Tesla has become a household name, primarily as a successful automobile manufacturer. When you think of Tesla, you probably don’t think of the scientist who invented the car and the technology that powers it. Nikola Tesla, a physicist and engineer whose numerous inventions continue to astound scientists with their relevance today, died without fame or fortune. Despite having over 300 patents, he never saw the majority of his ideas come to fruition during his lifetime.
Why? Because Nikola Tesla lacked the executive capital to start and finish the great things he saw as possible. Leaders require executive capital to translate their visions into a voice that can gain followers and ensure that vision is realized. What exactly is executive capital?
How does executive capital work?
Executive capital is an executive’s ability to create, and it is based on three components: vision, voice, and delivery. A vision is a lofty and meaningful goal for an executive’s business based on their knowledge and experience. The voice communicates their vision, and delivery is how those ideas are put into action. No one knows about their vision unless they speak up; without delivery, no one sees it come to fruition. Nothing new ever happens in the absence of vision.
Executive capital cannot exist without all three of these components. Nikola Tesla had a brilliant vision but lacked the social and communication skills to rally others behind it. He delivered some of his ideas, but his delivery was largely irrelevant because he lacked a voice. Only later, when others gave voice to his vision, did it begin to influence reality. Startups, too, have vision but lack the ability to communicate value or deliver on promises. Some businesses have a voice but no vision or delivery. Because these companies lack executive capital, their leaders have limited influence..
Vision entails
The world is teeming with information, much of it disorganized. Having a vision, planning, and making decisions are all subjective based on our ability to see order in data and organize it using our vast knowledge. The clarity of our vision is determined by how complete a picture we can see. Most founders are born with a vision. Their ability to see opportunities where others cannot is how they first became entrepreneurs. Setting a high-level goal with some personal meaning is the first step in defining a vision. It should be something that everyone agrees is both necessary and valuable. Observe the world, identify what is lacking, and then set out to fill that void: this is where vision emerges.
voice reverberates
Developing executive capital and influence necessitates communicating your voice to others — your team, potential customers, and the rest of the world — in a meaningful way. A vision is meaningless if no one knows about it or cares about it. Your voice will bring your vision to life by enlisting the help of others. Tesla arrived in America with four cents and a vision, so he sought help from people like Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan to turn his genius into reality. Their established fame and finances provided Tesla with the voice he required to achieve success. A united force is required to achieve lofty goals, and executives build this force by convincing others of their vision.
World-changing delivery
The successful execution of voice and vision is referred to as delivery. People can hear a lofty vision through communication, but consistent delivery aligns people in believing we can achieve it. We change the world through delivery. Tesla used alternating current technology to light up the 1893 World’s Fair and beat Thomas Edison in the “Battle of the Currents,” but Edison is remembered as the “Father of Invention” because he was a good businessman. He took his vision and invested in large-scale research labs to channel and pump out more inventions under his name, earning royalties on consistent delivery and, in effect, building his executive capital.
Writing can help to preserve and amplify an executive’s vision, but aligning enough people to create the force needed to make it a reality requires delivering results in the organization’s policies on a consistent basis. Consider who you go to for advice; they are likely to provide the best solutions. These voices assist us in avoiding the same snake pits they did. The longer their solutions demonstrate their correctness, the longer their voice will be heard in terms of increasing executive capital.
The most significant capital of all
Success breeds success when it comes to executive capital. More executive capital increases the value of your voice, and more voice increases the value of that capital. The more people who believe in your vision, the longer it will last, and the more effectively you will deliver on its purpose, bringing it to life and increasing the value of your executive capital over time.
Overdoing any one component, on the other hand, reduces capital. Building executive capital requires balance; here are five ways to maintain it:
- Rightness (being more right than wrong) instills confidence and results from gathering information, establishing order, and making better decisions based on increased knowledge and experience.
- By amplifying your vision with voice, spread your righteousness.
- By using uplifting symbols and a purpose that has meaning, you can orient listeners toward your vision.
- Establish the validity of your vision by carrying out its policies in an efficient manner. Reinforce your vision with new symbols to unite more people, new goals for achieving it, and a new purpose as you take in and organize what you see in the world for your voice to endure.
The future of leading the curve in executive leadership will be raising the emotional tone of an organization, which can only happen by leveraging executive capital, but it cannot be built alone. The true worth of executive capital comes from how well you distribute, share and use your capital to serve or help others. This is how leaders create a legacy that lasts.
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