Dr. Oleg Konovalov

Many leading authorities of our time have named Dr. Oleg Konovalov ‘the Da Vinci of Visionary Leadership.’ He is considered #1 in the world when it comes to vision and visionary leadership. He is the author of The Vision Code, The Fisherman’s Path to Leadership, Leaderology, and other books. Having transformed many lives and built leaders, he has made his outlook towards a life filled with the fuel of purpose, passion, and positivity. 

Dr. Oleg’s life has seen many diverse experiences – from facing force-eleven storms on a small trawler in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to the successful execution of global-scale business projects highlighted in the international media, from having nothing at hand to being considered among the elite of global thought leaders. He mentions, “Being a global thought leader is not a privilege but a responsibility to create practical solutions. I realized that if I was aiming to reach goals beyond my immediate needs, beyond my comfort zone, I needed to explore and adopt new ways of thinking every time I aimed for something new. I must find new and deeper meaning at every stage of my life and professional development.” 

He describes his role and nature as creating solutions and value for people. These two define his style of communication. He reiterates, “We are judged by the value we offer people. At the same time, we communicate facts and information and share emotions and stories. We reach minds by communicating vision. We reach hearts and souls by sharing it. Sharing helps get the vision into the unconscious mind and, thus, has an in-depth effect in engaging people and turning them into real participants. The more you share, the more energy a vision will gain from supporters.” 

Dr. Oleg feels blessed to have been bestowed with a learning opportunity with global leaders and top experts. He cites Marshall Goldsmith, two-time Thinkers50, #1 Leadership Thinker, and #1 Executive Coach, as a person who taught him a great lesson – ‘Learn as much as you can; help as much as you can.’ Another influential person in his life has been Alan Mulally, ex-CEO of Boeing and Ford, who taught him that leadership is a labor of love. He is also grateful to Garry Ridge, ex-chairman and CEO of WD-40 Company, for many lessons, including humility. He recalls, “A few years ago, we finally met in person after an extended online interaction. I approached Garry with great respect and appreciation for his role – ‘Good afternoon, Mr. Ridge.’ Garry smiled and responded – ‘Oleg, for you, I’m Garry. My father is Mr. Ridge’.”

Dr. Oleg’s approach is based on reverse engineering, which includes understanding people’s needs and the value created for people, not for a leader or how a leader sees things. He has two key principles of his practice:

1. Your success is my goal. Think big about success, creating value for people, making positive changes, and improving their quality of life. 

2. I coach only on something I’m prepared to learn and improve. This makes me willing to repeat and improve more every day. 

Regarding “visionary leadership,” he feels that managers are responsible for the present. Leaders are responsible for the future. The most critical role of a visionary leader is to be clear about where in the future he or she will lead people and what they will gain from the future created together. He remarks that there are two important things that visionary leaders must do: 

1. Show people where we go. We are not free when we don’t know where to go. A clear understanding of the goals gives freedom. 

2. Communicating a vision and showing what people will gain for themselves will make others the co-owners of your vision. Vision defines and explains why and where effort should be focused. 

Dr. Oleg defines three key steps or elements every leader must have: a strong and clear vision for the future, a strong mindset, and people.

He says, “A visionary leader's mindset connects the present and the future and has to direct not just his or her own but the thoughts and resources of others towards building that bridge. Mindset is a key visionary property that demands consistent growth. We will have driverless cars, but we will never have people-less organizations! Everything we do is about people. This is not about technology. People’s engagement and performance define success.”

When it comes to solutions for leaders to bridge the gap between vision creation and effective organizational execution, Dr. Oleg feels that the tougher and more uncertain time is, the clearer a leader must be in the future. He says, “We live in a world where consensus has become very important for everyone to secure. The biggest problem is that vision cannot be created through consensus. It can only be created by strong leadership, and that's where strong leaders stand out. Consensus comes into play when a leader has no idea where to go and seeks instead to please everyone. Pleasers don’t create value either for people or themselves.”

So, according to Dr. Oleg, a company makes three typical mistakes. The first one he mentions is that many businesses focus on money, not value creation. Many believe in money. But money can’t buy meaning nor reflect a true value. Vision defines a meaning for many years to come and reflects value for people. The next thing he says is that there is too much focus on technology. He says, “We will have driverless cars but never have people-less organizations. The future is not about technology but what we will create for people. A technological mistake can be corrected easily. A leader’s mistake that prevents people from evolving to their potential can have repercussions for decades.” Lastly, he mentions everything we do is about people, not processes. We create a new reality for the benefit of others, not for the sake of processes.

Dr. Oleg Konovalov is among the top eight global experts in leadership and has been shortlisted for the Distinguished Award in Leadership by Thinkers50. He is on Global Gurus Top 30 in Leadership, is the #1 Global Leading Coach (Marshall Goldsmith Thinkers50 Award), and has been named one of the Global 100 Inspirational Leaders 2022, along with Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey.