Leading by Vision — Seeing Beyond the Horizon

Leadership Lessons from the Telescope | Rob Douglas Daniel Goleman describes several styles of leadership, all of which can apply from time to time. But I recognize my preferred style in what he calls the Authoritative style of leadership—one that organizes people around a common vision (Goleman, 2000).

For me, vision has always been the spark. The best days of my career have been when a team of smart, capable people come together around a clear and meaningful purpose—when we can see beyond the day-to-day to the possibility of something remarkable.

That has been true since the early years of my career at the Space Telescope Science Institute. In 2001, we began developing the Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT) for the Hubble Space Telescope. At the time, the Hubble team was well established, and the telescope had already delivered years of incredible science. But even then, we knew more was possible. The next great mission—the Next Generation Space Telescope, which would later become the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)—was already being studied.

That long horizon shaped our thinking. We designed APT not only for Hubble’s needs but also to be flexible enough to support future missions. It wasn’t about guessing what JWST would require; it was about preparing for a future we couldn’t fully see yet. That’s what vision is: the ability to imagine a better tomorrow and start building toward it today.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everything was easy or even certain. Developing software for a mission that hadn’t yet been fully defined felt risky. There were moments when the vision seemed distant—when practical realities threatened to overtake big ideas. But the long lead time NASA gives us for mission planning is also a gift. If we use it well, it allows us to prepare the systems, teams, and culture that the future will need.

I’ve learned that people respond to vision not because it’s perfectly clear, but because it’s meaningful. They don’t follow a leader because that person knows everything—they follow because they believe in where the team is headed. Vision creates coherence out of complexity. It gives us something to aim for, together.

Over time, that same mindset has shaped how I approach every new project. The technology changes, the challenges shift, but the work of leading by vision is constant:

• ·       See what others might not yet see.

• ·       Articulate it in a way people can connect to.

• ·       Build momentum toward it, even when the path is uncertain.

Leadership, at its best, is a kind of navigation. We don’t control the stars, but we can learn to steer by them.

Looking back now, I see that this was the beginning of what I would later come to call VisionCasting™: gathering the ideas and energy of others around a shared sense of purpose, so that what we build reflects the best of all of us.

📚 References

·       Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78–90.

Disclaimer

The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent NASA or the Space Telescope Science Institute.

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Next in the Series: “Tell Me What You Need — The Power of Servant Leadership.”