A friend and colleague is a gifted visual communicator. He uses only words to paint his pictures: his tools are metaphors, analogies, similes, word pictures … anything that allows the listener to conjure up rich imagery.

Of course the brain gobbles up images, slides them into the long-term memory drawers of our mental filing cabinets and so what our friend says stays with us. This is a powerful leadership practice indeed, part of the second commitment of Inspire a Shared Vision, which we call projecting. When it is important the followers see the exact same picture in their minds as the one the leader carries, projecting is the practice to follow.

In fact, our little tribute here includes a story in which another colleague, himself no slouch when it comes to colourful language, said of Rainbow Brain: “OMG! Did you swallow a bucket of paint chips when you were a kid?”