Leadership Processes to Share Vision

In order to share their vision with others, leaders should engage in the following processes (Kouzes & Posner, 2002):

• Discover and appeal to a common purpose.
• Communicate expressively, thereby bringing the vision to life in such a way that people can see themselves in it.
• Sincerely believe in what they are saying and demonstrate their personal conviction.

To discover a common purpose we must start by asking our constituents what it is they seek. If those we would like to motivate are seeking something that we cannot provide or seem to move them toward, they will be less likely to follow. The author’s view is that members of the organization will follow even though they do not see a common purpose. The real question is of degree in which they will follow without seeing their aspirations fulfilled within the leader’s dream. For example, if one thinks it would really nice to build a startup organization and get really rich doing it, then those that buy into that common purpose would be willing to give up vast portions of their personal life in pursuit of that dream, while those who didn’t aspire to be rich, would only work for a paycheck and not put in the extra time to really follow the leader’s dream. Leaders who can sense the purpose in followers and develop a shared sense of direction are more likely to be successful. Leaders should be able to structure the opportunities within the organization in such a way that a meaning beyond financial reward is created.

Giving life to a vision is another critical element in enlisting others. Kouzes and Posner (2002) provide interesting commentary when they state that a leader makes the vision tangible “so that others can see it, hear it, taste it, touch it, feel it.” Leaders can give life to a vision by employing powerful language, a positive communication style, and nonverbal expressiveness. Powerful language employs metaphors, figures of speech, and action-oriented vocabulary to paint word pictures in followers’ minds. By using a positive communications style, leaders convey the possibility of unleashing the power within to “accomplish whatever they desire.” Non-verbal expressiveness is that magnetic quality that draws people near and provides them with strong incentives to follow through application of warmth and friendship.

The ability of the leader to demonstrate personal conviction is vital to recruiting and motivating people to join your program. The attribute being described goes far beyond doing a good job because it was simply required. A leader must both internalize conviction and exude unabashedly the support/belief and that can truly move others toward common goals. A leader both inspires and motivates.

Reference

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2002). The leadership challenge (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.