Leading with Shared Vision

Having a vision of the future and communicating that vision so that followers are inspired and engaged to act on your proposed changes is a good definition of leadership. Research by Kouzes and Posner, published in “To Lead, Create a Shared Vision”, HBR, 2009 confirmed this with nearly one million responses to their “Leadership Practices Inventory” where 72% of employees stated that the key attribute they were looking for from a leader was to be “forward looking”; however their research also reviewed leadership effectiveness and found some interesting results which differentiate those who simply lead with vision and those who lead with shared vision.

Here’s a difference of the two and how to “share” along with further considerations (“et alors”).

Leading with Shared Vision

Vision

The “classic” case according to the authors involves leaders “posing as emissaries from the future, delivering the news of how their markets and organizations will be transformed.” The trouble is that this vision might not inspire or engage followers because it does not “draw others in”.

Shared Vision

The “best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present.” Followers want visions of the future that link with their own aspirations – they want the leader’s vision to tie in with their hopes for the future. They are then much more engaged.

Et alors

Creating a shared vision is like leading by diversity as the leader has to often connect individually on a one-to-one basis with many different constituents rather than just always broadcasting in a one-to-many fashion. In a way, this is like leading with influence rather than leading (or managing) with authority: this leadership can happen at any place in the hierarchy and it applies to all leaders at all levels. From another perspective, it is like leading with emotional intelligence rather than with logic and analysis since the connection is on a human level. All these things “play” to the idea of creating a shared vision.

There are however many organizational cultures which might inhibit such a style of leadership. When the organization is conservative and not naturally inclined to change or if the culture itself is very strong and not adaptive, then leading with a shared vision might be more challenging (yet ironically more necessary)! In strong hierarchies, power might gravitate to the desk rather than the person and management might become more prevalent than leadership. Good management is very important, but for organizations looking to do more: to change, to adapt, to grow, then the organization needs leaders who can lead with shared vision!