Visionary management

This article describes a futures‐oriented leadership process called visionary management as developed in the Finland Futures Research Centre and implemented successfully with several medium‐sized companies in the 1990s. It is regarded as an addition to advanced management processes aimed at making good business decisions. The aim of the process is to create new business ideas for the company in the form of a vision. The visionary process enriches the strategic management of the company by motivating key people to work jointly as a creative team for longer‐term success. It starts from finding a common understanding of the future business situation, and discovers the resources and options available to the company. It ends up with a vision, a synthesis of the common understanding of success and the will to accomplish it. Tools and approaches applied in this communication process are presented. Inside the company the vision becomes an empowering means for directing the future course of the company, and it is an effective way to communicate the aims of the company and attract external interest and support. The examples in the article represent real cases with the kind permission of the companies involved.