The Future I Couldn’t Yet See

Last week, I drove to a local restaurant to meet a friend for lunch.

The route took me along a familiar forested road that winds toward a marina not far from my home. As I drove, a memory surfaced so vividly it felt as though no time had passed at all.

Twenty-four years ago, I was living in Vancouver and visiting Vancouver Island for the weekend. On that trip, I picked up a picnic lunch and carried it down to the docks at that very same marina.

I spread out a blanket, sat in the sunshine, and watched the boats gently move with the tide.

At the time, I had a dream.

I wanted to own a boat.

It wasn't a practical goal based on my circumstances then. In fact, it felt almost impossible. I didn't know anyone who owned a boat, and I certainly wasn't in a position where it seemed likely to happen.

But that afternoon, I allowed myself to imagine it.

I closed my eyes and pictured myself out on the water. I imagined the feeling of freedom, the sound of the waves, and the sense of adventure that came with exploring the coastline.

The vision stayed with me long after I returned home.

Not long afterward, I bought a nautical dress. It may sound silly, but every time I wore it, I felt one small step closer to that dream. It became a quiet reminder of the future I hoped for, even though I couldn't yet see how it would unfold.

Then life happened.

Years passed.

There were opportunities, challenges, career changes, family milestones, and countless unexpected turns.

And somewhere along the way, that dream quietly became reality.

Today, I live on Vancouver Island, only five kilometres from that very marina.

My husband and I are avid boaters, and some of our favourite moments together are spent out on the ocean. What once felt distant and unlikely has become part of our everyday life.

As I drove past that marina last week, I couldn't help but smile.

The younger version of me sitting on that dock could never have predicted exactly how life would unfold.

But she believed enough to imagine it.

And sometimes, that's where everything begins.

What This Taught Me About Leadership

One of the most important lessons I've learned about leadership is that people often need help seeing possibilities before they can believe in them.

The leaders who have had the greatest impact on my life didn't simply help me solve immediate problems.

They helped me see a future that was larger than my current circumstances.

They saw potential before there was evidence.

They encouraged growth before there were guarantees.

They believed in possibilities before results appeared.

Leadership is often associated with strategy, decision-making, and execution. Those things matter.

But leadership is also about vision.

It's about helping people imagine what could be possible for their lives, their careers, their teams, and their futures.

Sometimes the path isn't visible.

Sometimes the destination feels far away.

Sometimes the dream seems unrealistic.

Yet many of the most meaningful achievements begin long before there is proof they can happen.

They begin with belief.

The Future You Cannot Yet See

Looking back, I realize that owning a boat wasn't really the lesson.

The lesson was learning to trust that not every dream arrives on our timeline.

Some take years.

Some take decades.

Some evolve into something even better than we originally imagined.

The future rarely unfolds exactly as we plan.

But that doesn't mean we should stop dreaming.

Sometimes what seems impossible today is simply a future that hasn't arrived yet.

What dream or goal did you once think was impossible, only to discover it was waiting for you all along?