Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for Your Organization

The survival of the planet in the '90s, according to Nanus, coauthor of Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Over, depends on whether world leaders are able to envision critical changes in both the public and the private sectors. Using a pet-food company as an example, Nanus contends that the ideas and methods involved in developing a ``vision'' are equally applicable to a product, a government, a public service agency, a church, a school and a penitentiary. Success, he argues, depends on the originator's capacity to ``attract, commit and energize people.'' But Nanus only partially succeeds in defining these intangible attributes, and his proposed ways to realize one's vision--including lists, ``vision audits'' and tables--differ little from common-sense strategies typically advocated in how-to-succeed guides. Fortune Book Club main selection; BOMC alternate. (Oct.)