ASPIRATIONALLY, AMY
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
A visionary leader is someone who has aspirational goals for the future for themselves and their teammates. Visionary leaders are tough, determined, and unafraid to take risks when it comes to innovating and making progress. They tend to possess great imagination, and draw people to them with a welcoming, open persona that brings out the best qualities in their direct reports and colleagues alike.
Visionary leaders rally individuals and teams around a shared goal, can help drive progress, and often are responsible for improving outdated technologies or practices. When at their best, they set out concrete steps to bring a vision to life, and then they lead people in that direction. Visionary leaders have a powerful ability to drive progress and usher in periods of change by inspiring employees and earning trust for new ideas. A visionary approach to leadership can especially be helpful for smaller, fast-growing organizations, or for larger teams going through transformation and restructuring.
Since they are so focused on the big picture, visionary leaders may miss important details or other opportunities. Their highly future-oriented approach can comes at the expense of understanding present issues, which can leave direct reports feeling alienated and unheard. Perhaps the greatest drawback of the visionary approach to leadership is the danger of hyper-focusing on a single goal. Visionaries may also refuse to change or abandon their plan, even when it is no longer makes sense or aligns with their organization or their team's overall direction.
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES
BUILD THE BIG PICTURE
Envision what you want the future to look like, and then strategize on how to get there. Once you develop a deep understanding of your vision for the team, be persistent, focused, and clear about want you want to see in your team. As you build and communicate your aspirational vision, be careful not to confuse it with your team's mission (what your team does) and values (why your team does what they do).
INSPIRE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR LONG TERM GOALS
As you start to take steps toward reaching your goal, know that you may need to change the minds of others around you. Be positive, bold, and optimistic about your vision. Let your passion lead others to see the value in the end-goal and the plan you've laid out to get there.
FOSTER COLLABORATION AND CREATIVITY
Invite others to participate in the vision-setting process. Use the strengths of your team members to balance your weaknesses. Embrace creativity and new ideas as you work with your team to develop creative solutions. Don't be afraid to ask “what if,” and don't settle for "good enough."
LEARN MORE ABOUT VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
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REFERENCES
Ashkenas, R. & Manville, B. (2019, April 4). You don’t have to be CEO to be a visionary leader. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/04/you-dont-have-to-be-ceo-to-be-a-visionary-leader
Ates, N. Y., Tarakci, M., Porck, J. P., van Knippenberg, D., & Gronen, P. (2019, February 28). Why visionary leadership fails. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/02/why-visionary-leadership-fails
DeFrank-Cole, L., & Tan, S. J. (2022). Women and leadership: Journey toward equity [eBook edition]. Sage.
Indeed Editorial Team (2023, March 16). 8 common leadership styles (Plus how to find your own). Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/10-common-leadership-styles
Indeed Editorial Team (2023, February 3). 14 traits of visionary leadership to develop (Plus tips). Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/traits-of-visionary-leadership
Helgesen, S. (2017). Gender, communication, and the leadership gap. In C. M. Cunningham, H. M. Crandall, & A. M. Dare (Eds.), Gender, communication, and the leadership gap (pp. 3-11). Information Age Publishing.