Strength of Vision or Strength of Leader

Recently I was asked about leadership and which was more important, the vision or the leader. The debate was centered on if success comes from having a strong leader that brings a team together to execute more effectively, or is a strong vision can inspire a team to in effect come together through self-motivation.

In reality both are useful in obtaining success, however most people are not strong leaders so I proposed a different approach. My response was as follows:

I have found that the strength of the message comes from listening. In my experience my vision has been greatly enhanced by listening to others and my role is to create a seamless vision that has pieces from the entire team.

This not only creates a better vision, but allows others to contribute their ideas and see results from their contributions.

Having that credibility with my team allows me to then provide (and receive) mentoring and coaching leading to a continuous cycle of improvement for all.

Of course being a good listener is certainly a key trait for great leadership. I would go further and say that listening and being able to orchestrate diverse recommendations from the team to a cohesive plan is among the top 3 traits of great leadership.

In my next blog I will discuss the importance of a leader to be willing to become a follower.

Comments and questions are always welcome.