The Inspirational Visionary Leader

This article is part II of our 12-part series on the different leadership styles. You can check out October’s Monthly Huddle to get a general overview and follow along each week as we explore them in-depth. 

The visionary leader is defined by their ability to envision a future for their company or team, then see that it comes to fruition. Rather than leading with rules, they prefer to cultivate a culture built on mutual respect and innovation. 

What Defines a Visionary Leader?

Visionary leaders need the space and resources to think big. They aspire to be organizational trailblazers, seeing the world as one big opportunity to unveil their creative solutions and fresh ideas. 

But, that doesn’t mean they necessarily want center stage. Much of their fulfillment comes from watching others shine. 

Personality

A visionary leader takes his job as captain of the ship very seriously. Their open-minded zeal for the position and capacity for empathy leads to teams that are eager, inclusive teams who enjoy collaborating to achieve the “bigger picture.”

With visionary leadership comes a deep-seated sense of responsibility. Their high emotional IQ makes them acutely aware of their tendency to hyperfocus on the task at hand, which then leads to other priorities taking a backseat. To offset that, they will often have to force themselves to step outside of their own heads to ask questions, check in on others, and find new ways to motivate their employees. 

In addition to ensuring their own personal growth, visionary leaders are passionate about bringing that same energy out in others. In their minds, true visionaries help others flourish with the same heart and dedication that they pour into their own development.

Elon Musk and Steve Jobs are often noted as two of the most prominent visionary leaders. 

Decision-Making

At first glance, it may seem like visionary leaders are impulsive and brash in their decision-making due to the sheer speed at which they make them. That’s not quite the case though. 

Because visionary leaders always keep their eye on the prize, they are gifted at predicting mishaps and speedbumps before they come up. Because of that foresight, they spend time talking about the decision with their team before the team is even aware a decision needs to be made. 

Casual conversations, quick emails, and inferencing are all part of the formula a visionary leader uses to make the final call, even when their team isn’t aware that their opinion is being taken into account. 

Situations Where Visionary Leaders Thrive

  • They have peers who are “Coaching” or “Democratic” to reign them in. Visionary leaders need balance. Their eagerness to keep driving forward towards an outcome can be messy, leading to loose ends and wasted time. For example, they may hear about an innovative new software platform, spend the money to purchase it for the company, discover it’s not as useful as they thought, then abandon it in favor of the next strategy. That leaves those who have invested time into the software left feeling like they’ve put a lot of work into something that wasn’t worth their time. 
  • Big changes are needed, but the team is stuck in a rut. Visionary leaders thrive when there is a palpable sense that others are thriving too. The opportunity to motivate, inspire, and engage others is incredibly fulfilling.

Wrap Up: The Pros and Cons of Visionary Leadership

A visionary leader is one that is likely to bring a huge shift for the better into a company that is aiming high but can’t quite reach the top. That being said, not all teams will appreciate their charismatic niceties and tendency to take everyone’s feelings into consideration. 

Pros

  • There is no such thing as a setback, only challenges that are to be met head-on and with a smile. 
  • Encourage unity, collaboration, and authentic communication. They are willing to hear criticism, especially if something they’ve done is affecting morale. 
  • The ability to help stagnating teams renew themselves and thrive in the pursuit of exciting new goals. 

Cons

  • Wants to bulldoze through bureaucracy and red tape, sometimes at the expense of others’ sense of “doing things right.”
  • Rely heavily on others to take the lead on “small picture” tasks, which often leads to either critical day-to-day necessities being neglected or junior staff taking on more than their fair share of the tedious, “boring” duties. 
  • Willingness to toss aside one strategy in favor of another can create discontent and chaos.
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *