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Hi, I'm Michael Hyatt. I'm on sabbatical this month, so we're taking this opportunity to serve up some hand-picked encore episodes of Lead to Win.

This week, four steps to communicating vision, a crucial skill for every leader. I hope you enjoy it.

In the year 871, England was in trouble. For decades, the country had been slowly taken over by the Danes.

Fears, Viking Raiders led by their warrior king, Guthrough. The Danes controlled most of Britain, and the Anglo-Saxon natives were confined to the small southern kingdom of Wessex.

Education had ground to a halt. Commerce was continued disrupted by Danish Raiders. The country was indefensible and in total disarray.

Wessex was ruled by a very young king with little experience. When Alfred took the throne on April 23rd, 871, he was just 22 years old, and he suffered from poor health.

But unlike most monarchs at the time, Alfred had a great vision for his country. He saw the key to securing the future was not in brutally oppressing his neighbors, but in creating a society of learning prosperity and strong defenses.

Young Alfred reorganized the army for greater effectiveness and fought bravely against the Danes. Even better, he created a navy to combat the Danes' greatest advantage, seapower.

It took time, but Alfred's vision for the country became a reality. In 878, he won the decisive battle of Eddington, securing a final victory over Guthrough and his forces.

That's where Alfred showed his true greatness. Rather than taking revenge, he was merciful. He treated Guthrough as an equal and allowed his former enemies to continue occupying a portion of the British island.

Under Alfred's visionary reign, Anglo-Saxon England experienced a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity.

But not all English kings were so successful. Just 80 years after Alfred's reign, Ethelred II took the throne. Like Alfred, Ethelred was a young king, but unlike his predecessor, Ethelred lacked a unified vision for the country.

Because of that, he was completely unprepared when the Danes started raiding again. Within a few years, the Danes were back on top and the English were forced to pay tribute.

Worse, Ethelred's ineffective response produced chaos in the country.

It's no wonder historians gave Ethelred II the nickname Ethelred the unready. It's actually a pun based on Ethelred's name, which means noble council. An old English unready means something like poor advice.

So, Ethelred the noble council was actually Ethelred the bad planner.

There's just no substitute for vision. When we have a compelling, unifying view of the future, and when we're able to communicate, it can motivate people to accomplish astonishing things.

And those who lack vision, well, they're just unready for the challenge of leadership.

Hi, I'm Michael Hyatt. And I'm Megan Hyatt Miller.

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