Visionary leadership skills to develop
'Visionary leadership' is a popular leadership style that has the potential to foster innovation, help businesses navigate change, and inspire employees. But visionary leadership is about more than just having a vision; it involves strategic planning and motivating a team to work together towards a shared goal.
In this article, we cover how you can develop a visionary leadership style.
What does it mean to be a visionary leader?
Visionary leadership is a specific type of leadership style that involves bringing long-term goals to life by creating a clear strategic plan and articulating the steps required to hit targets. While looking to the future is an important part of visionary leadership, it’s essential that visionary leaders be able to translate their grand plans into actionable steps, to make their goals a reality.
A visionary leader needs to draw on a number of key characteristics and skills, including strong communication, strategic thinking and the ability to inspire and motivate others. They should be able to foster a collaborative workplace environment and encourage creativity and innovation among their team.
Visionary leadership skills you can develop at work
If a visionary leadership approach appeals to you, there are a number of skills you can work on to help bring you closer to achieving this style of leadership.
Being calm and consistent
As a visionary leader, it’s essential to employ a calm and consistent approach when managing a team. When leading, you’ll likely face many challenges, so the ability to stay calm under pressure is essential, in order to remain focused on your long-term goals. Being consistent in your actions and decisions is also essential for building trust among your team. When your team trusts you, they’re likely to be more confident in your decisions and support your vision.
Developing self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and establishing a consistent routine can help you become a more calm, consistent leader.
Expressing empathy
Empathy refers to the ability to understand the needs of others and relate to their thoughts and feelings. Demonstrating empathy for others is fundamental to building strong relationships, improving communication, fostering a positive work environment and driving innovation, making it an essential skill for visionary leaders.
While empathy is a common personal quality, you can further cultivate empathy by practising active listening, asking open-ended questions, and paying special attention to people’s body language, while also monitoring your own non-verbal cues.
Communication skills
Good communication is essentially the ability to convey a message in the way it’s intended. Visionary leaders need to be able to clearly articulate their future goals and plans so they can rally their team to work towards their vision. Developing communication takes practice, and requires you to consider what will resonate with your audience, use active listening, speak with clarity, and be mindful of your body language.
Being assertive
Assertive leaders communicate in a direct and honest manner while still respecting others’ opinions. It’s essential for visionary leaders to assertively communicate their vision, goals and expectations to drive change. Demonstrating assertiveness as a visionary leader can also help to create an environment where everyone feels safe to express their ideas, concerns and feedback.
Assertiveness is rooted in clear communication, so it’s essential to reflect on your communication style and identify areas where you can be more assertive. For instance, it’s important to learn to say no and establish clear boundaries where appropriate. Assertive leaders will often take ownership of their thoughts and feelings by using ‘I’ statements, like, ‘I feel as if we should work together more collaboratively on this’. rather than ‘You should work with me more collaboratively on this’.
Innovative
Innovation involves embracing new ideas and using a creative approach to solve problems and make decisions. Visionary leaders are known for their future-oriented approach and their ability to drive change and foster growth.
Improving innovation starts with encouraging creativity within yourself and your team. It’s important to cultivate a curious mindset and embrace continuous learning to see things from new perspectives. Collaborate with your team and bounce ideas off each other until you develop a creative solution.
Open-mindedness
Open-mindedness is a willingness to seek input, listen to ideas and consider different perspectives from others. As a visionary leader, having an open mind allows you to promote trust, collaboration and open communication within your team.
To develop a more open mind, reflect on your experiences and interactions to understand your thought processes and any biases you might have, then challenge them. Make sure you not only ask for feedback, but take it on board and use it to adjust your approach.
Emotionally intelligent
Emotional intelligence is your ability to control and express emotions while also being aware of the emotions of others. As a visionary leader, emotional intelligence is what helps you to connect with others, build strong relationships and persuade and motivate people. It can also help to foster an inclusive and positive work culture.
Developing emotional intelligence often involves self-reflection to identify your strengths and identify areas for improvement.
Inspirational
When it comes to leadership, being inspirational means tapping into people’s emotions to encourage them to work towards a common goal. Inspirational visionary leaders are able to clearly communicate their vision and plan with their team, and make them feel energised and empowered.
Inspirational leaders often lead by example and use motivational language that resonates with their team. They provide their team with positive reinforcement and constructive feedback that allows them to develop and grow.
Magnetism
Magnetic leaders possess a charismatic personality that naturally attracts and influences others. Magnetic leaders are able to easily inspire and motivate their team, which drives their organisation closer to its goals.
To develop a magnetic presence start by working on your self-confidence, as the two are interlinked. It’s also important to be genuine or true to yourself, and to be kind and considerate of others. People with natural magnetism are usually very warm, friendly and optimistic, making others feel drawn to them.
Optimistic
Optimism is the ability to maintain a positive outlook. Visionary leaders often encounter challenges and resistance when it comes to their goals, so it’s essential for them to maintain an optimistic perspective. Being optimistic helps keep your team’s attitude positive too.
In order to develop a more optimistic approach, it’s important to focus on the positive. View challenges and setbacks as learning opportunities and maintain a growth mindset.
Collaborativeness
Collaboration skills refer to someone’s ability to work effectively with others. Visionary leaders can’t bring their visions to life without the help of their team, so it’s essential to cultivate a collaborative approach to reaching goals.
Improving collaboration skills involves working on your communication skills, boosting your emotional intelligence, practising empathy and being a reliable team player.
Leading through uncertainty
Visionary leaders are often faced with challenges and setbacks that can throw their plans off track, so it’s essential that visionary leaders be adaptable and flexible. Resilience and strong decision-making skills are crucial for leading a team through unexpected challenges and framing them as obstacles as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks.
Visionary leaders possess a number of skills and traits that allow them to inspire and motivate people. Some of the main traits of a visionary leader are strong communication skills, emotional intelligence and charisma, which can all be learned and developed with practice.
FAQs
What exactly is visionary leadership, and how is it different from regular leadership?
Visionary leadership is a distinct style of leadership that focuses on inspiring team members to achieve a common goal. Unlike regular leadership, visionary leaders tend to be future focused, change oriented and motivated by a strategic approach.
Can anyone become a visionary leader or are there certain personality traits required?
Anyone can develop the skills and characteristics needed to become a visionary leader, but there are certain personality traits that lend themselves well to a visionary leadership style. Some of the common traits that visionary leaders share include:
Effective communication skills
Strategic thinking
Future-driven
Creative
Innovatived
Motivational
How can I improve my communication skills as a leader?
As a leader, you can improve your communication skills by:
Tailoring your communication style to suit your audience
Working on your active-listening skills
Being mindful of your body language and other non-verbal cues
Focusing on speaking clearly and concisely
Is it okay if my vision seems a bit ‘out there’ or unconventional?
Visionary leaders are known for their creativity and innovation, so there’s nothing wrong with having a vision that is unconventional. No matter their vision, a visionary leader has a strategic plan to reach their objectives, that they communicate to their team in a motivating and inspiring way.
How can I translate my big-picture vision into a clear and actionable plan for my team?
When it comes to clearly communicating your vision and plan to your team, it helps to break down your end goal into short-term goals that act as individual steps. Clearly define the role of each team member so they understand their responsibilities and contributions to the big picture.
What are some strategies for getting my team on board with a new vision, especially if they seem hesitant?
One strategy to get your team on board with a new vision is to get them involved with the planning process. Actively seek their input and feedback by engaging them in brainstorming sessions and taking a collaborative approach to planning. Listen to their concerns and address their hesitations in the planning process.
How can I foster creativity and innovation within my team to support the vision?
Encouraging creativity and innovation within your team starts with creating a supportive workplace culture. Encourage your team to share their ideas and feedback by creating an environment that welcomes open communication. Celebrate innovation and experimentation by viewing failures as a learning opportunity.
What should I do when faced with challenges or setbacks that threaten the vision?
As a visionary leader, it’s important to remain resilient and adaptable in the face of challenges or potential setbacks. Stay positive, be flexible, and adapt your plans to suit the environment. Lead by example, keep an open mind and continue to motivate your team to help them maintain a positive attitude.
Can a visionary leader change their vision based on new information or circumstances?
Adaptability is one of the most important traits of a visionary leader, so it’s essential to be able to adjust your vision based on new information and changing circumstances. Be sure to clearly communicate changes to your team or involve them in the process of changing direction.
Are there any resources available to help me develop my visionary leadership skills?
Continuous learning and self-education play an important part in developing your visionary leadership skills. SEEK lists a number of leadership courses that are designed to managers improve their leadership skills.
