Leading the visionary way!

In last week’s blog post, we discussed effective communication and how it equates to leadership. Besides effective communication skills, can you think of another thing most successful leaders have in common? What comes to mind? If you said vision, you are not wrong. Of course, without great communication skills, one might not be able to express his vision. In particularly, vision is what differs between management and leadership. Although many people use management and leadership synonymously, they are in fact quite different. Simply put, managers manage and leaders lead. However, they both play vital roles among the organization. The role of management is to manage employees and daily tasks while producing a consistent quality product. In contrast, a professional in a leadership role, creates a vision that produces a positive change through empowering employees.

Stock photo.

So, just what exactly is a vision? The good news is it is a learned skilled and quite possibly the most important tool a leader can possess. Debbie Zmorenski suggests in her article, Leaders have Vision, “vision can be defined as a picture in the leader’s imagination that motivates people to action when communicated compellingly, passionately, and clearly”. Accompany a leader’s vision is usually their vision statement. This statement consists of a few sentences that are forward thinking and clearly describes where they see the organization in the future. The difficult task, however, is putting the vision into motion. A plan is just a plan if it cannot be actioned to fruition. Zmorenski goes on to say, “a visionary leader who clearly and passionately communicates his or her vision can motivate employees to act with passion and purpose, thereby ensuring that everyone is working toward a common goal”. And as one might imagine, the products produce created from a shared vision are rather extraordinary and innovative. As some employees may find they feel a sense pride being a part of something bigger than themselves. Susan Heathfield writes in her article Leadership Vision, “the vision of leadership permeates the workplace and is manifested in the actions, beliefs, values, and goals of your organization’s leaders”. A strong vision should be shared among employees of the organization. Visions that are inclusive create a shared meaning which creates greater job satisfaction. “This approach allows leaders to engage an entire team of people who feel ownership over a vision because they’ve co-developed it”, notes Kristi Hedges from Forbes.com.

Moreover, since visions communicate possibilities, a vision must be positive. Though, it is not to say that the visionary leader must always present an upbeat demeanor. Since leadership is a behavior, visionary leaders must not dwell on small set back but rather focus on the solution. Remaining solution focused is vital for visionary leaders because their followers look to them to model the appropriate behavior. Visionary leaders embrace the challenges that come with forging a new path. This is a normal process for innovation. In fact, visions should be reviewed periodically and realigned with the organization’s values as needed. Successful leadership comes from engaging with employees and soliciting feedback. Hedges states, “a vision that’s carefully developed and then rarely discusses in pointless”. Like most anything, if you cannot effectively communicate your thoughts regarding the vision for the organization, you will lose employee trust and attention.

Furthermore, the tone of management is passive, and the tone of leadership is active. Management culture places great emphasis on rationality and control over what they already manage. In contrast, leadership is the opposite. Successful leaders adopt personal and active attitudes toward the organization’s goals. Think about it… think of one thing you are passionate about. With the vision in your mind, are you excited to tell others about it. Most often, the things we are passionate about drive our actions. This is true with visionary leaders. In his article, Management is (Still) Not Leadership, John Kotter passionately describes leadership as “being associated with taking an organization into the future, finding opportunities that are coming at it faster and faster and successfully exploiting those opportunities”. And as you might have guessed, Kotter is an award-winning business and management thought leader which would describe why he is so passionate about leadership. A few other examples of visionary leaders include Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and J.D. Rockefeller. Each embody what we think of as visionary leaders regardless if you care for their leadership style. Each of them started with a vision and saw it through relentlessly, overcoming obstacles and sacrificing small victories in pursuit of greater ones. As J.D. Rockefeller once said, “if you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success”.

Nevertheless, visionary leaders are not managers and therefore leaders and managers go together. In successfully organizations, there is a collaborative effort amongst senior leaders where the roles are clearly designated. In fact, management is just as important to the success of the organization as leadership. Think of management as the person behind the scenes making sure the systems are in place and the processes are followed to allow for visionaries to carry out their leadership role.

So, now begs the questions: do you see yourself as part of management or leadership?

Thanks for reading! Be on the lookout for next week’s post regarding leadership in message development and placement. Please feel free to share my blog through engagement on your own social media platform. As always, you can find my blog by clicking on the link below or by copying and paste the URL in your address bar: communicate2lead.blogspot.com

"The art of communication is the language of leadership" - James Humes