Vision is One of the Fifteen Facets of Executive Presence

This article is one in a series focusing on Executive Presence and how leaders can meet their potential through improved communication. Executive Presence is defined by Suzanne Bates in her book “All the Leader You Can Be: The Science of Achieving Extraordinary Executive Presence” as “The qualities of a leader that engage, inspire, align, and move people to act… By understanding how your intentions as a leader match up with perceptions, you can learn how to flex your style to gain trust, build alignment, lead change, inspire performance, and drive executional excellence.”

This article focuses on Vision, one of the 15 facets that make up a 3-dimensional leader.

Click here to gain a greater understanding of (a) executive presence in general and (b) the other facets that make up a well-rounded leader.

What is Vision?

Bates describes Vision, one of the fifteen facets of executive presence, as “generating an inspiring enterprise-wide picture of what could be; recognizing emerging trends and engaging all in strategy.” People with a healthy level of Vision are strategic thinkers and able to communicate their thoughts and feelings to others. They are also practical about what it will take to achieve their vision and the role others will play in its success.

How Vision Makes People Feel

People with a high level of Vision are appreciated for their ability to inspire others and motivate action. Because they are insightful, big-picture thinkers, they are able to see—and help others see—a desired future state. They inspire confidence in the following ways.

• I trust you because you think beyond the day-to-day challenges of work.
• I trust you because you are thorough without being confusing.
• I admire you because you are optimistic without being pie-in-the-sky.

Not Enough Vision

Someone who lacks Vision may cause confusion because the direction they’re headed is unclear.

• Priorities may be unclear.
• The “why” behind decisions may be unclear.
• People may feel uninspired and unmotivated.

Specific Behaviors to Improve Perceptions of Vision

Here are some things you can do to improve the impressions you make in terms of Vision.

• Communicate the what and the why of the decisions you make.
• Tell stories to paint a picture of what can be.
• Be thorough without going into too much detail.
• Be optimistic, especially in the team’s ability to succeed.
• Be realistic.
• Reinforce the benefits of a decision to individuals, the team, and the organization.
• Repeat key messages over time so they stick without being redundant or condescending.

Too Much Emphasis on Vision

When someone exhibits too much of a particular facet, it can become an overstrength. An overstrength often results in negative perceptions. Here are some downsides of an overstrength in Vision.

• Team members may feel that their leader has unrealistic, unattainable goals.
• It may appear to team members that their leader is “all say and no do.”
• Team members may be unsure of how they fit into the overall business plan.

A Story About a Lack of Vision

Simone thought of herself as a visionary. She founded her EdTech company with a clear idea of what she wanted to accomplish, the types of organizations that she wanted to market to, and how the organization could best grow over time.

As she built her executive team, she did a good job of communicating each new hire’s responsibilities and what she expected of them. She was so successful with this that the company grew at a rapid pace. Her investors believed in her, and she and her team were able to hire dozens of people to make it all happen. What she didn’t do was communicate how their responsibilities contributed to the overall plan or, sometimes, what the overall plan was. The result of this was that, without knowing it, Simone was building silos. Business units didn’t communicate well with each other. There was no joint planning and no awareness of redundancies.

With her executive team going in different directions and at a breakneck pace, things started to fall apart.

The problem was with Simone’s Vision. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a vision for the organization. It was that she didn’t take the time to communicate it and remind people of it at every turn. Simone’s employees were often frustrated with her because she seemed to assume they were all inside her head. Until Simone changed her ways, her employees never felt they were part of a single team with a single focus.

Some Facets Ride Together

Often, when we lean into particular facets (or pull back from them), other facets “come along for the ride.” If Vision is about the future, it requires Intentionality in communication to make it a reality. In Simone’s case, the confusion caused by her inability to communicate her Vision resulted in low perceptions of her in Confidence, Concern, Resonance, and Interactivity.

Final Thoughts About Vision

Vision is in the Substance dimension in the Bates model, which means that it is a facet cultivated over your career that helps build credibility and is relevant to your social role as a leader. These facets include the knowledge and wisdom you have developed, your ability to synthesize information and apply it to the here and now, as well as your ability to connect with and respond to the people you lead.

If you’d like to learn more or explore executive presence coaching options for yourself or your team, click here to schedule a call.