Dreams are a part of the ambiguities fed by imagination and human psychology. Charting a course between anticonformism and creativity, dreams often come to us in our sleep. What we seldom realize is that dreams enable people to recharge and regenerate their well being through the fulfilment of desires (according to Sigmund Freud) or the restoration of balance to the psyche (according to Carl Jung). Moreover, and in a literary sense, we dream during wakefulness when we represent through imagination what it is we are yearning for in a more or less chimerical way (Larousse). In this case, we give, for example, free rein to our imagination in designing our future or the consequences of our own choices or choices of people around us. We adore our dreams, and we follow people who make us dream.
We can dream under the influence of the charisma of a person, a symbol, or simply from hearing discourse which triggers an imaginative getaway. Individuals who make us dream, leaders or not, use rhetoric, clarity, simplicity but especially storytelling around the values and symbols deeply rooted in our minds. Earning commitment and buy-in from those around you, whether team member or stakeholders for your causes, projects, and goals, requires control, technically speaking, of these four components.
This said, the real key to success in this type of approach is far from being technical, but relies on the vision you project which reflects the dream that you are able to embody in the minds of your audience. Getting your public to dream is neither a technical approach nor a tactical move, it is about building an image that makes sense relative to often contradictory, ambiguous or indefinable expectations. The art of vision is to build an imaginary state which reconciles as much as possible these expectations and promotes the meaning which translates the best possible compromise.
It is important to build a vision associated with a dream of change through deep meaning which encourages commitment, and place the vision front and centre of your message instead of focusing on tactical arguments. These can generate temporary agreement but not necessarily translate into long term commitment. Constructive conflicts and tactical disagreements might be the price to pay for your audience to believe in your dream and achieve the projected outcome. We need people who make us dream. The dream and vision of a better future are more than the deliverables of a project or program, and guarantee the commitment of stakeholders to navigating progressively in an uncertain and constantly changing environment.
By Farid Yandouz
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