Redefining Leadership: Bridging the Gap Between Vision and Action

Leadership is more dynamic and multifaceted than ever before, requiring a clear and focused vision and consistently supportive actions to ensure you lead in a way that inspires confidence, and encourages people to want to follow you.

Our ever-changing business environment plus the cascade of external influence and opinion make it a true challenge to identify, believe and deliver your own, authentic style of leadership.

We need to be adaptable as leaders; this is a crucial skill. But there is an increasing tendency for leaders to abandon their style in favour of something that fits a perceived norm or feels easier to deliver in the face of external pressures.

Whatever style you believe you should adopt, and how you adapt to be agile and responsive to the present, truly effective leadership hinges on the context and the needs of the moment, team and business-at-large, as seen through the lens of your values and beliefs.

A critical challenge that many leaders face is aligning their actions with their personal leadership vision and brand. I want to explore how you can bridge this gap to become an authentic leader by using self-awareness as a tool to strengthen your conviction.

Discovering Your Leadership Style

Understanding Leadership Types

Understanding the various types of leadership is the first step in discovering your unique style.

Command and control, for example, is a leadership type that is often effective in high-stakes situations requiring quick decisions. On the flip side, a collaborative approach is more suitable when team input and consensus are crucial.

As a first step, it’s important to build your self-awareness by understanding your strengths and weaknesses, personality traits and considering the sector or context within which you work in order to understand what is possible for you.

True authenticity does not come from choosing a leadership style and aligning it with your beliefs and values. It comes from understanding and listening to your inner voice and letting this guide you to a leadership style with which you are comfortable and can thrive but which continues to meet the needs of the business.

Tapping into self-awareness also provides you with a tool to use – everyday decisions require you to continually check in with your conscience, confirm your beliefs and act accordingly.

Aligning Vision and Action

Aligning your vision and your actions is a critical component of effective leadership.

Many leaders struggle with this, often finding a disconnect between what they aspire to be and what they actually do. It’s the behavioural gap version of the leadership skills gap: the ability exists but having the courage of your convictions can be hard when the pressure is on, or the culture isn’t sufficiently supportive of your style.

To bridge this gap, start by clearly defining your leadership vision. What principles and values guide your decision-making? Once you have a clear vision, actively reflect on your daily actions and decisions to ensure they align with these principles.

Of course, self-awareness isn’t just about what you know, the thoughts and opinions of others are also invaluable.

By seeking feedback and being open to self-improvement, you can consistently cross-reference your actions with your vision and create a leadership style that is both authentic and agile.

This alignment will not only enhance your credibility but will also build trust within your team as they experience you continually acting with integrity.

An excellent tool for holding yourself accountable is to have a ‘virtual board’ – hold the opinions of those you feel can enhance your performance in your mind. Refer to them when you need a second opinion. If you nurture this internal committee, you will learn more about how they might react. Base them on real people but get to know them in your own mind so you can check in mentally whenever you feel you need to reinforce your thinking.

Embracing Leadership Excellence

At the core of exceptional leadership is congruence between vision and behaviour. The glue to linking these two elements comes from building strong self-awareness to tap in to why and how you want to lead.

Achieving the type of leadership that only you can define for yourself will inspire your team to trust your decisions and actions and feel secure in your ability to navigate challenges.

Greater conviction brings consistency, and you will be less distracted by external noise once you have a strong awareness of why you want to act the way you do.

If this approach resonates, consider working with a coach or mentor to help provide a safe environment to unpack challenges and learn from your experiences. Many leaders partner with a coach on a long-term basis to enable them to grow authentically and stay on track to achieve their vision.

Cultivating a leadership style that is true to your values and beliefs, reinforced through self-awareness, and corroborated by feedback will enhance your credibility, build genuine, trusted relationships with your team and set the stage for sustained success and personal and professional growth.