strategic needs in corporate culture, leadership, and he uses corporate diagnostics to enable them to drive their companies to success.
Website
https://www.olegkonovalov.com/
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-oleg-konovalov-a6a3401a/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/olkonol_oa
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/olkonol/
Leadership Quote
Don’t allow anyone to silence your vision.
Get Your Copy of Oleg’s Books!
https://www.olegkonovalov.com/author/
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Transcript
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This podcast is part of the C Suite Radio Network, turning the volume up on business.
Welcome to the Keep Leading!® Podcast, the podcast dedicated to promoting leadership development and sharing leadership insights. Here’s your host, The Leadership Excelerator®, Eddie Turner.
Eddie Turner:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Keep Leading!® Podcast, the podcast dedicated to leadership development and insights. I’m your host Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®. I work with leaders to accelerate performance and drive impact and I do this through the power of executive coaching, facilitation, and professional speaking.On the Keep Leading!® Podcast, I love exploring ways that we can keep leading. And to do that, we have to look at different facets of leadership. And we’ve covered a lot of areas here on the Keep Leading!® Podcast. Today, I want to look at one that we have not touched yet and that is visionary leadership. What does it mean to have visionary leadership? How can one attain it? To provide the answer, I have just the man.
Dr. Oleg Konovalov is a global thought leader with International Fortune 500 experience. He’s on the Thinkers 50 Radar, he’s been recognized as a global thought leader by the Thinkers 360, and he’s a part of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches family. And he has the answer we’re looking for because he is the author of The Vision Code.
Oleg, welcome to the Keep Leading!® Podcast.
Oleg Konovalov:
Hi, Eddie. It sounds like a superstar. Hey, I’m just human. I’m just a curious human and I love exploring areas which are critical for all of us. And thank you for having me on your show.
Eddie Turner:
Well, I’m so happy that you’re here. And to be the best we can be, we must be curious, right?
Oleg Konovalov:
Oh yeah because, you see, if we’re not committing, if we are not reinventing ourselves again and again, we will remain where we were yesterday. Nothing would change. There would be no progress. It would be boring.
Eddie Turner:
Yes, yes, that’s not a good thing. So, tell us a little bit about your background
Oleg Konovalov:
Eddie, I love that question but I don’t like much answering that question because, you see, I’m not what happens to me. I’m where I’m going to be. I spent many years in the practical business, very practical, in the fishing industry. And then, I’d gone into consulting, writing books, thought leadership. Then I became a coach but I was always curious “What else I can do? How I could explore something and live to the highest purpose of my life to discover new fields and share it with people?” And that defined probably my journey which, if I would look back, is so strange but it’s so interesting.
Eddie Turner:
So, you don’t look backwards. You only look forward.
Oleg Konovalov:
You see, if we have a question now, for instance, that means we don’t have an answer to this question from the past. We need to find that answer in the future that we would create. And that is quite interesting because we often tend to answer something or present ideas which actually didn’t work before and they wouldn’t work either now. We need to come up with grand solutions to grand problems. Leadership it’s not about problem solving. It’s about finding solutions. And, actually, at the end of the day, we will be judged in terms of what kind of solutions we have found or shared with people because this is more important than just problem solving. Problems are midges. They’re sucking blood and they’re just flying away, the next problem comes in, it’s all the time but it’s leadership. It’s about finding grand solutions that would allow us lead people into that prosperous bright future.
Eddie Turner:
And so, somewhere along the way, you became one of the foremost gurus on visionary leadership and wrote The Vision Code. Tell us why you wrote the book.
Oleg Konovalov:
Eddie, it was something that struck me for more than 20 years. I was looking into the nature of vision, what is it how I could create myself something which would be certain in any uncertain situations or phases of life. And, therefore, I was looking for answers to questions like “What vision is? What is my highest purpose which I could live to reach my vision and live a meaningful life? How to create vision?” because it’s often believed that vision is some kind of a gift but, as Carl Jung said, “Until we make an unconscious conscious, it will direct our life and we will call it fate.” I don’t believe much in fate. I believe that fate is what we create. It’s not what we will do. What we create, this is our fate. It’s not something given. We have opportunities and making decisions to live in a certain way.
Eddie Turner:
Well, that brings up the question “What is vision?”
Oleg Konovalov:
Vision is our aspiration for the future that we strive to make a reality today. And it’s not just a bright picture. It’s a multi-dimensional very pragmatic space which we create being here now or, as I’m saying, vision is an ability to put your signature on the future being here now. Because it’s very pragmatic, it’s very functional, it’s multi-dimensional, it’s like a little planet here people would love to live. And therefore, you are creating that space together with people and for people.
Eddie Turner:
Okay, Well, you said that it’s not something that people are necessarily born with.
Oleg Konovalov:
No, no, it’s a very focused thinking about the future. And it’s an algorithm actually. Vision comes when your conscious awareness of a problem you want to solve for the benefit of others reaches its peak. So, it’s not something like “Oh, I have a calling” or you’re walking down the street, all of a sudden, some bright idea comes to your mind. No, it’s really, really conscious understanding – “Okay, that problem needs to be solved and this is the way how we will solve it for others.” It must be well supported by listening. You must listen what’s the pain point, what needs to be solved, how it could be improved. It’s about learning and learning about people, about nature, about existing knowledge and how you could add to that knowledge and practice, of course. It’s about killing your own ego. You see, many leaders are ambitions driven and they could drive people off a cliff just to satisfy their ambitions.
Eddie Turner:
So, it goes beyond our physical vision, obviously.
Oleg Konovalov:
Absolutely, because eyesight is a function of eyes but vision is a function of hearts and minds. That is very different. You see, the reason I’m emphasizing the fact about ego because ego kills vision instantly.
Eddie Turner:
How so?
Oleg Konovalov:
It blinds us. When you’re purely egocentric, you don’t see people, you don’t see their pain, you see nothing. You must be focused on people.
Eddie Turner:
Some might argue that that’s not necessary to see another person’s pain. It’s only about what’s going on inside of themselves.
Oleg Konovalov:
Yes, but if that pain does not allow people to live fully and that problem could be solved, here comes your vision.
Eddie Turner:
Okay.
Oleg Konovalov:
If you want to change something … for instance, I was talking to David Cass who is a founder of Plastic Bank. It’s a fantastic social enterprise from Vancouver, Canada. And he was worried how to clean the world ocean from the plastic waste and he came up with a solution where plastic waste was turned into a currency. He asked people to collect that plastic, people who live on the coast of the oceans, and they’re collecting that plastic. He recycles it. He pays people in electronic money for everything, for food, for shelter, for schooling, for medical service, for wi-fi. And he cleans millions of those plastic pieces every year. So, it’s a really serious problem that, at the time, he solves, issues with poverty, with the ocean. It’s another business model that many could adapt for themselves in different areas of business.
Eddie Turner:
He used his vision to turn plastic into money. Nice illustration. Thank you for sharing that story with us. Is this why you would say vision matters to leaders?
Oleg Konovalov:
If I don’t have a vision, where do I lead people? I need to have a vision for the future in which I invite people to live for which I will invite people to commit themselves. Otherwise, it’s leadership blindness. And when I was researching for this book, I came to a very shocking result. Less than 0.1% of modern leaders have vision. The rest are pretenders.
Eddie Turner:
Say that statistic again please.
Oleg Konovalov:
Less than 0.1% of modern leaders have vision.
Eddie Turner:
Less than 0.1% of modern leaders have vision. That’s a staggering statistic.
Oleg Konovalov:
And I’m not talking about political guys.
Eddie Turner:
Right.
Oleg Konovalov:
They’re not in a good situation.
Eddie Turner:
What do you say that all those have?
Oleg Konovalov:
They mainly have bottom lines. Mainly they’re saying “Okay, we must do certain things by the end of the quarter or in a year,” something like that or they have some kind of great ideas which are not justified. For the last 20 years, we were very good at writing mission statements but none of the mission statements inspired people. I never saw such a thing happening. You see, they’re just saying “Oh, we want to be better.” That’s it. “We want to be number one. Oh, we want to be one-billion-dollar company.” What’s in this for people?
Eddie Turner:
For the 0.1%, are there people who we all would know and recognize that are getting it right that we can look to as examples?
Oleg Konovalov:
WD40, Gary Ridge. Plastic Bank that I mentioned. Junior Achievement. It’s led by Ashish Advani. It’s a great charity that helps 11 million young people to get their first profession.
Eddie Turner:
So, Gary Ridge. He is the CEO of WD40, a product that is known and loved worldwide for its many uses. He’s also a member of the MG100 family, the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches. And who’s the other leader you said, the president of Junior Achievement?
Oleg Konovalov:
Yeah, it’s Ashish Advani. He’s also a MG100 fellow. [Inaudible][14:24], his company [inaudible][14:28]. He is one of the inventors of SaaS which is software as a service which we’re using today across the globe. And Niall Ferguson at Institute of One World Leadership from Ireland. There are many of those people. See, they are not very celebrity. They’re working hard and they’re doing what they do in a great way because people usually think about vision is just like a few iconic personalities like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs but yet there are a lot of people.
Eddie Turner:
Because those are the best examples that we hear. When most people say visionary leadership, that’s who they say, one of those two names.
Oleg Konovalov:
Yes, but what’s important to consider, and I’m always saying this, is what is the chance for you or for me to have a good conversation with Elon Musk. If you would send him an email, what’s the chance that he would respond to it?
Eddie Turner:
Probably not very high.
Oleg Konovalov:
No, no but if you send a message to Gary Ridge or to Ashish Advani, more or less I have a chance to talk and learn from him or meet him in airport and have a conversation. And that is very, very different because vision is when we talk about leadership, particularly visionary leadership, it’s about revealing the very core of it – acting for people, acting with people, and acting for their needs. Therefore, visionary leaders, it’s about being with people, so being present, being accessible because people could really see “Okay, this person does this” or “He is involved” or “She is involved in something very important” and they could learn. It’s about inspiration. And in my view, inspiration is a very strong signal you can do this. These people are sending this signal all the time.
Eddie Turner:
You’ve given us a lot to think about, Oleg.I’m talking to Oleg Konovalov. He is the author of The Vision Code and he’s helping us to understand how we can have visionary leadership. We’ll have more from Oleg right after this.
This podcast is sponsored by Eddie Turner LLC. Organizations who need to accelerate the development of their leaders call Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®. Eddie works with leaders to accelerate performance and drive impact. Call Eddie Turner to help your leaders one on one as their coach or to inspire them as a group through the Power of facilitation or a keynote address. Visit EddieTurnerLLC.com to learn more.
This is Melissa Agnes, author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in this Uncertain World and that’s what I do. I help leaders build invincible brands. And you’re listening to the Keep Leading!® Podcast with Eddie Turner.
Eddie Turner:
We’re back, everyone. I am talking to Dr. Oleg Konovalov. He is the author of The Vision Code where he helps leaders develop visionary leadership.Before the break, Oleg, you were explaining to us what vision is and what it is not and you gave us an example of individuals who are experts and true visionary leaders along with a shocking statistic that stopped me dead in my tracks but now I want to talk about, for those who are listening, how does one develop their vision.
Oleg Konovalov:
Eddie, as I mentioned, vision comes when your conscious awareness of a problem we want to reach for the benefit of others. So, you’re thinking about for whom your vision would be important, whose pain do you want to solve. Very important to understand. Does it force your full commitment? Because vision is not something “Oh, I’ll have a vision for this year but next year it would be something different.” No, vision is bigger than you or me, bigger than any company, right? You could live your vision as a legacy. And, therefore, it’s a very important question. Does it force your full commitment? And it’s about who will support your journey. Vision is a path to the great future. And, therefore, you must have supporters and so people joining along that journey, which is quite important. Therefore, you must think for a year ahead or three years ahead for five years ahead for as long as you can. And this is about changing your life all the time. When I was thinking about my vision, when I was working on this book The Vision Code, I realized a very interesting thing. Vision, yes, is very important, great. It’s probably the second most important asset in your life after the life itself. And, therefore, it’s about if your vision is strong, you will feel that strength as soon as you understand how your vision impacts you. It makes you stronger and really craving for change, really craving for growth. That is a very interesting point.
Eddie Turner:
And in your book when you codified your concept on this, you have received endorsements from some of the most significant thought leaders in the world. When I looked at that list of folks, the foreword is by Marshall Goldsmith, you’ve got the CEO of Entrepreneur Magazine. I mean, on and on and on you got a lot of people that really stand behind your work.
Oleg Konovalov:
Well, yeah, because, you see, so far, we talked about vision as something murky, something very general. Yes, we need to have a vision but this is for the first time when vision is turned into a practical business tool. And then when I do coaching and I do consulting on vision and I have a course, Oleg Konovalov Vision and Leadership Course, when I help people to use all these tools and apply them immediately and create their vision and execute it. And this is the greatest impact we could have as leaders if we become visionaries on people around us in a very great way. One of the endorsements or two of the endorsements are from the World Economic Forum actually.
Eddie Turner:
Yes, that’s very significant. That’s saying a lot about its use and applicability to those in the business community. So, how is vision a business tool?
Oleg Konovalov:
It’s very interesting because vision is not a gift. Vision is six steps practical algorithm. And it’s caviar, I call it caviar, the same delicious. C stands for Clarity of creation. A stands for Ability because your vision would grow only if you grow as a leader. If you stop growing, your vision will stop growing as well but it will die. You may still be alive but your vision will die. And, as I mentioned, vision is bigger than your organization. Therefore, you must be really capable to handle it, to manage it, to lead it. And V stands for Viability because in simple terms, vision is very pragmatic, it’s very practical and it must be checked or tested at every phase, whether it is development, creation or execution against six firm criteria, which is stimulus, what value I deliver for people, scale, how this value could be extended, spotlight, it’s about responsibility because being a visionary leader, you’re like on a Broadway for 24×7, you’re responsible for your impact on people’s life. It’s about scanning because you must be grounded, you must be relevant to, everything that goes on around and what could be added to your vision. Again, add value for people and solve their problems. And it’s about simplicity because vision isn’t elegant thinking about complicated things. It must be simple for people to really buy it in. And, of course, it’s about excitement and passion because strong vision is a strong emotion itself and you must make people not just passionate, you must make people multipliers of that passion. You inspire people. You motivate people. You inspire people. And, therefore, it’s a process. And I’m sharing in my book all questionnaires, forms, models, helping people really to work with it.
Eddie Turner:
So, you have the book that you’ve been using to help people develop their vision, where you’ve documented these business tools. And I also have seen a lot of people posting a beautiful certification. Tell us about your certification program.
Oleg Konovalov:
Oh, this is a four-day course. It’s online, which is actually the advantage which we gain as a positive side effect of latest restrictions because when you’re online, it’s a small course but people are coming like in the last course, for instance, 10 people from nine countries. And you could talk to everyone. And it’s incredible because first day, we purely talk about how to create vision. Then next day we talk how to grow as a leader, how to test your vision in terms of viability, how to influence it and how to act as a visionary leader, in terms of execution, how to make it a reality. And R is a very interesting point, Revitalizing, because the higher we climb, the further we see more opportunities, you must revise your vision, you must keep it growing. And that is a fascinating process but what’s important it’s not just that algorithm. It’s a mind shift because being a visionary is a very interesting mindset. You talk about solutions. You look into the future. You lead the change. You’re not facing the change; you’re leading the change.
Eddie Turner:
Those are such important qualities of leaders right now – talking about the future, leading the change and getting solutions. We certainly could benefit from more leaders applying that.
Oleg Konovalov:
You see, one of the points that we tend to neglect or we’re missing is, for instance, when we communicate vision, we believe that we’re just sharing information. No, when we communicate vision, we’re making others the co-owners of the vision. And when people feel being co-owners, they’re really committing themselves, they’re really engaged. Think of this company WD40 which is led by Gary Ridge. They’re all members of the same tribe and their engagement rate is 96%, the highest in the world, because people believe in it themselves and therefore, they’re committing themselves fully into it.
Eddie Turner:
Yes. You have given us a lot to think about today, Oleg. What’s the main message you would like to send our listeners away with?
Oleg Konovalov:
All of us have the traits of visionary leaders, which must be developed. It’s nothing like you are not a visionary. No, any listener is a visionary. It’s a matter how it can be developed. It’s nothing like you don’t have it. No, if it’s your decision to be a visionary, you will get it. Just a matter of learning. This was the toughest challenge for me to make it practical, transferable, coachable. And this is possible but what’s important to remember is if you have a craving, a feeling to have a vision, don’t allow anyone to silence your vision.
Eddie Turner:
Don’t allow anyone to silence your vision. Very nice. Where can my listeners learn more about you?
Oleg Konovalov:
Oh, they could go on my website OlegKonovalov.com. It has a contact form. It has my email. They could contact me or read about my books and get the links or read my articles for CEO World, for Forbes. They could connect with me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to respond to messages and help where I can. So, I’m happy to talk with people who are really interested in vision and about becoming the masters of the future. So, I’m happy to help.
Eddie Turner:
Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us and The Vision Code so we can keep leading as visionary leaders.
Oleg Konovalov:
Thank you very much, Eddie. A great honor talking to you. Thank you.
Eddie Turner:
Thank you. And that concludes this episode, everyone. I am Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®, reminding you that leadership is not about our title or our position. Leadership is an activity. Leadership is action. It’s not the case of once a leader, always a leader. It’s not a garment we put on and take off. We must be a leader at our core and allow it to emanate in all we do. So, whatever you’re doing, always keep leading.
Thank you for listening to your host Eddie Turner on the Keep Leading!® Podcast. Please remember to subscribe to the Keep Leading!® Podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen. For more information about Eddie Turner’s work, please visit EddieTurnerLLC.com.
Thank you for listening to C Suite Radio, turning the volume up on business.
The Keep Leading!® podcast is for people passionate about leadership. It is dedicated to leadership development and insights. Join your host Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator® as he speaks with accomplished leaders and people of influence across the globe as they share their journey to leadership excellence. Listen as they share leadership strategies, techniques and insights. For more information visit eddieturnerllc.com or follow Eddie Turner on Twitter and Instagram at @eddieturnerjr. Like Eddie Turner LLC on Facebook. Connect with Eddie Turner on LinkedIn.