Leadership Secret Sauce: Vision
What is leadership vision & why do we need it?
Developing a vision statement is a ubiquitous component of most strategic planning processes. If you have ever sat in a 1-3 day strategic planning session in your department or organization, some time was likely dedicated to developing a vision statement, and that usually goes hand in hand with the organization’s mission statement. The value of a vision statement for strategic planning is straightforward: if you want to plan for the next 3-5 years, you need to know where you want to be in 3-5 years. A vision statement is a statement meant to encapsulate the organization’s future.
However, developing a meaningful vision statement is much harder, and that’s because you need to have vision: a compelling image of an achievable future.
Someone on that leadership team needs to strong sense of purpose and direction, a sense of what change or growth needs to happen in order for that organization to excel or even persist. Without vision, without an ability to look into the future and imagine and ideal state, or anticipate threats, organizations stagnate or fail.
Vision is an essential leadership quality. So what is leadership vision?
In the paper, Leadership Vision as Moral Duty, the authors identified 6 components of leadership vision: knowledge of oneself, commitment to others growth, recognizing the need to change, defining the right problem, understanding context, communicating the problem, and executing the action plan.
Knowledge of Oneself
Developing true self awareness means being able to act and react with emotional intelligence, and self aware leaders are considered more authentic by others. Self knowledge means that we are better able to
Commitment to Others Growth
Beer (2009) found that leaders who treated employees as valued assets, created a learning culture, and empowered employees to become contributing partners in an organization saw their organizations improve performance and employee commitment. Leaders who strive to help others become their best understand that doing so benefits both their organization and their employees and is a moral responsibility (Block, 2013; Paine, 2002). -Leadership Vision as Moral Duty
Leadership vision must include consideration for not only how our work and organizations may reach their highest potential, but also the capacity of the people to do the same.
Recognizing the Need to Change
Recognizing that change is both inherent and necessary allows leaders to pursue change that leads to a competitive advantage. Change will happen. Markets will change, economies will change, stakeholders, constituents, clients will change. A recognition that adaptability and innovation are fundamentally necessary to steward resources, sustain or increase impact and build and maintain trust with constituents.
Defining the Right Problem
Effective leaders recognize that they must constantly distinguish between what is urgent and that which is truly important in the pursuit of optimal organizational outcomes (Covey, 2015). -Leadership Vision as Moral Duty
Not only do leaders needs to recognize the value and necessity of change, but we also must be able to determine what change will yield the most impact. Which problems or opportunities will produce the most impactful results?
Understanding Context
How do leaders develop a vision that focuses on the ‘right problem’? By understanding context:
Strategic vision requires knowing who to rely on, creating a powerful team of resources, and utilizing that team to obtain the best possible information to make decisions (Collins & Hansen, 2011). -Leadership Vision as Moral Duty
As leaders, we need to be able to look at a wide variety of disparate elements and understand how they connect and interact, and how they might connect and interact. This includes tangible and intangible resources and context.
Communicating the Problem
In addition to identifying the right problem as well as developing a “profound knowledge” of the context impacting the problem and their organization, leaders must also be able to share their vision in a way that motivates other to act.
Executing the Action Plan
The last piece of leadership vision is the capacity to execute the vision. Vision cannot stop at the imagining, but has to include the goal setting, planning and execution of that vision.
Wise leaders acknowledge that developing an action plan is far easier than actually making it happen – and that the value that they add to organizations is both a leader’s duty and a function of execution (Pfeffer, 1998). -Leadership Vision as Moral Duty
Leadership Vision
The duty of leaders is to serve their organizations, its stakeholders, and a society that badly needs great leaders who have vision, commitment to excellence, and a clear moral compass. By refining their leadership vision and honoring the duties they owe to others, would-be leaders can develop the insight and wisdom to guide and serve their organizations and the people working within them – despite the risks of not being appreciated. -Leadership Vision as Moral Duty
If we can develop our capacity for self awareness & self knowledge, our ability to recognize and develop the potential in others, our competence to marry relevant problems, context and resources, and influence others to effective action, we can be more effective, authentic and moral leaders. Easy peasy, right?
It’s not. It’s incredibly challenging, which is why we have so many people in leadership roles who are ineffective or harmful. But it is possible. The 6 components described above encompass behaviors that can be practiced and skills that can be developed. Read on for a curriculum that can help you get started.
Leadership Vision 101 Curriculum
This curriculum is only an introduction. Many of the topics below are incredibly complex, and building expertise in these areas can be the work of years. But even just reviewing the articles linked below, reading the books or taking a class, can provide us with new skills to experiment with.
Knowledge of Oneself
Build your self knowledge through assessments and reflection
Commitment to Others Growth
Build your skills as a mentor and coach
Advocate for learning organizations
Recognizing the Need to Change, Defining the Right Problem, Understanding Context
These are so interconnected that learning about the following topics will likely build your capacity in all three.
Take a course in design thinking.
Learn about systems thinking, map and reflect on the systems around you.
Communicating the Problem
Develop your ability to influence others.
Practice persuasive communication
Executing the Action Plan
Build your competence with a goal setting framework
Learn about essential project management concepts
Learn about change management