THE IMPORTANCE OF VISIONARY LEADERSHIP

I have met so many new team leaders, supervisors, and those in frontline management roles who have either not been told, and/or are completely unaware of the need to be a “vision caster”. This term reflects someone who has a vision of the future and is able to ‘cast’ or present it to the team in such a way that it captures their hearts and minds-‘Capturing people’s hearts and minds’ is a phrase that has become increasingly popular in leadership circles over the last few years.??

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There are obviously two criteria to be a vision caster- the first is obviously to have a vision. This could be a vision for the nature of the team that you’re leading, of the performance that you believe they are capable of, of how they may work more effectively with other parts of the business, of how you may deal more effectively with clients and customers, or any number of ways in which the team could grow tangibly. This vision may have come directly from your manager, it may be entirely your own vision, or a combination of the two.??

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Regardless of when you signed up for leadership, and more importantly effective leadership, you signed up to be someone who needed to have a very clear vision of the destination of the team in however many months or years’ time.?

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Obviously having a vision is only half the equation-the second aspect is selling it to the team to the point that it becomes their vision also. It’s important to understand the various personality types in your team because this information will help you know which people need what kind of information delivered in what fashion in order to get on board. For instance, some members of your team may really respond to a charismatic and inspiring speech about your vision for the future.??

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People with the opposite personality type may be a lot less interested in this “froth and bubble” and much more interested in the cold, hard facts and figures of the vision. Others may simply want to know when we’re going to get underway, and still others want to see a more collaborative approach with the team having input into how the vision will be achieved, if not into the very vision itself.??

This next point is really worth taking note of if you feel overwhelmed with the idea of having to get everyone onboard from day one. You don’t.??

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Marketing theory provides a really useful model for understanding the ‘acceptance stages’ of various types of people within a population group (including the team you’re leading). The model follows the line of a normally distributed bell curve in terms of the acceptance rates by consumers of new products and services. The bell curve is split into five sections with the bulk of the population sitting in the middle section, described as the “Majority”. On the far left-hand side of the bell curve is what marketing theorists call the “Innovators”. These are the kinds of people who are hungry for change and are always the first to purchase and trial the latest and greatest products and services. In a close second place to the innovators are the “Early Adopters”. They’re never the first out of the blocks in terms of adopting, for example, new technologies, but once a trend starts, they’re the next group to get on board. The bulk of the bell curve, the “Majority”, is divided into two categories- early and late. Then at the tail end of the bell curve are the antithesis of the innovators and early adopters- the ‘Late Adopters’, or the “Laggards” who actively avoid adopting new concepts and products until they have little or no choice but to join everyone else.??

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The adoption of “The New” in business also replicates this bell curve to a lesser or greater degree. You will get those who come onboard early with a new vision, just like innovators and early adopters, followed by the majority of the team, and then you may even encounter some laggards who may not ever fully get onboard, or will at least drag their feet on the way.??

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The point of this marketing model in relation to your first experience as a leader, and as a vision caster, is to not anticipate or expect that everyone will get onboard at the same pace. It’s okay to win over the ‘hearts and minds’ of a small number initially, and they can assist you in winning over the hearts and minds of the majority. The important thing is not to give up on any momentum because you haven’t got everyone. onboard. Some people just need more time than others.?