Importance of Vision to a Leader
Vision can be described as a vivid mental picture that attempts to forecast the future. It includes various ideas of what the future is capable of holding and guides a leader in creating the desire to improve and grow. The vision is also vital in creating hope, ideals, and a sense of purpose hence building a sense of possibilities. There are several reasons why a vision might prove vital to a leader. First, it gives them a sense of direction. M. Taylor (2014) asserted that it shows where the company is headed regarding creating a clear path by averting potential catastrophes or planning an increase in either production or staffing. Vision also gives inspiration and the desires to keep surging on. The vision must possess enough weight that can carry the organization forward. Vision offers focus amidst destructions that might remove the leader from the core objectives. Lastly, vision is essential in giving leaders meaning and purpose in their undertakings as they will be able to see the results of their inputs.
Importance of Vision to the Organization
Apart from having benefits to the leader, having a vision has an overall importance to the organization. The first importance is that it sets a clear direction and purpose for the organization. It inspires the virtue of loyalty through the involvement of all the employees. Having a vision is essential because it depicts the unique strengths of the organization that might include values, beliefs, and culture. It also breeds a culture of enthusiasm and commitment among all the employees hence increasing their work ethic. More importantly, a vision helps the members of the organization to stretch beyond their capabilities and reach greater heights that they wouldn’t have done without a created path.
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Consequences of Lack of Vision to the Leader
Without a clearly defined vision, the leader might face problems in steering the organization towards its set objectives. First, the leaders might not like the results that might come out of a visionless leadership hence leading to high levels of employee unsatisfaction with them. Without a vision, the leader might lack a defined path in achieving the desired goals hence ending up using excessive and unwarranted energy and resources. Fellow employees and organizational management will automatically lose faith in the leadership qualities of the individual and might even face sacking. The leader might put the future organization at risk by for example putting it into debts or exposing it to catastrophes.
Consequences of Lack of Vision to the Organization
With regards to the organization, the consequences can either be internally, or can affect the relationship of the organization with vendors, shareholders, customers, and even clients. Internally, lack of vision will result in a reduced productivity because they do not understand the bigger picture of the operations of the company. Van Knippenberg and Stam (2014) asserted that the workers would also experience low morale due to lack of planning and the stress that emanates from a disorganized environment. With regards to the external environment, cash problems might begin to result that might put the company at a financial crisis which will after that implicate shareholders and other business partners such as vendors. A shortage of material resource can also impact the organization as a result of poor planning due to lack of vision. The customers and clients will also lose faith in companies that do not achieve their goals hence exposing the business to a potential extinction.
How the Mission Statement Impacts the Vision Statement
The organization’s mission statement defines its purpose of existence. It also provides as the chief guide for the decision making processes of the company. With regards to its relationship with the vision of a company, both long and short-term objectives are derived from the mission statement. Therefore, the mission statement helps to fuel the vision because, through it, conditions and strategies to meet the vision are outlined in it.
References
M. Taylor, C., J. Cornelius, C., & Colvin, K. (2014). Visionary leadership and its relationship to organizational effectiveness. Leadership & Organization Development Journal , 35 (6), 566-583.
Van Knippenberg, D., & Stam, D. (2014). Visionary leadership. The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations , 241-259.
