Clear Vision: A Key to Effective Leadership

08/01/2023

Clear Vision: A Key to Effective Leadership

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848, 6th US President

Forbes Business Council member Kirt Linington writes on effective leadership, “I've noticed many leaders often have similar key traits and skills: They have a shared vision. They lead by example. They have strong integrity. They make decisions, and empower and motivate others.”

With respect to establishing a clear vision, Linington elaborates:

I believe that having a vision is one of the main components for being an effective leader. To have a vision is to think about and plan the future with imagination and wisdom. If you have a vision, you can pave the way to your future. You have clear expectations and goals, and you’re able to share that vision with others. Without vision, there is often chaos and unorganized planning.

A leader can then take that vision and put it into action. But they don't put their vision into action alone—they often bring in a whole team of people to achieve it. I've found successful companies are often built on a vision. With this vision and an effective leader, they continue to surpass goals and raise the bar.

In her Exchange article, “Leadership Is a Way of Being,” Exchange Leader Pam Boulton offers an expansive vision of leadership, inspired by and inspiring Exchange Press’ Reimagining Our Work (ROW) Initiative:

Leadership as a way of being is different than a title or a position. It occurs throughout organizations and is seen in individuals and groups that exhibit particular skills and dispositions.

Working with vision, intention, awareness, and persistence
Building trust and ongoing collaborative relationships
Employing curiosity, generosity, imagination, and purposeful action
Using our heads—thinking, dreaming, creating, and seeing what is needed
Using our hearts—empathy, compassion, joy, and love
Using our hands—doing what is needed

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