- What is the importance of vision to strategic leadership?
Vision ensures that the efforts of a strategic leader come to fruition. One of the main ways it does so is by providing the right imagination needed to foresee and plan for the future (Suranga, 2014). Strategic leaders create a vision in the process of strategic thinking. Through the vision, they make a mental representation of the place that they would like the firm to reach at a certain time in the future. Doing so creates a sense of direction in that everyone knows how to concentrate their energies towards that direction. Both leaders and workers can only succeed in taking the business to the next level if they channel their energies towards a specific direction.
Another importance of a vision is to initiate changes that will enable the firm to innovate and evolve. Firms need to change the way they operate to ensure that they adequately adapt to the dynamic business environment. A vision enables people to have a shared view of what they would like the firm to be like (Suranga, 2014). It ensures that the firm is sufficiently prepared to make the appropriate turns needed to maneuver through the times and emerge profitable in the long run. Leaders who provide this shared thought to their associates have high chances of turning them towards gaining a sense of evolution. It is by so doing that they make meaningful progress in being innovative.
Strategic leadership requires the assistance of a vision to ensure that resources are effectively and efficiently allocated. The vision developed by strategic leaders is representative of the firm’s future business scope (Samimi, 2020). It explains where the firm would like to be. It is on this information that the people within the organization work when allocating resources. The vision provides a guideline on how they should use the resources, which aspect of the business they should allocate each of the resources, and each resource they should allocate to each activity. Following the roadmap ensures that all the resources are used effectively to achieve the goals of the business.
- How would someone know if the vision statement was working?
Several indicators show the effectiveness of a vision statement. Amongst them is improved performance. A firm whose vision has been effective shows significant progress in the quantity and quality of goods or services produced (Darbi, 2012). Various performance indicators may be used to measure the extent of the improvement. For example, the firm may use surveys to measure the improvement made in the quality of services offered. A firm that produces goods may also measure the progress made in optimizing the quality of goods through measures like the number of return customers who make repeat purchases and the reduction in the number of goods being recalled within a certain span.
The effectiveness of the vision statement may also be evaluated by checking the welfare of the internal processes. The value chain is one of the areas that are targeted for improvement in the vision statement (Darbi, 2012). Teams within the organization use the vision statement as the road map on how to use the available resources in the right manner. Through the improvement in usage and the outcome of each process, the involved parties know whether they have made any significant progress in improving the business’s internal processes. For example, checking the amount of material wasted in producing a unit of goods.
- What are the three key elements of a compelling vision?
- Uniqueness– A compelling vision is exceptional in how it has been phrased and its meaning. It does not borrow words from other similar companies. Instead, it states the improvement that has been envisioned about the specific company (Tapera, 2014). For example, Tom’s vision statement is strict on the niche it seeks to cover. It articulates the company’s wish to make children around the world feel comfortable. Doing so empowers it towards enabling the company to radiate to the world as a unique entity.
- Future orientation– A compelling vision aims at improving the future of the firm. It is categorical regarding the future of the company (Tapera, 2014). For example, Disney’s vision statement states the company’s desired future within the entertainment and information industry. It is from the vision that its leaders and the workers gain insight into the orientation company they should work to achieve. It gives them a sense of direction, which is much needed for the firm to advance.
- Imagery– the future of a company is reflected in its vision. The vision statement guides thoughts on the possible situation by creating a definite image in the readers’ minds (Tapera, 2014). For example, Zappos’ vision statement states that the company insinuates to deliver happiness to customers. It is possible to imagine the delivery of happiness, although it is an abstract phenomenon.
- How is the ability to mobilize people around the vision an essential characteristic of a strategic leader?
A leader needs to be charismatic enough to communicate a vision with utmost effectiveness. Having a good vision is not enough to ensure that it works as expected (Sacavém et al., 2017). Instead, the strategic leader needs to communicate the vision in a way that arouses emotions easily. Followers are, in most cases, willing to follow in the footsteps of leaders who can influence them to do so through proper communication. Powerful communication abilities are important in leadership since they ensure ease of articulation and, subsequently, the ability to offer meaning and reason to the employees.
The ability to mobilize people also enables leaders to motivate others. Visionary leaders who are charismatic enough to articulate their visions for the firm perfectly have high chances of arousing high energy amongst their followers (Sacavém et al., 2017). It is paramount for a team of employees to be motivated. It enables them to achieve the level of energy needed to achieve the team’s goals and get to the desired position within the desired period. On the contrary, a leader who cannot articulate the vision with the effectiveness it deserves is unlikely to arouse motivation. Instead, he/she may demoralize them from achieving the high targets.
The ability to mobilize people around a vision is the source of authority. Modern leadership heavily relies on charisma during vision communication to create a sense of authority. A leader needs some authority to connect to individuals and guide them towards the chosen direction (Sacavém et al., 2017). Charismatic leaders possess exceptional capabilities to guide their followers towards the right direction of action. They do not have to launch their dictatorial or bureaucratic aspect for the followers to do as required. Instead, their followers do according to instruction with a sense of self-motivation as opposed to being commanded to do so.
References
Darbi, W. P. K. (2012). Of mission and vision statements and their potential impact on employee behaviour and attitudes: The case of a public but profit-oriented tertiary institution. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(14).
Sacavém, A., Martinez, L. F., da Cunha, J. V., Abreu, A. M., & Johnson, S. K. (2017). Charismatic leadership: A study on delivery styles, mood, and performance. Journal of Leadership Studies, 11(3), 21-38.
Samimi, M., Cortes, A. F., Anderson, M. H., & Herrmann, P. (2020). What is strategic leadership? Developing a framework for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 101353.
Suranga, J. M. (2014). Importance of corporate vision.
Tapera, J. (2014). The importance of strategic management to business organizations.
