Well, the common definition concerns where a manager or business leader feels most comfortable in dealing with staff and other issues, determining the way to get results through others and what level of ‘power’ is needed to achieve pre-determined results.
By exhibiting the right ‘style’ of leadership, a person can achieve better results, more engagement, higher levels of motivation and an increased performance level. Get the style wrong and the direct opposite can occur, often with long-term consequences. The most commonly quoted leadership styles revolve around work done by Daniel Goleman.
The differing styles are quite widespread, ranging from the more draconian, autocratic manager (repeating the adage born from Scientific Management theory, espoused by, among others, Frederick Taylor) to the more affiliative, democratic and supportive styles, designed to be inclusive and delegatory.
Goleman’s styles cover a wide range of options for the leader to adopt, depending on the circumstances and situations faced.
Here are the 6 styles:
Autocratic/Commanding Leadership Style
Needed when fast decision-making is required, the team trusts the leader to make good decisions and little or no team involvement is required. It saves time and can get quick results, but can affect communications down the line and miss opportunities where collaboration would identify other options to achieve results.
Democratic/Participative Leadership
Needed when buy-in from team members is required to move forward. The leader involves more people in finding solutions, allowing creativity to drive performance forward. It can create a motivated, well-driven team and can also slow down the processes, as people need time to consider the options to go forward.
Affiliative Leadership
Goleman describes this style as ‘building relationships, close communication, showing empathy’ so an affiliative style creates a harmonious atmosphere when working through stressful conditions and circumstances. People feel motivated because there is a feeling of camaraderie and the leader shows an understanding of the needs of the team through that empathetic relationship-building. It’s needed when the team is struggling and requires a helping hand.
Pacesetter Leadership
Needed when a leader needs quick business results, often associated with sales and marketing targets. Very often displayed by a salesperson who becomes sales manager, this style epitomises high-performance teams and allows motivation and competence to be self-developed and self-driven.
It works when team members are committed and competent, so the leader can drive results through target-setting, faced-paced creative projects and setting the example of the pace to be worked.
The benefits of having quick-fire results and high-energy teams can be offset by the stress caused by the demands set upon the team, so it’s not always seen as the most effective style to adopt long-term
Coaching Leadership
Where the leader has an experienced team who need support to get the tasks done, relying on the assistance of the leader when necessary. This style helps team members to learn quickly and effectively, putting ideas into action with the leader facilitating the growth and development of the team. We have several management coaching techniques that you can use.
Benefits include the improvement of morale as teams learn and develop together, but it can also be stilted by the skillsets and competence of the leader if the coaching style is overused.
Visionary Leadership
Goleman talks about this style as having inspiring, long-term goals that take the department and company forward, creating an atmosphere where team members can build their knowledge and abilities, knowing they have a mission that allows progress and development.
With this style, by its very nature, leaders have visions and missions that people buy into, inspired by the direction it will take them now and in the future. Short-term focus may be sacrificed for the greater good, but the journey is far-reaching and deterministic. These and other styles are being adapted for the post-pandemic world, as people require confidence and trustworthiness from their leaders, as well as inspiration, drive and that humanistic touch.
Visionary leadership can be seen as one of the pre-requisites for that mindset to be developed in people as we progress with our businesses.
Where did the term visionary leader originate from?
As mentioned, Daniel Goleman is credited as defining the term ‘Visionary Leadership’ in his work from 2002. The original concept was derived from the term ‘transformational leadership’, discussed by sociologist James Downton Jnr, along with scientist James MacGregor Burns who, in 1978, elaborated on the theme in his book ‘Leadership’.
The underlying attributes of transformational leadership were studied at length by Bernard M Bass, who also considered the attributes of charismatic, inspirational and intellectual leaders, and developed the idea of leaders transforming businesses through visionary ideologies. Daniel Goleman further developed the whole concept in his studies for his seminal book “The New Leaders: Transforming the Art of Leadership”.
Goleman developed the theme when he went on to discuss the power of emotional Intelligence in leaders. Visionary leadership can be described as ‘the ability to drive teams’ thinking by communicating an inspirational, motivating and stimulating future people will want and choose to buy into’.
They also give the freedom of creativity and intelligence to their team to achieve the goals that will pepper the journey they go on in pursuit of the vision. The level of commitment that people need to follow a visionary leader is high, but the rewards can also prove to be decisive in encouraging participation in, and building of, that vision. With today’s challenges being some of the greatest this generation have experienced, we need visionary leadership to help us tap into the enormous potential that still remains in our teams.
The Characteristics of a Visionary Leader
The styles mentioned earlier require certain characteristics. For example: Autocratic leaders need confidence, boldness, charisma and the ability to get results in double-quick time Democratic leaders need charm and good teamwork skills to encourage team members to bring their best selves to every situation. Laissez-Fair leaders need commitment from their team to achieve results when there is little pressure to achieve in the short term. Coaching leaders need the ability to ask deep, critical questions to get their team thinking at different levels and develop their skillsets. Please check out The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum of Leadership which depicts seven different styles of management differentiated by the degree of control exerted by the manager over their team.
So, what are the skillsets that a quality visionary leader will require?
Let’s look at a few here and see how they can be incorporated into a normal business environment:
1) They have strategic insight
Strategic thinking is a pre-requisite when visioning for the future. This style of thinking allows you to identify the current challenges your team and business are facing, what the meaning of those challenges are and the best ways to deal effectively with the situations now and in the future.
2) They are able to communicate the vision and mission clearly and effectively
It may seem obvious, but the vision that a visionary leader communicates has to be inspiring, engaging and motivational. If the vision doesn’t drive the team forward, getting their buy-in through quality communication, the leader risks being impotent in their message and considered as passionate and charismatic at best, and a deluded dreamer at worse.
3) They display good emotional intelligence qualities
EQ can make or break a leader. They need to be self-aware, understanding what their emotions are telling them and building their natural positive state, and also self-reliant and self-driven. Those personal traits are then complemented by their ability to understand and influence the emotional states of others, getting them to buy into the visions and missions that will drive the company forward
4) They have empathy and compassion
It’s strange to think that a leader should show a clear understanding of the emotional states of other people, but it is one trait that makes a visionary leader stand out. Having a clear understanding of the effect the vision and mission will have on other people allows the visionary leader to build awareness and compassion as they push towards the goals.
5) They have a collaborative nature
We often hear leaders talk about co-operating with their teams to get results. Collaboration goes that one step further, where you link the skillsets of people you work with, with the goals and objectives that will encourage growth and development. Collaboration means synergising the relationships you have and creating opportunities for others to show their best work and attitude.
6) They encourage and engage others on the journey
There is little chance for a visionary leader to get results on their own. They need the support, engagement, drive and motivation of other stakeholders to achieve what they know they can envision. By encouraging and engaging others, it makes the vision more attainable and gains commitment from the team
7) They are fully focused on the journey and the goal
Visionary leaders know that the top of the mountain is the objective and they are fully committed and focused on that. But they also know that any mountain that can be climbed involves a journey that can be hazardous and so needs resilience. Concentrating on what needs to be done to get to the final goal means they are realistic on the tasks and projects that can be carried out, gaining and building commitment from others on the journey to the end goal.
8) They have innovative and creative ideas
Although leaders know and follow guidelines on what has worked before, visionary leaders use that term deliberately to develop the mindset of innovation and creative thinking. Although a vision can be ethereal and hard to picture at times, the essence of a mission that inspires people can determine a greater commitment from everyone involved. These eight components compliment each other to form a strong alliance and assist the visionary leader on their journey to achievement and success.
Why is visionary leadership important?
To ask why having leaders with vision is important may seem like a crass question; it’s so obvious that we don’t need to explain it. But why is business so much in need of it, especially in today’s environment? There are many reasons.
Here are just some.
1) We are working in a VUCA environment
Seldom do we go through crises like the recent pandemic and come out unscathed. The ‘new normal’ as it’s categorised, is full of Volatilities that need calming, Uncertainties that need confident responses, Complexities that demand simplifying and Ambiguous components that need straightening out. Indeed, we are now living in a VUCA environment. Visionary leaders can give people confidence where there is little, freedom to express themselves where there may be fear, and a mission to aspire to where there may have been confusion and chaos. Whatever environment society and business find themselves in, a visionary leader gives the people hope and inspiration that the future will be just as good as or better than before.
2) They are able to see beyond the foggy present
When crises hit, the subliminal reaction is to hunker down, deal with present conditions and focus on survival. What visionary leaders can do is look beyond the current dilemmas and, using far-sightedness and imagery, determine what the medium and long-term focus should be on. They are able to envisage a future that isn’t hindered by current conditions and obstacles. They can foresee what the end goal should be and the journey it will mean for them and their team. By having this vision, it clears the fog and allows others to see the end goal with clarity and certainty.
3) It creates trust in followers and other leaders alike
Trust is always the result of previous actions, and if a leader has shown vision in the past, they incite their teams to build trust in them again for future situations. Think of leaders who have been proved right in the past. When their visions come true, what do others say about future ideas? The trust has been built up and confidence is increased in their decision-making
4) We need vision to help guide us on journeys that no-one has been on before
ow do you feel if you are working with a leader who dithers, doesn’t inspire confidence, or gives mixed messages? Then, how do you feel if a leader has an inspiring message that you can identify with and creates engagement and drive? A lot of this next decade will need inspirational leaders who will drive our businesses forward with honesty, integrity and trustworthiness. None of this generation have gone through a pandemic and determined the type of world we want afterwards. Visionary leaders create thought-patterns in others that inspire and allow confidence to build. Everyone needs a clear path to follow so they can grow as an employee, a manager, a person. Visionary leaders give us that and more.
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