The Visionary Leader in a Modern Organizational Context
William Bergquist
Abstract: One of the often-desired—but rarely fully-implemented—styles of modern leadership focuses on the creation and monitoring of a TANGIBLE VISION. This is done through focused motivation, the setting of specific goals and the measuring of ways in which (and extent to which) these goals are achieved within the organization. Thus, a person who assumes or is assigned this form of leadership must not only be able to articulate a vision of the future that is persuasive and motivating, she must also be able to “deliver” on this vision—in other words, be an achieving manager. The organizational vision may come from the modern visionary leader herself or may be assigned to her by other people in the organization (the so-called “stakeholders”). The key to effective Visionary leadership in a modern organization is primarily related to building the bridge that makes a vision tangible. The foundation of this bridge is strategic planning. I focus, therefore, on some of the principles that must be kept in mind if strategic planning is to be successful. In setting the stage for the introduction of these principles, I offer a brief history of strategic planning in modern organizations—suggesting ways in which this planning process has expanded in response to the shifting (and expanding) challenges that leaders of modern organizations face—especially Visionary leaders.