I was struck how Steve Job’s “reality distortion field” was repeatedly highlighted in the Walter Isaacson biography. In several instances this drove actions that were at odds with acknowledged possibilities. It was definitely a major source of creativity. This capability also influenced significantly people around him.
This particular capability was quoted as a strength that allowed leaps of faith and moving teams to achieve impossible feats. It was also identified as a weakness as Steve Jobs was unable to process information that was contradictory to his intent or position (sometimes indeed, reality did not bend to his will!).
I have personally observed that visionary leaders do generally possess this reality distortion field capability (and the related influencing capabilities). It is often the only way to move the team. And it is often a visible distinction between the “bureaucrat” leader that remains withing the current reality and the “visionary” leader that can jump in new reality fields.
And it is sometimes difficult to withstand the attraction of the reality distortion field when one is around a strong one.
Measuring the strength of the reality distortion field of those people around you is indeed a good way to measure whether people are visionary.
