Leading Through Uncertainty? Why Vision Alone Isn’t Enough
There’s no question about the uncertainty of the times we are leading in. I find that leaders globally know they need to bring vision with integrity when there is so little certainty.
What we know from research: Uncertainty demands visionary leadership. People crave direction when the path forward is less obvious. But vision isn’t enough – pair it with empowering behaviours: coaching, developing talent, and leveraging individual strengths and motivators for maximum impact during uncertainty.
What difference will it make? Research shows that this ‘both-and’ approach – vision and empowering behaviours – creates the clarity employees need and provides them with the freedom, sense of responsibility, and psychological empowerment that leads to greater performance.
My POV: Leaders who combine vision with empowerment drive substantially better team performance than those who excel at one of those dimensions. While most naturally favour one style, both skills can be deliberately developed and chosen.
As a Leader, what can you do?
- Talk about the direction of travel – don’t be held back by not knowing the exact destination. At its core, vision is simply giving a sense of where we are going and why it matters. Engage your team in co-creation of the vision.
- Find windows through the pressure to ask people what they’re enjoying and what they’re finding difficult. We are all very different – you may be surprised by the answers. These insights give you powerful data as a leader.
- Coaching is every leader’s job and a skill we can develop. Through the busyness, be intentional to still create windows to use this part of your toolkit to develop your team.
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