There are moments in leadership that begin not with strategy, but with story. At a recent networking breakfast at Villa College, Prof. Paul Priest, International Director at the University of the West of England, offered one such moment: an allegory wrapped in stillness and imagination.
He shared the story of a man on his deathbed who, each day, would ask his visiting friend, “What do you see through the window?” The friend, knowing there was no window, still responded with beauty: birds in flight, boats on the sea, laughter in the grass. When asked why, the friend replied simply: it’s what the man needed. That, Prof. Priest explained, is what leadership is.
Vision When There Is No Window
Leadership, he argued, is the craft of painting futures people cannot yet see. It’s the ability to offer hope, even when circumstances feel confined. Whether in a boardroom or a prison classroom (as in Prof. Priest’s own past), true leadership is not just about direction: it’s about belief. It’s having the courage to narrate possibilities and invite others to co-author them with you.
Hope and Human Transformation
Even in the darkest contexts: like the prison where he once taught individuals serving life sentences, he believed in the capacity for change. “They deserved to be there,” he said frankly, “but they also deserved to be seen as capable of more.” That belief isn’t naïve optimism. It’s radical hope: the belief that people evolve, that organisations can grow, that society itself can stretch toward better futures.
Leadership Is a Shared Story
The most profound leadership insight Prof. Priest shared was this: you are always writing the story of your organization, and you’re not doing it alone. Vision is only powerful when it’s shared. Leaders are not just strategy writers: they are storytellers, morale builders, and window-makers.
As Villa College and its partners like the University of the West of England continue their journey of academic excellence and social impact, it’s these kinds of stories that root success in humanity. Prof. Priest’s message wasn’t about leadership as authority. It was about leadership as authorship: of futures, of hope, and of change.
Smile and Let Smile 