A focused individual who can inspire his team to achieve long term goals is a visionary leader.
This type of leader does this by displaying a clear emphasis on both action and vision.
However, just having the vision and direction of where to head is not enough. The leader needs to be able to understand his or her team members in order to know what motivates them.
When you understand what spurs them on, you get a united group of people, helping each other head the same way.
How do you do this? It is important to create a work atmosphere where people feel comfortable, motivated and valued. A visionary leader in business can achieve this by:
Encouraging new ideas – in a lot of workplaces, people feel uncomfortable suggesting new ideas. Some may seem to off-the-wall or irrelevant. A visionary leader welcomes all ideas and encourages people to think more about the direction they are heading in. A healthy organisation runs off the sparks of creativity of the workforce. It is the leader’s responsibility to harness this.
Valuing people – In the sitcom The Office, the camera would often pan around the office and film rows and rows of bored employees staring at their monitors. A visionary leader – which David Brent was clearly not – would engage with the people, speak to them, find out more about them and the tasks they were undertaking and listen to them.
Motivation – so many employees turn up to work, sit at their desks for eight hours a day and go home without a single thought about where their direction lies within the company. Rather than see work as a chore or an endurance test, a visionary leader will help their people understand their role, realise the importance of what they do, and create a team that have a shared vision. A visionary leader shows their people what the future should hold for the organisation and what it can do for them as individuals.
Leading by example – there’s no greater way of inspiring people than by leading by example. By being open, honest, positive and effectively problem-solving, you turn yourself in to a role model for people to aspire to and be inspired by.