Let us dare to say: the business world has lost a little of its magic. The spreadsheets replaced the sketches on paper towels, strategic meetings take place in videoconference, performance indicators dictate decisions faster than intuition … And somewhere, in all this, the dream was discreet.
However, there is an emergency to put the dream back at the heart of the business management. Not a naive dream or detached from reality, but an engine dream. This one gives a CAP, which inspires the teams and which gives the company its raison d’être. It is time, dear leaders, to become dreamers again.
The end of the man’s era
For a long time, the company crowned the manager. The good leader was the one who knew “Hold the house” : optimize costs, control figures, secure margins, reduce risks. Nothing reprehensible in all of this: it was necessary to professionalize management.
But this logic has gradually turned into a shackles. We don’t dream with an Excel table. Talents are not united with a budgetary plan or a cost reduction objective. The company needs rigor, of course, but when it becomes alpha and omega, it ends up killing the creative momentum that had given rise to the initial project.
It is no coincidence that, in many organizations, employees say they lack meaning. Gallup surveys on work engagement show year after year that less than 20 % of employees are really declared themselves. For what ? Because they no longer see the dream behind the strategy.
The dream is not a luxury, it is a strategic lever
Getting a dreamer again does not mean to withdraw into a poetic bubble. This means finding the ability to see big, to tell a story that goes beyond the figures, to paint a future that others will want to build by your side. The greatest entrepreneurial successes of our time were born out of radical visions. These leaders understood an essential thing: the dream is contagious. It attracts talents, investors, customers. He transforms a business into a movement into a business movement.
Fear has replaced the dream – and it must be revealed
Let’s be honest: if the dream has disappeared from certain companies, it is because fear has taken its place.
Fear of the crisis, fear of failure, fear of market judgment, fear of disruption.
Managers have become permanent firefighters. They react more than they act, turn off the fires instead of lighting torches.
But a company that is only defined by what it avoids ends up going around in circles. The dream is an act of courage. It is accepting to project yourself into an uncertain future, to inspire without guarantee, to say: “This is where we are going” Even when the road is still blurred.
Dreaming is to give meaning – and meaning is a weapon of mass retention
The new generations shout him loud and clear: they want meaning. They want to participate in something that goes beyond the simple generation of profits. If you are a leader and you find it difficult to attract or hold the talents, the answer may not be in an additional bonus or in a brand new table football. It is in your vision.
What company problem do you solve? What sustainable improvement do you bring? What world do you want to leave behind?
A Deloitte study shows that companies guided by a clear mission are 30 % more likely to be innovative and 40 % more likely to hold their employees. In other words: the dream, well formulated, is a competitiveness strategy.
How to become a dreamer without losing the sense of realities
You may be saying to yourself: “All of this is fine, but I have invoices to pay and shareholders to satisfy. »»
Exactly. Getting a dreamer again does not mean losing ground: it is to reconnect your daily action on a desirable horizon.
Some concrete tracks:
- Take time to think: most leaders are prisoners of their agenda. But ideas are not born in 30 -minute chain meetings. Block time to read, observe, meet people outside your sector. Let your mind wander.
- Write your manifesto: if you were to summarize in one page the raison d’être of your business, without a corporate jargon, what would you say? Write it. Let your emotions, your convictions show. Then share it.
- Make your teams dream: Tell a story, not just an action plan. Say: “Imagine in five years …” instead of: “Here are our goals for the next quarter. »»
- Face fear. : The dreamer is not unconscious: he knows the risks, but he chooses to face them. Surround yourself with people capable of challenging your ideas without breaking your momentum.
- Celebrate the small victories. : Each step towards your dream deserves to be recognized. This is how utopia becomes strategy, and the strategy becomes reality.
The dream, a political act in the company
In a world saturated with algorithms and forecasts, deciding to dream is almost an act of resistance. That is to say: “We will not be slaves of the growth curves. We will invent something new. »»
This does not mean ignoring the constraints, but going beyond them. And paradoxically, this can even reassure investors: a leader who knows where he is going, even with audacity, inspires more confidence than a manager who only browsing sight.
